1st Test: Tangled England humiliated once again

Herath takes 12 as Sri Lanka overpower top-ranked Test side inside four days.

GALLE:

Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath claimed a match haul of 12 wickets as Sri Lanka condemned top-ranked England to their fourth consecutive Test defeat with a 75-run win in the series opener.

The 34-year-old grabbed six wickets in each innings as the tourists, attempting what would have been their highest successful fourth-innings chase of 340, were bowled out for 264 soon after tea on the fourth day.

Off-spinner Suraj Randiv lent admirable support with six wickets in the match as Sri Lanka went 1-0 ahead in the two-match series.

Strauss left fuming

England captain Andrew Strauss was furious at another Test defeat – despite a dogged century by batsman Jonathan Trott – after his team were whitewashed 3-0 by Pakistan in the UAE earlier this year.

“We’re bitterly disappointed,” he said. “We made too many mistakes. If you make them, you’ve got be lucky to get away with them and this game we were not. We all fell a bit too softly. But all credit to Sri Lanka.

“They put us under pressure, outplayed us and deserved the victory. However, we’ve got one more game to show we can play better cricket in this part of the world.”

Trott kept the tourists afloat with a defiant 112 before the last five wickets fell for just 12 runs in front of 8,000 bitterly disappointed English fans in the southern coastal town.

It was only the second win in 18 Tests for Sri Lanka since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan in 2010. They lost six while the rest were drawn.

“Any Test win is important, but to do it against the best side in the world is a moment to cherish,” said Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene.

“It has been a tough period for us to get things right but the boys worked really hard to improve as a team and today we showed a lot of character. The bowlers were much more relaxed defending 340.

“We all had to be patient and knew the wickets would come. Herath has been around a long time and is a class act.

“Suraj too is settling into his groove now and can be a very good bowler for us. But we can’t afford to be complacent.

“There is one more Test to go and we know England are a quality side and will come back hard.”

England, who will slip to number two in the International Cricket Council Test rankings behind South Africa if they lose the series, will look to bury the spin ghosts in time for the second Test that starts in Colombo on Tuesday.

M Jayawardene

“Any Test win is important, but to do it against the best side in the world is a moment to cherish. It’s been a tough period for us to get things right but the boys worked really hard to improve.”

 A Strauss

“We’re bitterly disappointed. We made too many mistakes. If you make them, you’ve got be lucky to get away with them and this game we were not. We all fell a bit too softly.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 30^th, 2012.