Sri Lanka came through a challenging morning to reach 207 for four at lunch on the second day of their first Test against England yesterday, losing two wickets in the session.
The tourists added 74 runs though lost key batsman Mahela Jayawardene (4) without adding to their overnight score and then in-form opener Tharanga Paranavitana departed for an impressive 66.
Thilan Samaraweera lived dangerously, but remained unbeaten on 38, while Prasanna Jayawardene, the wicketkeeper batting at six, was not out 21. James Anderson, who accounted for Mahela Jayawardene, had two for 53.
Photo: AFP
Conditions were warmer, brighter and generally much better than on Thursday when 42 overs were lost to rain.
Anderson struck in the third over of the day to end Mahela’s 48-minute struggle after the batsman edged to first-slip Andrew Strauss, who pouched a good catch.
Left-hander Paranavitana’s innings was ended by Chris Tremlett when he played on attempting a cover drive without moving his feet. He batted resolutely and faced 191 balls.
Samaraweera, averaging 54 in Tests, is seeking to improve his record in England having made 0, 6, 3 and 8 on the 2006 tour. His survival was not without difficulty after requiring 14 balls to score his first run.
When on 15 he narrowly survived an edge to third-slip Alastair Cook off Tremlett. Cook managed only to get his fingertips on the ball. Then on 23, he cut uppishly to point where Eoin Morgan may have misjudged the opportunity as the ball just bounced less than a meter in front of him.
While still on 23, Samaraweera needed treatment when towering fast bowler Tremlett extracted steep bounce from a good length ball to hit the batsman on his right elbow.
Prasanna Jayawardene edged Stuart Broad through vacant fourth-slip for a boundary and added another when Kevin Pietersen dove over an on-drive off Graeme Swann.
England are seeking to build on their recent Ashes success as they look to become the top-ranking Test nation, while Sri Lanka are seeking a first Test win in six matches.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but