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 yesterday in the series opener.
The 34-year-old grabbed six wickets in each innings as the tourists, chasing a stiff target of 340, were bowled out for 264 soon after tea on the fourth day at the Galle International Stadium to lose by 75 runs.
Off-spinner Suraj Randiv lent admirable support with a match haul of six wickets, as Sri Lanka went 1-0 ahead in the short two-match series.
Photo: Reuters
Jonathan 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 England fans in the southern coastal town.
It was only the second win in 18 Tests for Sri Lanka since the retirement of bowling world-record holder Muttiah Muralitharan in 2010. They lost six, while the rest were drawn.
Trott, who notched his seventh Test century, hit 10 boundaries in his patient 266-ball knock, but he fell when he flicked at a Randiv delivery and was snapped up by a diving Tillakaratne Dilshan at backward short-leg just before tea.
Wicketkeeper Matt Prior helped Trott add 81 for the fifth wicket, before he was dismissed by Herath for 41 as Lahiru Thirimanne clung on to a full-blooded sweep at forward short-leg.
Debutant Samit Patel made 9 before his uppish drive off Herath was caught by Dilshan at short cover.
Tailenders Graeme Swann, Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar fell in the space of five runs to hand Sri Lanka victory with a day to spare.
England, who will slip to No. 2 in the rankings behind South Africa if they lose the series, lost Kevin Pietersen in the day’s third over after just seven runs had been added to the overnight score of 111-2.
Pietersen, on 30, attempted to on-drive spinner Randiv and only managed to spoon an easy catch to Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene at short mid-wicket.
The sloppy dismissal ended a valuable 70-run partnership for the third wicket with Trott after England had been reduced to 48-2 late on Wednesday afternoon.
Accurate Sri Lanka bowling tied down the tourists to just 34 runs from 15 overs in the first hour of play, 22 of them coming from the bat of Trott.
Bell, who top-scored with 52 in the first innings, missed a sweep shot off Herath and was given out LBW by umpire Rod Tucker.
Bell immediately asked for a review, but he did not earn a reprieve from TV umpire Bruce Oxenford and England slipped to 152-4.
England played positively after lunch, scoring 51 runs from 15 overs as Sri Lanka handed Herath the new ball that was claimed as soon as it was due in the 81st over.
The second and final Test will be played at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo starting on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS