Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Thursday, 16 February 2023 00:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Sri Lanka ‘A’ suffered from the same malady that is affecting the national ODI team when they were bowled out well inside 50 overs for 230 in the first unofficial ODI against England Lions at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
The entire innings lasted 45.1 overs, and had those unused overs been utilised, Sri Lanka ‘A’ could have easily set England Lions with a target in excess of 275, which would have given their bowlers an opportunity to restrict or bowl out the opposition.
What happened eventually was, with not a big target to chase, England Lions romped home quite easily to win the contest by four wickets with 9.4 overs to spare and with it take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The national ODI team is also going through a similar phase where they are unable to last the 50 overs in an innings. This was quite evident in the last two ODI’s against India where their innings lasted for 39.4 overs and 22 overs.
The target of 231 did not represent much of a challenge to the England Lions batting.
Once openers Jacob Bethell and Jack Haynes had put on 69 for the first wicket and set a platform for the rest of the batsmen to follow, England were not in any sort of danger of losing their grip on the match despite losing the wickets of Haynes (25) and Jordan Cox (46) in eight balls to the left-arm spin of Praveen Jayawickrama, and James Rew (13) and Tom Prest (27) within five runs of each other to the leg-spin of Dushan Hemantha (3/56).
Bethell’s 50 off 58 balls (7 fours) and Sam Hain 52 off 51 balls (5 fours) ensured England Lions that there would not be any late hiccups towards the latter stages of the game. Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were pushed onto the back foot in the first power play overs by England fast bowlers Sam Cook and Saqib Mahmood who found appreciable swing and movement in their opening spells to put the top four batsmen in some sort of discomfort. By the ninth over, Sri Lanka ‘A’ was wobbling at 25-4 with Avishka Fernando (0) and Angelo Mathews (13) both dismissed.
Skipper Sadeera Samarawickrama found an able partner in Sahan Arachchige and the pair revived the innings with a 121-run partnership. A feature of their stand was the running between the wickets. Arachchige pulling and driving with confidence scored 57 off 80 balls (4 fours), while Samarawickrama played with great composure striking four fours in his knock of 74 off 86 balls.
England Lions’ Under-19 left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell joining the attack as the eighth bowler grabbed the wickets of Samarawickrama and Hemantha and had a hand in the run out of Pramod Madushan for four as Sri Lanka ‘A’ once again lost momentum and slid to 201-9 in the 42nd over.
It was only the aggressive intent displayed by Chamika Karunaratne who smashed five fours and two sixes in a 48-ball cameo for 52 that saw Sri Lanka ‘A’ reach their final total.
The second unofficial ODI will be played at the same venue on Saturday.
Scores:
Sri Lanka ‘A’ 230 (45.1) (Sadeera Samarawickrama 74, Sahan Arachchige 57, Chamika Karunaratne 52, Sam Cook 2/35, Saqib Mahmood 3/27, Jacob Bethell 2/50)
England Lions 231-6 (40.2) (Jacob Bethell 50, Jack Haynes 25, Sam Hain 52, Jordan Cox 46, Tom Prest 27, Praveen Jayawickrama 2/52, Dushan Hemantha 3/56)
