3 big positives for Sri Lanka from 1st Test 2024 vs England
The first Test between hosts England and Sri Lanka was expected to be a one-sided affair. Sri Lanka last won a Test on English soil in 2014 and have won only three of 19 Tests in England, who have won nine times.
England have been a force to reckon with in Test cricket recently with their "Bazball approach". On the contrary, the visitors have struggled to put in consistent performances and were expected to be dominated by England in the three-match series.
However, it was not to be. The visitors made England fight hard for victory in the first Test in Manchester. Although the visitors eventually lost by five wickets, there were plenty of positives for them.
On that note, here's a look at the three big positives for Sri Lanka from the first Test vs England:
#1 Competed against a strong England team right through the Test
Sri Lanka had a horrendous start to the Test, losing three wickets for just six runs in the first seven overs of the Test. After being reduced to 113-7, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74) and debutant Milan Ratnayake (72) guided the team to a respectable total of 236.
The Sri Lankan bowlers had England in a spot of bother, reducing the hosts to 187-5. However, a handy century (111) and resistance from the lower order guided England to 358, taking a lead of 122.
The visitors once again started poorly, losing two early wickets in their second innings with just a run on the board. Kamindu Mendis, though, scored a brilliant century (113) and was ably supported by the experienced duo of Angelo Mathews (65) and Dinesh Chandimal (79) as the visitors eventually scored 326.
Set a target of 205, England were expected to romp home comfortable. However, the Sri Lankan bowlers fought hard and picked up five wickets and made them earn each run for a win.
The biggest achievement for the visitors was that they made the English team change their "Bazball approach" in the fourth innings, as they chased down the target in 57.2 overs.
#2 The growth and maturity of Kamindu Mendis
Before the Manchester Test, Kamindu Mendis had played only three Tests, one in Sri Lanka and two in Bangladesh. In five combined innings, Mendis had scored two centuries and two half-centuries, proving himself to be a handy force with the bat in the middle order in sub-continent conditions.
A real test awaited Mendis in England, in conditions alien to him for batting. After a failure in the first innings (he was dismissed for 12), he scored a brilliant century (113) batting at number seven.
A potent English bowling line-up comprising Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir failed to dislodge Mendis, who smashed 15 boundaries and a maximum. He added 117 runs with Chandimal for the seventh wicket to guide Sri Lanka to a respectable total.
Mendis averages 92.17 in seven Test innings and has made a case for himself to bat higher up the order.
#3 Impressive bowling performance by Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando
Asitha Fernando impressed with his bowling in the Manchester Test. The 27-year-old pacer has the ability to move the ball both ways and troubled the English batters throughout the first Test.
In the first innings, he picked up four wickets in 18 overs, and his victims included Ben Duckett (leg before wicket), Ollie Pope (bowled), Joe Root (caught by Dinesh Chandimal) and Mark Wood (bowled).
He followed up his impressive first-innings performance by picking up Ben Duckett and Jamie Smith in the second innings, registering impressive figure of 2-25 from 12 overs.