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SLCB President's XI v England XI, Colombo, 1st day
Panesar mops up after Tharanga 50
Andrew Miller in Colombo
November 25, 2007
Sri Lanka Board President's XI 298 for 9 (Tharanga 86, de Silva 1*, Amerasinghe 0*, Hoggard 3-57) v England XI
Scorecard
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Matthew Hoggard showed good form with 3 for 57
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Steve Harmison's new back injury cast a shadow over what was otherwise
an encouraging day's labour for England's bowlers, as Matthew Hoggard
and Monty Panesar warmed up for the first Test with three wickets
apiece. By the close of the first day at the Nondescripts Cricket
Club, the Sri Lanka Board President's XI had slipped to 298 for 9,
having at one stage been well placed on 287 for 5.
The mainstay of the Sri Lankan performance was once again Upul
Tharanga, who enhanced his own prospects of a Test recall with a
fluent innings of 86 to add to his century in England's opening
warm-up. Another member of Sri Lanka's Test squad, Jehan Mubarak,
chipped in with 68 from 143 deliveries, while the young wicketkeeper,
Kaushal Silva, made a dogged 53 despite being struck a painful blow on
the wrist by a loose shy from Kevin Pietersen.
The talking point of the day, however, was Harmison's injury. It
occurred after the third ball of his 11th over, just as he was
returning for his fourth spell of the day. Up until that point he
appeared to be gathering rhythm and confidence in equal measures, and
was markedly improved on his lacklustre six-over performance earlier
in the week. He bounded to the crease with menace and picked up his
first wicket of the tour when the President's XI captain, Tillakaratne
Dilshan, spooned an attempted pull to James Anderson at mid-on.
With competition for places high among England's fast bowlers, Hoggard
and Anderson were handed the new ball, and Hoggard might have struck
with the fourth ball of the morning when Mahela Udawatte survived a
raucous appeal for caught-behind. Hoggard, who experimented with
cutters and slower balls in a bid to overcome the conditions, did
eventually get his man on 18, caught by a diving Michael Vaughan at
mid-on to end an opening stand of 55.
Anderson, who had also been suffering from a back problem in the early
stages of the tour, bowled a hostile but luckless first spell, and it
was the unlikely character of Ravi Bopara who provided England's next
breakthrough. Although his principal aim in this match is to outscore
Owais Shah at No. 6, Bopara did his prospects no harm whatsoever in a
waspish 11-over spell. Tharanga was badly dropped by Vaughan off a
no-ball, before Malinda Warnapura tried to force one off the back foot
through the covers, and edged a simple chance through to Matt Prior
for 16.
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Monty Panesar picked up two wickets in two balls
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Dilshan, who made a duck in the first of these two fixtures, signalled
his intent by smashing an Anderson bouncer out of the ground and into
a passing tuk-tuk, but he fell in Harmison's second over after lunch.
Tharanga was the next to go, well caught by Ian Bell at second slip as
Anderson cramped him for room outside off stump, and before Chamara
Kapugedera could pick up where he had left off in the first match, he
was expertly snaffled by Bopara at short midwicket, off the bowling of
Hoggard.
Thereafter England found the going somewhat tougher, as Mubarak and
Silva dug in for a 105-run stand, but with the light beginning to
fade, Panesar got in on the act. With his rhythm improving throughout
a 22-over spell, he grabbed two wickets in two balls, as Silva popped
a simple chance to Alastair Cook at short leg, and Kaushal
Lokuarachchi played back to be lbw for 0.
Hoggard then chipped in with one last wicket of a typically
hard-grafting spell, as Mubarak nicked an offcutter to Prior, and
three balls before the close Panesar had Chanaka Welegedara caught at
short leg, again by Cook. It was an uplifting end to England's day,
but Harmison's injury still casts a shadow.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
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