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Four sessions on the field spread over three days of this first test in Galle gave the Sri Lankan players plenty of time to relax. As Joe Root compiled a masterful 228, giving England a 286 lead going into the third inning, each of four sweeps and an RBI single dumped salt on the rather pitiful 135’s self-inflicted wounds, all in first place.
Could the hosts offer any resistance on the second try? By the time the bad light ended proceedings at 5:20 pm local time, we had our answer, with 156 for two on the board and starter Lahiru Thirimanne unbeaten with 75. This was a solid response and a truer reflection of the attack from England in these conditions.
Granted, the deficit was still 130 runs after England’s 421, and Kusal Mendis had lost 15 to a Jack Leach beauty. But over the course of 61 years some degree of atonement was achieved, and with the island’s always wildly unpredictable weather, there is a remote chance that this diligent work could prove revealing.
England, on the other hand, always knew that their first bowling presentation on the tour was mildly flattered by a bit of inexperienced hitting and a great deal of good luck. With six Trials in the subcontinent, including four against the power of India, those days won’t come too often given the resources at Root’s disposal.
Three of the five exposed bowlers – Leach, Dom Bess and Mark Wood – are not deemed worthy of trial contracts. Leach, the senior spinner, is playing his third first-class match in a year and thus not fully slotted yet, while Bess, fresh off a five-fer that even he couldn’t believe, is 23 years old. and he’s learning his trade at the highest level.
It should come as no surprise when a hitter, once established, is able to withstand them for long periods in the heat, as Thirimanne did here. An opportunity fell from his bat – Dom Sibley hit one off the ravine when the southpaw was at 51 and Sam Curran found the advantage – and Leach finally hit late. But with the field somewhat tame, those moments were fleeting.
Thirimanne and his opening partner, Kusal Perera, started after lunch with an opening booth of 101 during a second non-wicketless session. Perera was one of those who felt the wrath of the coaching staff after a stupid reverse sweep on the first day, but while his aggressive instincts held up, like a six he pulled from Leach, there was more intelligence at play the second time around.
Perera, a player with Popeye forearms and a comfortable belly, is also a tough bone. He kept hitting after a nasty blow to the hand from a Wood gorilla that left him winced and led the physio to bandage his fist like a boxer before a fight.
So the left-hander’s disappearance after tea was a disappointment, cutting a long jump from Curran to a deep point back at 62.
But Thirimanne, who only played due to Dimuth Karunaratne’s late retirement, kept his head down as he and Mendis, possibly vying for a spot if the captain returns on Friday, grafted in for another 90 minutes.
Mendis had reached the fold after four successive test ducks, one of them turning his Audi into the Olympic rings. After a gentle punch from Root, which had riddled him in the short leg, a sweet relief came on his seventh installment when he did a square-leg sweep and set off for a gorgeous single.
There was a risk that England would get Mendis back in shape, with Bess in particular offering too many gifts. The maidens disappeared after Stuart Broad’s opening spell and neither spinner was able to generate much pressure.
Eventually, though, Leach got one to spit out and clip Mendis’s glove, with Jos Buttler tucking a smart bag behind the stumps. It could well prove a confidence booster for both men.
Root’s smile at the firing was as wide as it was during the morning session when he turned his 168 overnight into the fourth century double of his testing career. He also became the seventh English hitter to pass 8,000 test runs on the road. Kevin Pietersen got there in 176 innings, two fewer than Root, but notably none of the other six at this elite club averaged more than 49.09 from the captain.
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He continued largely in the same vein as the previous two days, energetically extending a fifth-inning spot with Buttler in 52 races. But when Kookaburra’s misshapen ball was traded, a six-for-49 collapse was triggered with the curiously underused Asitha Fernando in a hat-trick after eliminating Buttler and Curran.
Buttler was caught behind the boisterous right arm closer for 30 and Curran threw for one that moved to the left. With Bess sacrificing herself after a mix-up with her captain, and the queue quite disintegrating, the innings came to an end when Root got stuck attempting the second six of a subcontinental masterclass.
The 286-race deficit suggested a three-day finish, but Sri Lanka held firm. The emergence of Moeen Ali after 13 days of isolation and locker room appearance was one of the highlights of an England team that learned much more about the challenges ahead than on day one.
