Essex v Sri Lankans – Tour Test match ended in a draw
The tour Test match between Sri Lanka and Essex, played at County Ground Chelmsford, between June 10 and June 12, 2011, ended in a draw, after three days of play.
Sri Lankan skipper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Thilan-Thusara-Samaraweera-c93199, chose to bat first after winning the toss. The Lankans declared their first innings at 337/9.
The openers, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hettige-Don-Rumesh-Lahiru-Thirimanne-c63124, gave a stable start to their side by constructing a decent partnership of 71 runs.
The first wicket fell when Paranavitana was caught behind by the wicket-keeper, Ben Foakes, off the bowling of Tymal http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mills-c76321. Paranavitana scored 27 runs with the help of four boundaries.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779 was the next batsman to join Thirimanne on the crease. The duo gave a tough time to Essex bowlers, by setting a remarkable stand of 152 runs.
The 21-year-old debutant, Thirimanne, went ahead to score 104 runs before he was retired on his team management’s decision, at a team total of 223.
Following Thirimanne’s departure, none of the Sri Lankan batsman could stay long on the wicker except Sangakkara, who became the top scorer by amassing 153 runs with 23 fours and one six.
Essex’s left-arm pacer, Reece Topley, gave a brilliant bowling performance and became the top wicket-taker for his side by picking four wickets, while the right-arm medium pacer, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ravinder-Singh-Bopara-c84233, picked two wickets in 11 overs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mark-Lewis-Pettini-c74678, completely failed in the face of the strong Lankan bowling attack.
The first man to go was Godleman, who was trapped lbw by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MF-Maharoof-c1944. On the other hand, Pettini went to the pavilion for a duck, caught by Paranavitana off the bowling of Thisara Perera.
The third wicket also fell in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Short-c90107 succession, when Bopara was caught by Sangakkara off Maharoof. Resultantly, Essex were on 24 for the loss of three quick wickets.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RN-ten-Doeschate-c2338 and the two batsmen together took hold of the tough situation. The duo managed to take their side to 195.
Sri Lankan managed to grab the fourth wicket when Westley was caught behind by the wicket-keeper, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LD-Chandimal-c1831, after scoring 99 runs.
Foakes then came to share crease with Ryan but could not stand the attacking bowling by Perera and was dismissed after scoring just five runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Timothy-James-Phillips-c94031 was the next man in and crafted a partnership of 52 runs with Ryan, taking his side’s total above 300.
Ryan contributed 164 runs to his side’s total before he was bowled out by the spinner, Suraj Randiv. Phillip remained unbeaten on 37 runs, including six fours and one six.
Essex ended their innings on a total of 351 all out.
Randiv was the pick of the bowlers for his side. He picked four wickets in 18 overs while Perera and Maharoof claimed two wickets each.
Sri Lanka took a miserable batting start to their second innings. The first two wickets of openers, Paranavitana and Thirimanne were uprooted at a total of 7 runs.
The third wicket also fell in early succession, when Chandimal was caught by Ryan off the bowling of Topley.
Sangakkara and Samaraweera remained not out, scoring 19 and 11 runs respectively. The hosts ended their innings on 38 after the loss of three wickets.
Topley claimed two wickets for his side, while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Maurice-Chambers-c1934 picked one wicket in seven overs.
Although the match was drawn, the Essex side did extremely well against the Lankans.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rose-c86842 Bowl in Southampton, on June 16, 2011.
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