CURRAN, BUTTLER REVIVE ENGLAND ON TURNING TRACK
Sri Lanka squandered a position of strength allowing England to gain the initiative on the first day of the second Test at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy yesterday. On a pitch that was already providing lavish amounts of turn and bounce, which will only appreciate over the course of the next few days, the 285 runs England amassed in their first innings could prove to be a challenging deficit for Sri Lanka to wipe out.at stumps,sri Lanka were 26 for one, with Dimuth Karunaratne surviving all of the 12 overs that the home team faced, and remaining unbeaten on
19 while night-watchman Malinda Pushpakumara was also at the crease on one. Kaushal Silva was bowled by Jack Leach four overs from the end of play. That Sri Lanka had England on 120 for 4 and then later at 212 for seven, and still conceded what could prove to be an above par score on this wicket, reflected an inability to build on momentum, in conditions that favoured their spinners from the first ball.
It also reflected the efforts of Sam Curran and Jos Buttler who scored vital half centuries, absorbing long spells of the spin bowling in crafting their respective innings and ensuring that England would make the best use of batting first after Captain Joe Root won the toss.
Sri Lanka’s bowling successes expectedly revolved around their spin with Dilruwan Perera once again proving to be the main contributor with four for 61.
Left-arm spinner Pushpakumara, a like-forlike replacement for Rangana Herath who retired after the first Test, had proven to be a workhorse with the ball in hand, bowling a 22-over first spell spanning sections of the morning and afternoon sessions, ultimately finishing with three for 89. Akila Dananjaya, who is scheduled to have his bowling action tested after this match, picked up the wickets of Rory Burns and Jack Leach, but had also felt the full force of Curran, who scored five of his six sixes against him. Evident also was the depth that England enjoy in their batting, that two of their three highest partnerships of the innings came after they had lost seven wickets, Curran featuring in both those stands before he was last man out.
With England on 225 for nine, the situation was tailor-made for Curran’s big hitting, and he managed to pull it off to great success, scoring seven sixes and a boundary in his 119-ball innings.
Curran’s last 46 runs came off 62 balls, and more importantly helped setup an innings high 60-run partnership with James Anderson for the last wicket – the highest 10th wicket partnership for England in Sri Lanka.
But Curran’s heroics that ended when he holed out at long off for 67, was preceded by Buttler’s rescue act, having walked in with England on
65 for three midway through the first session of the game. Buttler’s first runs were a sign of things to come in his innings, having got off the mark with a lap-sweep before making it, along with the conventional and reverse sweeps, a staple in his innings.
So dependent was he on sweeping Sri Lanka’s spinners that all seven of his boundaries were scored of one of those variations, along with a majority of his other runs. It helped him counterattack his way to an 11th Test half century in just 50 balls but also lay the foundation for a 45-run partnership with Moeen Ali for the fifth wicket with Buttler monopolising a majority of the strike and the runs in that stand. Sri Lanka made inroads and took command once again, when they removed Ali, Ben Foakes and Buttler within the space of 37 runs.
But that progress was blown away by Curran who marshalled the tail with partnerships of 45 with Adhil Rashid for the eighth-wicket and then Anderson.
Suranga Lakmal accounted for the only wicket to fall to a fast bowler when he had Keaton Jennings caught behind in the fifth over of the day. Ben Stokes promoted to one drop, struck two boundaries before he was bowled by Perera, England also lost Root and Burns before lunch. Sri Lanka took three wickets in the second session despite Buttler’s resistance, before Curran marauded through in the final period of play.