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Rain delays Sri Lanka v England day two
GALLE, Sri Lanka, Jan 15, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Rain delayed the start of the
second day’s play between Sri Lanka and England in Galle on Friday with the
visitors eyeing a big first innings lead.
England ended day one on 127 for two with skipper Joe Root batting on 66
and Jonny Bairstow on 47 after the two-match series, which was aborted due to
the coronavirus in March, finally got underway.
After a full day’s play on Thursday, rain fell just before the start of
play on day two with the groundsmen covering the pitch and the rest of the
playing surface.
Root, who scored his 50th fifty in 98 Tests, and Bairstow put on an
unbroken stand of 110 as England were eight runs behind Sri Lanka’s 135 at
stumps.
Off-spinner Dom Bess returned career-best figures of 5-30 and helped
skittle out Sri Lanka in two sessions after the hosts elected to bat first.
Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur on Friday morning said his team’s batting was
“very very disappointing to say the least”.
“The worst thing we can do is try searching for wickets to pull it back. If
we knock them over for 270 and then we get 270, they’ll need to get 130-odd
to win. That’s the kind of chat we’ve had,” the South African said.
The series, which is part of the inaugural World Test championship, is
being played behind closed doors to avoid spreading the coronavirus.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1122 hrs