CRICKET:THERE WAS an inevitability about the weather, as if a Machiavellian figure had decided that come Test match time the warmest, driest spring in memory would be followed by rain to dampen the expectation.
For all of the morning and into the afternoon in Cardiff, showers hammered in horizontally on a biffing wind, the gaps between them sufficient only to tease. Not until half past three did they relent finally and the sun appeared, leaving a curtailed day’s play of 48 overs.
By its end, it was Sri Lanka, winning the toss and, ignoring the temptation to bowl first as England certainly would have considered, who had the better of the opening exchanges of the summer, closing on 133 for two, with Tharanga Paranavitana resuming today on 58, after three-and-a-half hours of diligence, and Mahela Jayawardene on four.
Until Chris Tremlett found his stride in the last hour and delivered a testing spell, and Jimmy Anderson began to hoop the ball this way and that as the ball polished up a mahogany red, the seam bowling looked so rusty that the fitness and conditioning coach might consider adding WD40 to the supplements, smoothies and energy gels that constitute a diet on match days.
The Sri Lanka captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan, in his first Test in charge, made an accomplished 50 in an opening partnership of 93 with Paranavitana before he chopped Graeme Swann on to his stumps in attempting to force through the offside.
Then Kumar Sangakkara, close to regaining his place at the top of the world Test batting rankings, struck a couple of crisp boundaries before pushing forward to Anderson, with Matt Prior claiming a catch.
Aleem Dar turned down the appeal, but on referral, and following considerable deliberation by the third umpire, Rod Tucker, that suggested doubts on his part, it was overturned and the batsman had to go.
It was not very satisfactory: HotSpot appeared to show contact but it may have been part of the sticker on the front of the bat, which glowed when shown front on, as the blade turned slightly after the ball had gone. Perhaps Tucker, privy to the stump microphone as part of his technological aids, heard the edge and could synchronise it with the camerawork. Sri Lanka were happy enough with the decision.
It certainly aided Andrew Strauss’s mood after the England skipper was forced to chop and change his bowling in search of a combination that would do more than challenge with the occasional ball. Both Dilshan and Paranavitana have centuries under their belts in the brief lead-up to the first Test, most recently in the second innings at Derby where, following on, they put on 200 for the first wicket.
There is a contrast in style, with Paranavitana tall and watchful, wafting the ball away square on the offside and accumulating to leg, while Dilshan, with the responsibility of leadership, reined himself in to an almost unnatural degree. The pair ran between the wickets with considerable understanding and trust, and no alarm, the left-right combination, as they rotated the strike, further disrupting bowlers trying to find consistency. It was good, sound, almost old-fashioned opening batsmanship.
While England, as expected, had omitted Steve Finn from their original 12, Dilshan raised more than one pair of eyebrows at the toss by announcing that rather than a battery of seamers and the lone spin of Rangana Herath, they would in fact be playing Ajantha Mendis, the mystery twirler.
As much of the information during the past week seemed to suggest he was on the verge of returning home with a back injury this came as a surprise. Dilshan had, he said, made a late decision having looked at the pitch and deciding that it would turn at some stage. Whether it proves shrewd only time will tell, but at least it brings something a touch more exotic to the contest.
GuardianService
