Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Update from Sri Lanka: Lancashire v Sri Lankan State Services Day Two

Luis Reece and Liam Livingstone leave the field after the match ended in a draw.
The Sri Lankan State Services enjoyed the better of the final day of Lancashire’s tour of Sri Lanka as the game ended in a draw.

The hosts finally declared on 347/8 declared after Lancashire had toiled in the heat and struggled to take wickets on a surface which had become terribly flat and Diyathana (103) went on to make a fluent century to frustrate the visitors further.

Lancashire batted for a further 15 overs reaching 80/0 before the match ended in a draw, after the visitors had overturned a first-innings lead of 77 runs.

Glen Chapple, Ashley Giles and Mark Chilton.
It proved to be a frustrating first session for the tourists who remained wicketless throughout the morning as their hosts piled on the runs. Heshan played with a degree of fortune as he avoided an LBW appeal and an attempted catch from Steven Croft, but he was otherwise fluent as he helped the Sri Lankan Service to pass 100.

Heshan (63) went on to reach his half-century with four boundaries as the introduction of spin in the form of Stephen Parry and Simon Kerrigan did nothing to aid Lancashire’s search for a breakthrough. Prior to this fixture, Heshan had scored 764 runs this season and was  regarded as a respectable opponent for Lancashire on a surface which offered little assistance.  

His partner, Diyantha, then reached a fifty of his own with seven fours as the pair made 108 runs for the third-wicket partnership, taking the hosts to 177/2 at lunch. 

Lancashire had next to no luck in the morning session, but were rewarded for their persistence when play resumed. At 183/3 Heshan was caught by Alex Davies, with Luis Reece claiming his wicket as he encouraged a thin edge through to Davies who took a good low catch.

That was only Reece’s second ball after lunch and he continued to make headway when he bowled Gebrival (11) giving Reece then figures of 2 for 12. Diyantha became the main threat in the Sri Lankan line-up and he remained untroubled for most of the afternoon session as he worked his may towards a deserved century.

Arron Lilley’s introduction made him Lancashire’s 13th player to take part in the game and Reece’s spell finally came to an end after he had beaten the outside edge on countless occasions in his eight-over stint.

Lancashire had become a greater threat with the ball after lunch and soon claimed their fifth wicket when Hemakantha (14) was removed by Luke Procter. The Sri Lankan batsman was caught playing on the back-foot and pinned in front of all three stumps. 

Diyantha then moved to three figures with a four through deep-backward square leg, the twelfth of his innings, and although he had struggled slightly through the nineties he showed control to reach a century that irritated the visitors.

Lancashire entered the field this morning with their hosts on 75/2.
However, the very next ball Diyantha played the pull shot to Kerrigan into the leg side and Gavin Griffiths snapped up a smart head-high catch at mid- wicket, eventually falling for 103. Tea was taken immediately with the hosts now on 263/6 and they excelled past Lancashire’s total of 270/8 after the interval.

The scoring rate did not suffer after Diyantha was removed as Priyadarshana hit Kerrigan for consecutive sixes over the long on boundary, as the score moved swiftly to 285/6.

Lancashire took the new ball as soon as it became available and this signaled the start of a spell of success for the tourists when Priyadarshana was run out for 44. He pushed Lilley into a vacant leg side field, but Lilley swooped quickly and through to the keepers end where Davies whipped off the bails.

Lilley was then involved in another wicket soon after at 336/8, as Rathnapriva was trapped LBW for 35, shuffling across his stumps as he attempted to turn the ball into the leg side.

The hosts declared with a slender lead of 77 runs and all that was left was for some of Lancashire’s batsmen to make the most of the chance to practice against what turned out to be a worthy opponent.

Toby Lester was unable to bowl due to a side strain and Lancashire captain Tom Smith was carrying a slight shoulder injury, although both injuries were relatively minor.

Lancashire's bowling figures are as follows: Lester 1/20, Edwards 0/31, Kerrigan 2/60, Clark 0/66, Parry 0/25, Croft 0/9, Lilley 1/44, Reece 2/25, Griffiths 0/43, Procter 1/10.

Reece (29) and Ashwell Prince opened the innings once more and the latter made a good start, hitting first ball of the innings for four. Prince started to accelerate and retired on 40 to allow Liam Livingstone (10*) the chance to have some time in the middle. 



As the sunshine was replaced by increasing cloud cover, the match drifted and the players eventually shook hands, bringing Lancashire’s pre-season tour of Sri Lanka to a close.

Match information and photographs courtesy of Neil Adams. Scorecard information courtesy of Mike Moore and Phil Clark.


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