England vs Sri Lanka day 3: Dilshan narrowly misses double ton, rain plays spoilsport

Sri Lankan skipper, Tillakaratne Dilshan fell just seven short of a maiden double century as Sri Lanka homed in on England’s sizeable first innings total of 486. Despite overcast conditions, Dilshan took advantage of some inconsistent English bowling to notch up the highest score by a Sri Lankan at Lords, surpassing Sidath Wettimuny’s 190.

Dilshan dominance ensued on Day III at Lords

If conditions on Day II favoured the men wielding the willow, England’s seamers should have fancied themselves as the ball moved both on and off the pitch in morning session. However, instead of troubling the Lankan batsmen, the bowlers made life extremely difficult for wicket-keeper Matt Prior as he had to throw his weight around quite a bit to prevent extras.

Dilshan who took advantage of men on the boundary by playing himself in, launched himself on Graeme Swann to bring up his 150. Kumar Sangakkara who has been a cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s success over the past decade played cautiously as he made a conscious effort to improve his poor record on English soil. Despite his valiance, Chris Tremlett got the better of him dismissing the former Lanka captain for just 26.

Dilshan on the other hand put his foot on the accelerator slightly as England went for the second new ball. Eventually, it was Chris Tremlett who pegged back the dominant Dilshan hitting him on the same thumb he had hit the previous day. The opener fought on bravely going past his previous best of 168 till Steve Finn produced an absolute peach that jagged back in of the pitch only to ricochet of Dilshan’s thigh on to the timber.

Steve Finn finally managed to get the better of Dilshan

When the skipper departed Sri Lanka were just 116 runs behind with seven wickets in hand. Dilshan known more as an explosive opening batsman in the shorter versions of the game, carried Sri Lanka through when questions were asked of them after being skittled out for 82 in the previous test which they loss by an innings and 14 runs. Dilshan’s 193, the highest score by an Asian skipper against England at Lord’s, was punctuated with 20 fours and 2 sixes and came at an amazing strike rate of 76.

When rain stopped play, Jayawardene looked set on 40 and with hundreds on his two previous visits, England will have their task cut out to prevent a third. As much as Sri Lanka would be delighted with their improved showing in the second test, England boasting of the bowling attack would be bitterly disappointed especially after their batsmen had dug them out of a 22-3 situation on the first morning. This is what the England bowling coach, David Saker had to say,

“The danger for a cricketer is disrespecting the game. When you have good days, you sometimes become lackadaisical. If you do that in this game, it has a habit of biting you on the bottom pretty quickly.”

With more than 50 overs lost on the third day, this test seemed to ambling towards a draw, but then stranger things have happened in test cricket. One just needs to look aback at the last test to know how quickly a game changes.