If any of his friends believed his audacious prediction, he isn’t likely to have any left today as they would have been taken to the cleaners.
England’s chances of winning the first Test versus Sri Lanka in Galle Thursday bordered between slim and none after being set a mammoth 340. England had never previously chased more than 332 in the fourth innings to win a Test since 1928 against Australia. And England wasn’t likely to top that on the road and predictably crashed to a 75-run defeat.
Rangana Herath, who had match figures of 12 wickets for 171 runs limited England to 264. He spun his way into the record book by becoming the first left-arm spinner to claim more than 10 wickets in a match as England’s lost its last six wickets for 31 runs. Off-spinner spinner Suraj Randiv claimed the other four for 74. The only England batsman who played confidently against the spinners was Jonathon Trott who scored 112 in a losing cause.
The world’s No. 1 Test team has now lost four matches on the trot. Pakistan handed England a 3-0 drubbing last month.
“Any Test win is important, but to do it against the best side in the world is a moment to cherish,” said an elated Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene. England captain Andrew Strauss stated the obvious: “If you want to win Test matches you need to get runs on the board and we haven’t done that.” The teams meet in the second and final Test starting at Colombo Tuesday.
