SRI LANKA clinched a 75-run victory over England despite a brilliant century from Jonathan Trott on day four of the first Test at Galle yesterday. The hosts required eight further wickets while Andrew Strauss’s side needed to score 230 more runs to reach their improbable victory target.
England battled hard during the first two sessions of the day, but lost their last six wickets for just 31 runs as they were bowled out for 264 in the first over after tea with a day and a session to spare.
Spinner Ranjana Herath ended with 12 wickets in the match as he claimed second-innings figures of six for 97, while Trott’s inspired 112 proved to be in vain as Mahela Jayawardene’s side sealed their first home Test win since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan in July 2010.
Sri Lanka assume a 1-0 lead in the two-match series while England – who have lost four Tests on the bounce – now need to win in Colombo to ensure that they remain the top-ranked Test side in the world.
Skipper Strauss reflected: “In truth we made too many mistakes to win the game. We left ourselves too much to do, mainly with our batting in the first innings.”
Herath and Suraj Randiv, who thrived against the tourists’ meek batting, accounted for all 10 of England’s wickets in the second innings, which fell well short of an imposing target of 340.
Trott was the lone star for England as he recorded his seventh Test ton, with only Matt Prior’s 41 providing sufficient support.
Kevin Pietersen looked apprehensive and uncertain from the outset and had added just a single to his overnight score of 29 when he fell in the third over. His shot was a grim reprise of Andrew Strauss’s dismissal on day three, down the track and hitting a turning ball straight to mid-wicket, where Jayawardene held on to take the catch.
Trott was unerring and composed as he battled away tirelessly on a slow track, while wickets continued to fall at the other end: Herath next claimed an lbw verdict against Ian Bell, who fell for 13, with the score at 152.
Trott, the gutsy England number three, brought up his century with a crisp sweep off Herath for four, ending a sequence of 18 singles as he celebrated in front of the Barmy Army, who occupied Galle Fort throughout.
But England’s joy was short-lived as Prior fell for 41, sweeping Herath hard towards short-leg, where Lahiru Thirimanne clung on after absorbing the impact with his body in the same over.
Debutant Samit Patel – selected in preference to Ravi Bopara – fell for nine, clearing his front foot as he picked out Tillakaratne Dilshan at short extra-cover to hand Herath his second five-wicket haul of the match.
But the big wicket fell in the next over, as Trott turned an innocuous delivery from Randiv to Dilshan at leg-slip, and suddenly England were on the brink.
Graeme Swann lasted only nine balls before the relentless Herath claimed another lbw and Randiv saw off James Anderson and Monty Panesar with successive deliveries in the first over after tea to seal the victory.
It was another chastening defeat for Andy Flower’s side, whose slump following the English summer appears all the more alarming after the promise that lessons had been learned.
England will now have to make a significant improvement in the second Test in Colombo, which gets under way in April, if they are to preserve their status at the top of the world Test rankings.

SCORECARD

SRI LANKA first innings 318
England first innings 193
Sri Lanka second innings 214
ENGLAND second innings (o.n 111-2)
A. Strauss c Dilshan b Herath 27
A. Cook c P. Jayawardene b Herath 14
J. Trott C Dilshan b Randiv 112
K. Pietersen c M. Jayawardene b Randiv 30
I. Bell lbw b Herath 13
M. Prior c Thirimanne b Herath 41
S. Patel c Dilshan b Herath 9
S. Broad not out 5
G. Swann lbw b Herath 1
J. Anderson c P. Jayawardene b Randiv 5
M. Panesar c Dilshan b Randiv 0
Extras: (lb-6, w-1) 7
Total: (all out, 99 overs) 264
Fall of wickets: 1-31, 2-48, 3-118, 4-152, 5-233, 6-252, 7-256, 8-259, 9-264.
Bowling: Welegedara 13-2-40-0, Lakmal 10-5-22-0, Herath 38-9-97-6, Dilshan 12-1-25-0, Randiv 26-2-74-2 (w-1)