SL crumble to England A

Sri Lanka’s poor start to their tour of England continued today as they were bowled out for just 118 against the England A side. Jon Lewis took three wickets to leave him with nine for the match, while youngster Stuart Broad also took 3-17.

A gloomy day began with the tourists on 68-5, and looking to rebuild sufficiently to give themselves something to bowl at. For half an hour Tillekaratne Dilshan and Chamara Kapugedera resisted without too much trouble, until Liam Plunkett nabbed Kapugedera’s wicket, and the floodgates opened.

Lewis dismissed Farveez Maharoof, lobbing one to mid-on, and the impressive Broad persuaded Dilshan to poke the ball in the direction of Alistair Cook at second slip. Broad and Ravi Bopara finished off the tail, and the 39 runs England A needed to win were a mere formality, with Cook and Key knocking them off shortly after lunch.

England will have to think hard about their selections for the first Test next week. Lewis impressed greatly here, and with Sajid Mahmood seemingly pencilled in for a debut, it appears the final place may come down to a choice between the new-ball pairing in this game, Lewis and Plunkett. Whoever they end up facing, the Sri Lankan batting lineup still have a lot of work to do, after some awful displays on tour so far.

Sri Lanka 179
Tillakaratne Dilshan 47, Chamara Kapugedera 36
Jon Lewis 6-49, Liam Plunkett 3-47

England A 259
Rob Key 63, Ed Joyce 49
Nuwan Kulasekara 4-83, Farveez Maharoof 3-41

Sri Lanka 118
Tillakaratne Dilshan 40, Kumar Sangakkara 27
Stuart Broad 3-17, Jon Lewis 3-41, Ravinder Bopara 2-11

England A 41-0
Alastair Cook 22*, Rob Key 9*

England A won by 10 wickets