Sri Lanka vs England, 1st test: 4 things learnt

#3. Sri Lankan batsmen lacked application:

Angelo Mathews

None of the Lankan batsmen showed the requisite temperament and technique except Angelo Mathews. However, Mathews too was guilty of playing forward to a short-pitched ball from Moeen Ali in the first innings and got caught in the forward short-leg.

In the second innings, he was unlucky to be dismissed off a delivery that jumped suddenly off the pitch. However, he scored half-centuries in both the innings and is the only Lankan batsman who can keep his head high.

Other batsmen like Chandimal and Dickwella suffered from poor shot-selection in the first innings. Chandimal scored 33 and Dickwella made 28 and both looked like playing big knocks before throwing their wickets away.

Kushal Mendis played some excellent sweep shots in the second innings but got dismissed by playing an unnecessary attacking shot. He made 45, but should have played a bigger knock to frustrate the English bowlers.

The Lankan batsmen could not exhibit the proper footwork against the turning ball. They should have stayed more on their backfoot instead of committing themselves too early on the front-foot.

Tailender Suranga Lakmal did the same and his brief innings demonstrated that the English spinners could actually be handled with better footwork. In general, the standard of the Lankan batting was below par and resembled that of a club side at times.