Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva outfoxed his English counterpart Ollie Pope with a tactical masterstroke on day four (August 24) of the Old Trafford Test, receiving high praise from the great Kumar Sangakkara for his ploy.
Chasing 205, England had built a platform, reaching 51-1 in 12 overs. That was when de Silva tried something different, hoping to change the tide in their favour. With left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya bowling from over the wicket, close fielders were positioned, one at first slip and another at leg slip.
Jayasuriya aimed to pitch the ball significantly outside the leg stump. With that angle, an lbw dismissal was impossible, and England could have chosen to kick the ball away had they been focussed only on survival. The line is traditionally considered 'negative' but what Sri Lanka were trying to do was force the batters to do something extravagant. Dan Lawrence whipped the first ball for a four before taking a single to give the strike to Ollie Pope. The stand-in England captain missed a reverse paddle off the third ball and padded away the next.
The fifth delivery of the over was when Sri Lanka’s gamble paid off. Pope went for a reverse sweep from the defensive line once more, but he miscued it, the ball hitting the toe-end of the bat and popping up to de Silva, at first slip. The hosts’ skipper was ecstatic, pointing his finger in joy, apparently telling his teammates that the ploy had worked.
Kamindu Mendis registered his fifth fifty-plus score in seven Test innings en route to his 113 against England.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 24, 2024
He averages 92.16 in the format! 😮
Follow the match live here: https://t.co/dyFGD5jKRS#ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/HqDHQqDAXB
Sangakkara: I think we should all just shut up and give credit to De Silva
Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara commentating on the match on Sky Sports, was full of praise for De Silva for thinking out of the box.
"Well I think we should all just shut up up here and give credit to Dhanajaya de Silva as captain. They thought of something different, something completely different, and Jayasuriya has delivered, of course with a little help from Ollie Pope. The cue end of the bat has happened a couple of times. Dhananjaya de Silva saying, 'I told you so'," Sangakkara said on air.
The wicket brought back Sri Lanka into the match, with debutant Milan Rathnayake then pinning a set Lawrence lbw for a 54-ball 34, reducing the home side to 70-3.
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