4th over: Sri Lanka 36-1 (Nissanka 11, Mendis 6) Nissanka attempts a paddle sweet to Archer which I’m not sure is the wisest move. He misses the ball and is smashed on the pad, Archer pleads with the umpire who says not out and Harry Brook decides against sending it upstairs, wisely as it hit Nissanka outside the line. Nissanka is a joy to watch though, he trots down and lofts Archer over cover for four. A single brings Mendis on strike, he rocks back and unleashes a cut past backward point for four more. Decent start from the home side.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 25-1 ( Mishara 10, Nissanka 6) Kusal Mendis is the new batter, Overton keeps him honest with four dots. Seven runs and the wicket off the over.
WICKET! Kamil Mishara c Dawson b Overton 16 (Sri Lanka 24-1)
Jamie Overton replaces Curran and is immediately mullered into the stands over long-on by Mishara. That was some strike. Gone! Mishar tries to repeat the stroke but hits it straight up up and up. Liam Dawson takes a simple catch… did I mention how safe his hands were? England get their first.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 18-0 ( Mishara 10, Nissanka 6) Jofra Archer starts from t’other end. He skims one past the outside edge of Mishara’s bat and looks in fine fettle in his first few balls. DROP! Archer shows his frustration as Liam Dawson shells a chance at midwicket, Mishara given a life. Dawson was almost at full stretch but got there with his left hand and perhaps could have taken it he’d gone with both. Just two off the over but a missed opportunity for England. I don’t want to do Dawson down, but I recall seeing him drop quite a few catches in an England shirt now? Harsh but fair?
1st over: Sri Lanka 16-0 ( Mishara 9, Nissanka 5) The sky is bruised and so are Sam Curran’s figures after just one over, the wee man is flogged for 16 runs off his first including three fours from over pitched deliveries that are given the treatment. Nissanka plays the pick of them with a languid cover drive that threads the field but Mishara didn’t miss out either, picking off two boundaries through the off side with sweet timing.
Sam Curran is going to start with the new ball for England. Let’s play!
Here are the teams:
Sri Lanka: 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kamil Mishara, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (c), 7 Janith Liyanage, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Matheesha Pathirana, 11 Eshan Malinga
England: 1 Phil Salt, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Harry Brook (c), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Liam Dawson, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Adil Rashid
Taha chirps up from the ground and says he doesn’t think there will be any more rain. Wahey.
He also informs me that he has purchased three Sri Lanka floppy hats in the rain delay and that Paolo Nutini’s ‘Candy’ was on his Spotify most played for 2022. He’s like Alan Whicker.
Crucially he’s no longer Under an Iron Sky in Kandy. We’ll have play in just a couple of minutes.
England win the toss and will bowl first
Harry Brook calls the coin correctly at a soggy looking Pallekele, England choose to chase. No brainer.
Match reduced to 17 overs per side
Here we go – official news of a toss in fifteen minutes (2.55pm) and a 3.10pm start.
Still no news on an inspection or toss time from the ground, as soon as I get some intel you’ll be the first to know.
Why not quiz while we wait?
Stand by your beds! The covers are being peeled off in Pallekele.
Updated
No news is probably bad news I’m afraid. There is some epic sport taking place right now though and I don’t mean my elite oeuf scrambling. Djokovic and Sinner are locked in a fifth set over in Melbourne in the men’s Aussie Open semi final. If Djokovic gets there he’ll be the oldest in open era to do so, if he wins the thing then it’ll be his much coveted 25th Grand Slam title. I mean, the guy is ancient – 38 years old. Thirty Eight. (Ahem).
Katy Murrells is on the tools for us here:
Updated
The tarpaulins have been hauled on, which is not good. The whole outfield is now covered and steady rain is falling. So confident am I that we aren’t going to get an update any time soon that I’m off to pad into the kitchen and scramble some eggs.
Before I crack into some Burford Brown’s (very Guardian?) wait a minute, where’s Rooty?
Further bad news, the rain has returned and the covers are being pulled back on in Kandy. We await official news…
In the meantime, here’s Taha on a sorry tale:
Gah. Spoke too soon, the toss is delayed by fifteen minutes while the ground staff complete some clean up. Never mind, we have plenty of pre-match reading for you to get stuck into. Not all of it that uplifting, mind.
The good news is that the toss is about to happen and we should be underway on time.
Taha Hashim is our man at the ground, he’s been covering Jofra’s return and speaking to another player to return to the T20 fold – Phil Salt:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the first of three T20 Internationals between Sri Lanka and England from Kandy. After pulling off a series win in the longer stuff Harry Brook and his men are now getting down to brass tacks with the shorter format.
The T20 World Cup starts in a little over a week and these matches are the final tune up, after a disastrous Ashes campaign it is fair to say that higher level jobs are in the spotlight and immediate futures will likely hinge on how England perform in the tournament.
Some good news – Jofra Archer is back ahead of schedule after pulling his side in Australia, he wasn’t initially named in the squad to play these matches but his early return is a boon for Harry Brook.
Play will begin at 1.30pm GMT all being well, there are reports of some inclement weather in Kandy at the moment, whether the players are perched on the ground in the pouring rain, trying to make themselves a sail… remains to be seen.
I’ll be here OBOing for ya.
