Day 1 | England vs Sri Lanka | 1st Test | Cardiff

UK/Ireland/Australia users – you can go here for highlights





Part 1 Direct Video Link

Part 2 Direct Video Link









Watch Day 1 highlights – England vs Sri Lanka – the 1st Test at Cardiff played on May 26, 2011

Scoreline: Sri Lanka (1st Inn) 133/2 – Paranavitana 58 no, Dilshan 50

Speaking as a neutral: You watch Sri Lanka play almost all their recent test cricket in either SL or India, and then you turn on your TV one day and see them in England. And it’s been raining.

You’ve watched Paranavitana in the subcontinent and there’s been nothing much to excite you. And if you’re really honest about your feelings, what you really expect from him is either a quick end or a really painful slow end. But an end, all right.

The first thing I thought today when I tuned into the game was, “What’s Sanga doing opening the batting?” Paranavitana had just played a shot at the time. The confusion repeated itself every time I was distracted/half watching, and he played a shot. Not the initial look or movement, but once the shot was on its way, he looked like Sangakkara each time. His helmet with its typical Sanga peak also probably added to it (Incidentally, Sanga walked in today with a more regular helmet). In short, if someone told Paranavitana that he was the distracted cricket fan’s Sangakkara, he’d probably take that.

Don’t you love it when someone gets you to read through a load of bull and then attempts to justify it with a sentence that begins “In short…”