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England face their first washout
By Marlon Fernandopulle
Left handers Andrew Strauss and Ian Blackwell sparkled with half centuries as England’s only warm up game against Sri Lanka Cricket President’s Eleven at the Moratuwa Stadium was disrupted by the prevailing inclement weather yesterday.

After rain delayed the start by over two hours play finally commenced at 12.30, with the overs restricted to 38. England who won the toss and batted first hit up 237/8 wickets to which the hosts replied with 76 for 1 wicket in 17.1 overs before rain ended play around 5.00 p m .England rested skipper Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood.

Sri Lanka medium pacers Nandika Ranjith and Akalanka Ganegama started off well but failed to make full use of the heavy overcast conditions in the afternoon. Ranjith trapped the out of form Vikram Solanki for a duck in his second over. However wicket keeper Chris Read and Andrew Strauss stringed together a 56 run stand before Read drove at a wide delivery off Gayan Wijekoon to give a regulation catch to the wicket keeper. Ricky Clark was bowled in the next over by Dinuk Hettiarachchi and England slumped to 63 for 3 in the 15th over.

Left handed Andrew Strauss and Ian Balckwell then prevented any further loss as they first consolidated and later unleashed some powerful blows to help the tourist build a challenging total.

The strongly built Ian Blackwell who made his debut during the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka hit three huge sixes as he reached his half century in only 42 balls. The pair added 110 runs off only 94 balls before Blackwell mistimed a pull off Wijekoon and was caught at extra cover.

The South African born Strauss who is making a strong claim for a place in the team continued to accumulate runs on both sides of the wicket. He reached his half century in 56 balls before opening his shoulders to increase the momentum of the England innings.

Strauss who was dropped by wicket keeper Charitha Sylvester when on 13 and Micheal Vandort when on 64 was finally out for 83. His 88 ball stay included 5 boundaries and one six. After a late flurry from Gareth Betty (20 in 10 balls) England ended on a challenging 237/8 off their 38 overs.

Sri Lanka began confidently with Micheal Van dort and Saman Jayantha stroking the ball confidently against England medium pacers James Anderson,Richard Johnson and James Kirtley.Van dort played with his usual flair cutting and driving elegantly while Jayantha looked more aggressive in his approach.

The pair added 50 runs for the first wicket in only 10 overs and were looking dangerous before Jayantha holed out to Vikram Solanki at cover point for 24.A few minutes later the heavens opened up and forced the players to the pavilion with Sri Lanka 76 for 1 wicket in the 18th over.

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