Honours even in Galle Test after Day 1

Captain Mahela Jayawardena (51) and Tillekaratne Dilshan (7) were the unbeaten batsmen when bad light stopped play. Only 55 of the allotted 90 overs could be possible, which was primarily due to the wet field which delayed the start of the morning session by an hour and a half.

Fast bowler Steve Harmison picked up three of the four wickets to fall on the day – sending out encouraging signs to English fans that he may be finding his old sting and rhythm back. A series of injuries had kept the lanky pacer out of action for a while.

Sri Lanka’s skipper, as consistent as ever, struck his 31st Test fifty to keep his team afloat after a couple of quick wickets had left the Islanders in a reeling state at one point.

Earlier, Michael Vaughan won the toss and decided to field first, his pace bowlers exploited the newly re-laid pitch at the Galle International Stadium by snapping the openers early. Stuart Broad was left out of the final XI, giving room to strike bowler Matthew Hoggard, who missed the Kandy Test due to injury.

Left-arm swing bowler Ryan Sidebottom trapped Michael Vandort LBW for 18 to make an early breakthrough. Paul Collingwood dropped Upul Tharanga at slip on 15 but the batsman failed to take advantage of the second chance when Harmison trapped him LBW for 16. The hosts were in totters at 44/2 which brought their skipper to the crease.

The captain and deputy duo of Jayawardena and Sangakkara began the recuperation work. The duo added 88 runs for the third-wicket before the latter was eventually dismissed in the post-Tea session, caught by Monty Panesar in the deep off Harmison. The number one batsman in the ICC Test Rankings, Kumara Sangakkara, scored 46 runs.

The batsman who followed, Chamara Silva, struggled for 26 balls for a single run before Harmison induced an edge of him to Ian Bell at second slip. Harmison finished with figures of 3/28 from 13 overs.

This is the first international fixture at the Galle stadium after the 2004 Tsunami destroyed the stadium. Sri Lanka left out Jehan Mubarak for the Test and recalled experienced Dilshan, while handing left-arm seam bowler Chanaka Welegedara his maiden Test cap in place of the injured Randi Dilhara Fernando.

Ryan Sidebottom (1/33), Matthew Hoggard (0/48) and Monty Panesar (0/25) toiled away on the hot day, giving good support to Steve Harmison. Michael Vaughan will hope to restrict the Sri Lankans to a total below the 300-mark, considering the record of star opposition bowler Muttiah Muralidaran at the venue.