London [UK], September 10 (ANI): Sri Lankan bowling coach Aaqib Javed expressed that pacer Asitha Fernando has potential to be the “greatest-ever fast bowler” for his country following his heroics on the tour to England.
Though Sri Lanka offered its moments of fight and resilience, they lost the three-match Test series to England 2-1, but not without handing the hosts a painful eight-run loss at The Oval on Monday, their first-ever to the Island nation in 10 years at home and just fourth against them at home.
Asitha was one of the brightest spots for Sri Lanka in the series, ending as the leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps in six innings across three matches at an average of 24.64 and an economy rate of 4.23, with the best bowling figures of 5/102. He took a four-wicket and a five-wicket haul in the series. Chris Woakes (13 wickets) and Gus Atkinson (12 wickets) were the distant rivals for Asitha.
Javed told the media that Asitha has been improving in bowling rankings and has got a lot of potential. If he takes care of himself for next seven to eight years, he could surpass likes of Lasith Malinga and Chaminda Vaas to become country’s greatest fast bowler.
“I think this guy is improving in the rankings as well, the bowling rankings. I think he has got all the potential. I was discussing with him that another seven to eight years, if you look after yourself, you might be the greatest ever Sri Lankan fast bowler. He has got pace, he has got swing, and uniqueness, which we taught in the first Test, the ability to move both ways with the new ball. I think he is really impressive,” Javed said.
Coming to the third match, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first. England was bowled out for 325 runs in the first innings, with contributions from Ollie Pope (154 in 156 balls, with 19 fours and two sixes) and Ben Duckett (86 in 79 balls, with nine fours and two sixes) taking England to a solid score.
Key highlights of the innings were a 95-run partnership for the second wicket between Duckett and Pope and latters’ half-century stands with Joe Root (13) and Harry Brook (19), in which Pope did the majority of the scoring.
Milan Rathnayake (3/56) was a top bowler for SL. Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, and Dhananjaya de Silva got two wickets each.
In the first innings, Lankan Lions lost wickets at regular intervals. SL was reeling at 93/5 at one point, but a fine 127-run partnership between Dhananjaya de Silva, the skipper (69 in 111 balls, with 11 fours) and Kamindu Mendis (64 in 91 balls, with seven fours) took SL to 263, trailing by 62 runs. Pathum Nissanka had contributed 64 in 51 balls, with nine fours at the top, but did not get support from his batting partners.
Olly Stone (3/35) and Josh Hull (3/53) were the top bowlers for England. Chris Woakes got two scalps, and Shoaib Bashir got one wicket.
In the England’s second innings, Lankan bowlers asserted their dominance. Other than a half-century by Jamie Smith (67 in 50 balls, with 10 fours and a six), nothing really stood out.
England was reduced to 82/7 at one point, but then Jamie launched a counter-attack with some solid support from Stone (10), in which wicketkeeper-batter displayed his free-flowing strokeplay and immense game awareness while batting with the tail.
England was bowled out for 156 runs, and England set 219 runs to win for Sri Lanka.
Lahiru (4/21) was the top bowler for SL, while Vishwa (3/40) got key wickets of Root, Brook and Jamie. Asitha Fernando took 2/49 in 12 overs while Milan got one wicket.
Sri Lanka lost Dimuth Karunaratne early during the run-chase. But Pathum Nissanka stitched a 69-run partnership with Kusal Mendis (39 in 37 balls, with seven fours) to bring the team back on track. Nissanka went on to score his second Test ton, making 127* in 124 balls, with 13 fours and two sixes. All-rounder Angelo Mathews was also unbeaten at 32 in 61 balls, with three fours.
Brief Scores: England: 325 and 156 (Jamie Smith 67, Dan Lawrence 35, Lahiru Kumara 4/21) lose to Sri Lanka: 263 and 219/2 (Pathum Nissanka 127*, Kusal Mendis 39, Gus Atkinson 1/44). (ANI)
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