Dreadful start for Vaughan's tourists

12 April 2012

England lost captain Michael Vaughan among four pre-lunch wickets in a disastrous start to their innings in the final Test against Sri Lanka at Galle.

After the hosts declared for the third time in as many innings this series - this occasion at 499 for eight - England crumbled to 24 for four by the interval.

Having won the toss on a damp pitch, England were disappointed with how they used the new ball and Sri Lanka showed them how things should be done with a clinical display.

Vaughan misjudged a delivery from Chaminda Vaas which shaped back in to trap him plumb in front of middle and off stumps in the third over.

Ian Bell was run out in the next by Tillakaratne Dilshan's direct hit at the non-striker's end after Alastair Cook dropped to the off-side and initially called for a single.

Left-armer Vaas, who earlier hit a destructive 90, was extracting plenty of movement both in the air and off the pitch and, after Cook edged short of the slip cordon, umpire Asad Rauf adjudged a thinner nick next ball.

The best delivery of a chaotic eight overs was reserved for Kevin Pietersen, however, as a bouncer which caused the batsman to jump and sway evasively was deemed to have brushed glove on its way through to wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in