Rex Clementine in Chelmsford

There’s much to like about Essex County Cricket ground. It may not have the aura of Lord’s, history of The Oval or character of Headingley, but Chelmsford has its own beauties. A ten minute walk from the train station, an underground tunnel has been built by the side of river Chelmer to give easy access to the ground. As  you approach the tunnel, you see people of all age groups rowing boats with an eye on cricket.

Once you enter the ground and walk towards the media center passing the pavilion, there’s bit of greenery and the bushes are full of blackberries and blueberries. They are within your hands reach and tempting, but the thing about blackberries is that these bushes have thorns. But it’s a risk worth taking as the fruits are tasty and of course organic having grown in the wild.

The last thing on Sri Lankans’ minds is picking away these juicy fruits. They have been set a target of 273 in 59 overs to go 1-0 up in the series. An exciting run chase is on the cards.

Sri Lanka did score over 400 runs in the first innings and the wicket looks flat. They were in a good position to score over 500 runs  and bat England out of the game. Although their batting was deep there was a mini-collapse in the first inning allowing England back into the game.

Despite a hundred by Ross Whitefield and a half-century from captain Ben McKinney, Sri Lanka’s bowlers did a good job to bowl the hosts out for less than 300 runs in the second innings with the last four wickets falling for 35 runs.

Left-arm orthodox spinner Wanuja Sahan was the pick of the bowlers having claimed four wickets. Mahanama College’s Duvindu Ranatunga claimed three wickets while Nalandian Raveen de Silva finished with two wickets.

Sri Lanka have been left with two sessions to chase down the target as the last wicket fell in the penultimate ball before the lunch break.

The key for Sri Lanka will be their opening batsman Asitha Wanninayake, who impressed many with a superb hundred on debut. England will be looking up to Benjamin Cliff, a tall Yorkshireman, who has been tipped as the next big thing in English cricket. Cliff has both pace and movement and tends to bowl long spells.

Whichever the team wins  this contest or even if the game ends in a draw, both teams have put on a superb show and  there have been some outstanding players to emerge from the game.