30th May 2011 was the final day of an astonishing test match. The venue was Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. It was the second ever test match in that venue. The teams were England and Sri Lanka, playing the first test match of the series.
It started like any other test match. Sri Lanka won the toss under the new captain Tillakaratne Dilshan and decided to bat to show their proactiveness. They started strongly as Dilshan and fellow opener Tharanga Paranavitana both scored enterprising fifties. Rain played its part and only 48 overs were possible on day one. On day two wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene’s 112 took Sri Lanka to a respectable 400. England’s reply was strong. Jonathan Trott scored a double century and there were centuries from Alastair Cook and Ian Bell. But rain impacted severely as England were still batting at lunch on day five. They declared as soon as Bell reached his century with a score at 496. People expected a gentle day of the test match with Sri Lankan batsmen finishing the day with some batting practice. England were also a bowler short as James Anderson could not bowl due to a side strain.
