Sri Lanka finished at a decent 238 for 6 on Day 1 of the Second and Final Test against England at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene scored a back-to-back century to guide Sri Lanka from early jitters.
Mahela Jayawardene, who rescued the Lankans with a sublime 180 in the first innings of the Galle Test, found his side in trouble at 30 for 3 after winning the toss and electing to bat first. Along with Thilan Samaraweera (54 from 129 balls with 5 fours), Mahela added 124 runs to carry Sri Lanka out of troubled waters. The Lankan Skipper scored 105 (from 216 balls with 11 fours and a six) before getting lbw to Graeme Swann.
The hosts were earlier rocked with the new ball by James Anderson who took the wickets of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara in consecutive deliveries. By the close of play, Sri Lanka were 238 for 6 in 90 overs. Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten on 41 (from 120 balls with 4 fours).
Going into this match, England made two changes with Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan coming in for Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar. Sri Lanka also made two changes with Angelo Mathews and Dhammika Prasad coming in for Dinesh Chandimal and Chanaka Welegedera.