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29-Mar-2012 10:48:00 GMT
Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test, Galle, 4th day

England Collapse to Sri Lanka Loss

Galle: Rangana Herath completed a maiden 10-wicket match haul to take Sri Lanka to an emphatic win in the first Test against England despite Jonathan Trott's defiant century threatening to steal the game.

Chasing 340 to win, England were bowled out for 264 just after tea on the fourth day on Thursday.

Herath finished the match with 12 wickets for 171 in the match.

Trott faced 266 balls and hit 10 boundaries before being out just before tea. It was his seventh century playing his 27th Test.

Chasing a record 340, England seemed well set as Jonathan Trott (112) and Matt Prior took them to 233-4.

But Prior's dismissal to Rangana Herath (6-97) for 41 sparked the latest collapse of what, for Andrew Strauss's side, has been a miserable winter.

England, the world's top Test side, have now lost four successive matches.

And just as in their 3-0 series defeat by Pakistan earlier in 2012, the failure of the batting order was again to blame, with players unwilling to play patiently on a pitch that seemed to hold few demons.

Trott at least became the first England player this winter to reach three fingers, but elsewhere there were injudicious shots as players gifted Sri Lanka - and Herath in particular - their wickets.

However, Trott's patient innings suggested that the total could have been attainable despite England's previous highest chase being 332 against Australia in 1928.

The tourists had been narrow underdogs resuming on 111-2 with Pietersen and Trott at the crease and exhibiting contrasting levels of patience and a rush of blood from Pietersen swung the odds further in Sri Lanka's favour.

Brief scores
Sri Lanka
318 (M Jayawardene 180, Anderson 5-72) and 214 (Prasanna Jayawardene 61*, Swann 6-82)
England 193 (Bell 52, Herath 6-74) and 264 (Trott 112, Herath 6-97, Randiv 4-74)
Results Sri Lanka won by 75 runs
MOM Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)


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