Sri Lankans 309 for 2 dec and 216 for 6 (Samaraweera 49, Smith 2-45) beat Middlesex 360 for 8 dec and 161 (Malan 34, Mendis 3-28) by four wickets
Scorecard
Sri Lanka made slightly hard work of chasing 213 at Uxbridge but opened their tour with a four-wicket victory as they reached the target with five overs to spare having bowled Middlesex out for 161. After a tough day in the field to begin with, Sri Lanka have made decent use of this outing ahead of a sterner test against the England Lions at Derby.
In the chase they altered the batting order to give the middle order a chance and most of them chipped in. Thilan Samaraweera made 49 but when Tillakaratne Dilshan, who opened up the match with his positive declaration on the second evening, was sharply held, one-handed, in the gully by Jamie Dalrymple it left them needing 32 with four wickets in hand. However, Farveez Maharoof, who isn't part of the official touring squad, and Rangana Herath ensured no further alarms with a brisk partnership.
"Playing here isn't easy," Dilshan said, "but as a team we are prepared to play good cricket and I'm happy with the first match."
Middlesex, though, ensured a contest as the bowlers finally made an impression after a barren first innings. However, the first breakthrough didn't go in anyone's wicket column as Tom Parsons ran from his follow through, slid and then threw down the stumps to remove Prasanna Jayawardene.
There was no great urgency from the Sri Lanka top order initially, as the first four overs brought five runs, but the pace steadily increased thereafter. Lahiru Thirimanne had reached 33 when he edged Dalrymple to slip as a Middlesex bowler registered success. Samaraweera fell in similar fashion, one short of his fifty and Dinesh Chandimal was lbw on the sweep against Tom Smith. Tharanga Paranavitana again looked in good order before lofting Smith to deep midwicket with 32 needed.
The most heartening part of the performance for the visitors will have been the second-innings display of the bowlers following a tough start when Andrew Strauss, who will have logged some useful pointers for the Test series, and Dan Housego added 214. Chanaka Welegedara, who is likely to share the new ball during first Test, was the pick of the quicks in the first innings and was again lively second time around while Ajantha Mendis' confidence will have been helped by three wickets.
Welegedara made the key breakthrough when Strauss was caught in the gully in the fifth over of the day, which followed swiftly on the heels of the other first-innings century maker, Housego, who was bowled by Suranga Lakmal. This was a largely inexperienced Middlesex side and without Strauss to bat around the rest of the order couldn't impose themselves.
Adam Rossington became Welegedara's second victim to highlight the value of having a left-armer in the ranks, a role long performed by Chaminda Vaas. He later removed John Simpson, caught at slip, and finished with 3 for 39.
Dawid Malan had played some attractive shots during his 34 edged rather softly to a lone slip and when Dalrymple failed to pick Mendis for the second time in the match Middlesex were 90 for 6. Smith was lbw to one from Herath that skidded through last ball before lunch, but Anthony Ireland managed a few strong blows to take the lead over 200. Sri Lanka always had a bit to spare and Strauss will hope it's their only victory while he's involved.
