| Tour match, FTZ Sports Complex, Katunayake (day two of three) |
| England 316 (Buttler 79, Root 78) & 39-1 |
| Sri Lanka Cricket XI 245 (Priyanjan 77; Parkinson 4-68, Bess 3-54) |
| England lead by 110 runs |
| Scorecard |
Leg-spinner Matt Parkinson impressed with the ball on day two of England’s opening warm-up match in Sri Lanka.
Lancashire’s Parkinson, 23, claimed 4-68 as a Sri Lanka Cricket XI were dismissed for 245 in reply to England’s 316 in Katunayake.
Opener Dom Sibley fell for a two-ball duck before the tourists closed on 39-1, leading by 110.
England face Sri Lanka in a two-Test series starting on 19 March.
Parkinson took two wickets in two balls either side of the lunch interval to remove Lahiru Milantha and Milinda Siriwardana.
He then had Promod Maduwantha caught at mid-wicket before Ben Foakes, who split wicketkeeping duties with Jos Buttler, took a sharp catch to remove Chamika Karunaratne.
Parkinson, who is yet to make his Test debut and has played only 20 first-class games, struggled in red-ball warm-up games during the winter tours of New Zealand and South Africa.
“To get four wickets after the way the warm-up games went for me in New Zealand and South Africa was very pleasing,” he said.
“I hope I’m becoming a better bowler and I can use what I’ve learnt.
“Having not played much red-ball cricket, I needed to prove I can take wickets and almost get over the nerves of bowling with these lads.
“I’m still very raw with the red ball and people sometimes forget that spinners develop later.”
Off-spinner Dom Bess claimed 3-54 and seamer Chris Woakes 2-21, with Ashan Priyanjan top-scoring for the hosts with 77.
Zak Crawley and Joe Denly will resume on 27 and 11 respectively on the final day on Monday.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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