“Everyone goes through a bad patch sometimes it is best to give it a break, a few weeks from cricket,” said Gunawardene who watched Thirimanne struggling to get runs on the board in the recently concluded three-match unofficial test series for Sri Lanka A against West Indies A.

Thirimanne managed just 59 runs from six innings with a top score of 27 to average a poor 9.83.

The series flop was just another continuation of his alarming slump in form since June 2014. In 16 Tests (31 innings) since then Thirimanne has crossed the fifty mark only twice (highest score 62 n.o.) and averages 18.27.

“Sometimes when you do wrong things and when you take a break you forget them. You basically tend to forget what you are doing wrong and you come out fresh,” said Gunawardene who watched Thirimanne at close quarters during the West Indies A series.

“Thirimanne needs to take his mind off cricket and take a break. There is hardly anything wrong with his technique it is probably more mental than technique you could see when you talk to him,” said Gunawardene.

“In the 4-day game he dropped a few chances and it’s all to do with confidence. His confidence level is a little down. He tried to defend while batting and he got out and in the second innings he tried to attack and still got out. He is just going through a bad patch and needs to have a few weeks break.

“Thirimanne is a very good player and we all know he is capable of big innings. To me he just needs to get out and take a break for a couple of weeks and come out with a fresh mind,” Gunawardene said.

“It’s a good opportunity for him in the upcoming domestic season to go and get back into form, score some big runs and get his confidence and rhythm back.”

The 27-year-old left-hander who broke into the international circuit in 2011 was tipped to play the role of number three in the Sri Lankan batting line-up after the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara, a position he has so far not fulfilled.

Winning the toss and batting first Perera and Weerakkody provided the ideal beginning to the match for Sri Lanka ‘A’ by batting throughout the first session to take them to a total of 121 for no loss.

West Indies ‘A’ however hit back in the afternoon session to grab four wickets and reduce Sri Lanka A to 184-4 at tea. Perera was dismissed for a hard hit 69 off 85 balls (11 fours) and

Weerakkody made a stylish 79 off 105 balls with 10 fours. Paceman Delorn Johnson took both wickets to give West Indies ‘A’ the breakthrough after which off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, the most successfulbowler in the series dismissed Lahiru Thirimanne for his fourth single digit figure in five innings for two and leg-spinner Damion Jacobs playing his first match of the series accounted for Aselan Gunaratne for 16. Charith Asalanka and Roshen Silva added 56 for the fifth wicket before West ndies ‘A’ once again broke through again in the final session to grab a further three wickets.

Asalanka, the Sri Lanka under 19 world cup captain scored an assured 46 off 95 balls with five fours and a six.

Silva played solidly to remain unbeaten on 40 scored off 87 balls (2 fours) but lost Dasun Shanaka and Jeffrey Vandersay cheaply as West Indies ‘A’ took control to end the day on a high.

Cornwall was again the pick of the West Indies ‘A’ bowlers ending the day with three for 93 to take his series tally to 19 wickets.

Karunaratne had a poor home series against Australia averaging just 6.83 in the three Tests where his highest score was 22 and needed a big innings behind him to boost his confidence ahead of the Zimbabwe tour.

Sri Lanka A’s first innings total of 348 for eight wickets at the end of the day was largely built around Karunaratne’s assured knock of 131 off 242 balls comprising 15 fours. It gave them a handy first innings lead of 72 going into the third day today. West Indies A was dismissed for 276 on the first day.

The base for Sri Lanka A’s sound total was laid by Karunaratne and his opening partner Kusal Perera who made a swashbuckling 87 off 105 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes) out of a stand of 167 off 219 balls.

Antigua’s stockily built off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall broke the partnership by getting through the defences of Perera and looked the most penetrative of the West Indies A bowlers ending the day with impressive figures of six for 87.

Wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella was the other Sri Lanka A player to impress hitting an aggressive half century – 59 off 70 balls with 10 fours.

The disappointments for Sri Lanka A were the cheap dismissals of Lahiru Thirimanne for two and Roshen Silva for 17 – both falling victims to Cornwall’s spin.

West Indies A lost the services of fast bowler Reynard Leveridge in the ninth over when he was forced to retire and Cornwall completed the over.

The match was unique in the annals of Sri Lanka cricket because a pink ball instead of the customary red was used for the first time in a match.

The pink ball is being trialed by virtually every Test playing country as the ICC at some point of time wants Test cricket to be played under lights.

The first over bowled with the pink ball by Sri Lanka under 19 fast bowler Asitha Fernando saw seven runs being scored by West Indies A openers Rajendra Chandrika and Keiran Powell.

However the opening partnership didn’t last long when off the second over Lahiru Kumara trapped Chandrika lbw for five.

West Indies A lost two further wickets to be 56-3 before skipper Sharmarh Brooks and Vishaul Singh staged a recovery with a partnership of 125.

But once Brooks was dismissed for a well compiled 65 off 107 balls (9 fours) West Indies A suffered another batting collapse losing three wickets for four runs to slump to 185-6. However with Singh putting up staunch resistance at one end, he found an able partner in Kemar Roach and the two raised the total by 66 before Sri Lanka A once again broke through to bowl them out.

Singh was unlucky to miss out on his hundred by four runs when he was caught by Sri Lanka Test player Lahiru Thirimanne who snapped up four catches. Singh hit nine fours in his 187 ball innings.

Roach was left stranded on 45 not out when the Lanka A bowler cleaned up the tail in quick succession. Gunaratne who broke the Brooks-Singh stand had the best figures among the bowlers with three for 27 off 16 overs.

Sri Lanka A faced one over without scoring a run. The match continues today.

England, its host for a majority of the tour, has comprehensively outplayed it in both Tests and ODIs so far, and in doing so, has claimed an unassailable lead in the new multi-format points system. So it is that when the two sides clash one final time in a Twenty20 International at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday (July 5), Sri Lanka will be fighting to avoid a clean sweep across formats.

After a 0-2 loss in the Tests and a 0-3 reversal in the ODIs, Sri Lanka will find it a struggle to boost morale. After the final ODI – a comprehensive 122-run loss in Cardiff – Angelo Mathews, the captain, found himself fending off questions about his captaincy, saying: “This is a tough time for me as a captain and for the whole unit. But you can’t run away from it.”

The hope was that the ODIs would help Sri Lanka emerge strong from its troubles in Tests, the hope stemming from the possibility of the shorter format narrowing the gap between the teams. However, England – a markedly different side in limited-overs internationals since Sri Lanka defeated it in the ICC World Cup 2015 – proved too strong once again, and apart from the first ODI which ended in a tie, was comprehensive winner in the remaining three completed matches.

The problem for Sri Lanka has been that its departments have struggled to work in tandem. The batsmen posted 305 for 5 in the fourth ODI, but the bowlers struggled to restrict England to below that score. Then, when England set it 325 to win in the fifth, its batsmen were contained to 202.

“I’m pretty sure if we keep improving day by day, we can come out of this hole,” said Mathews after the final ODI. “For the past two months, we’ve been having the same problems, either batting, bowling or fielding has let us down in every single game.”

Ahead of the final clash of what has been a tiresome series, Sri Lanka will hope to depart with its heads held high. A late cameo or a couple of miscues usually prove decisive in T20s, and Sri Lanka knows it has its best chance yet to put one over England. Recent form doesn’t favour Sri Lanka in that respect either – England reached the final of the ICC World T20 2016, while the Sri Lankans failed to get out of their group.

England, meanwhile, is expected to blood a few youngsters in the one-off clash, including Tymal Mills, the paceman. He comes with a reputation for searing pace, something that gained momentum after he roughed up Chris Gayle during the NatWest T20 blast last month. “I’d love to see him play. I won’t be the sole selector, but from my point of view, it would be great to see someone like that charge and give it everything,” said Trevor Bayliss, the England coach.

“It’s good to see some batsmen ducking and weaving.”

Eoin Morgan, the England captain, spoke before the ODIs of how much of a confidence booster it was for the side to reach the ICC World T20 2016 final, and warned of coping with bigger expectations. Those expectations would only have increased after its performances in the series so far.

Teams (from):

England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Sam Billings, Johnny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Chris Jordan, David Malan, Tymal Mills, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, James Vince, David Willey.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Farveez Maharoof, Suraj Randiv, Seekkuge Prasanna.

It will help them clear their heads and concentrate on doing well out there in the middle with bat and ball. The visitors are a young team which has lost some stalwarts in the past two years and it has clearly affected them. However, there is some raw talent in this side which could spark to life any moment.

Ireland will miss the services of Leicestershire wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien who is injured and Stuart Thompson, who will miss both matches for personal reasons.

O’Brien is set to be out of action for four to six weeks after sustaining a grade-two tear of his left calf. O’Brien suffered his injury while batting against Warwickshire last week.

John Anderson and Max Sorensen have been called into the Ireland squad to replace them.

In Niall O’Brien’s absence Ireland will depend a lot on William Porterfield, Ed Joyce and Kevin O’Brien. These three players form the back-bone of the Irish cricket team. Joyce and Kevin O’Brien have been in particularly good form for their respective teams in the NatWest T20 Blast as well as the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Sri Lanka have dropped all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana for the ODIs. Kaushal Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella will also head back home along with Rangana Herath who has retired from the 50-over game.

Farveez Maharoof, Danushka Gunathilaka, Suraj Randiv, Seekkuge Prasanna and Upul Tharanga will join the side. Expect a lot of these players to feature against Ireland as they look to adjust to the prevailing conditions in this part of the world. Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne will be the key players for the Lankans.

These two sides have faced off just twice in this format and Sri Lanka have won both fixtures quite comfortably. Sri Lanka have a very good record against the ICC’s associate members and will look to keep their status intact against the hosts.

Cricket Ireland chairman Ross McCullum said that though the fan build up to the Sri Lanka series had been positive, commercial success was not the biggest priority for the series, but rather getting an opportunity to improve Ireland’s ranking on the 12-team ODI table.

“Hopefully, we’ll get good weather, good cricket and we’ll have a good day. The support for Ireland has always been pretty positive and pretty good, so hopefully that won’t change,” said McCullum.

“I know there has been a lot of support from the Asian community in Dublin, so hopefully we’ll get a large crowd there. For us, it’s always good to play in front of a good crowd, because it certainly adds to the atmosphere and adds to Cricket Ireland’s coffers, no doubt.”

England are still firm favourites to win the Test and take a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series but Sri Lanka finally showed some fight after being forced to follow-on 397 runs behind on the first innings.

Sri Lanka who were dismissed for 101 in their first innings are still 88 runs adrift of avoiding an innings defeat and they have another five wickets in hand to avoid that ignominy in successive Tests. They lost the first inside three days by an innings and 88 runs at Leeds.

A lot will depend on the sixth wicket pair Dinesh Chandimal and Milinda Siriwardana who have so far added 87 off 125 balls to deny England victory inside three days.

Chandimal was unbeaten on 54 scored off 98 balls with five fours and Siriwardana was on 35 not out scored off 57 balls with six fours at the close.

England who took the second new ball towards the end of the day will be looking to wrap up the Lankan innings as quickly as possible tomorrow unless the batsmen put up stern resistance as they have done today.

Leading Sri Lanka’s fight back was opening bat Kaushal Silva who played a workmanlike innings for 60 off 145 balls (6 fours).

Taking the cue from Silva was skipper Angelo Mathews who finally showed pleasing form to score an attractive 80 off 105 balls with nine fours and a six.

Chandimal and Siriwardana ensured the good work done by Silva and Mathews did not go waste by batting out the final session in brilliant sunshine.

Sri Lanka batsmen were more committed to their strokes and most impressive was their running between the wickets that prevented the English bowlers from maintaining a consistent line.

Silva and Mathews held the Lankan innings together after they had lost three wickets for 100 with a partnership of 82 off 130 balls – Sri Lanka’s first half-century stand of the series.

Mathews survived a catch at slip to Joe Root off Jimmy Anderson at nought and then a stumping chance to Jonny Bairstow off Moeen Ali at 36 to play a captain’s knock. He in fact had two reviews against him off the first four balls he faced.

Root signaled immediately that he had not taken the catch cleanly off Mathews’ bat but the umpires still went to the TV umpire to check and replays showed that Root was right.

Silva was out 18 minutes after tea when Steven Finn forced him to top edge a pull to Bairstow.

In comparison to Silva’s obdurate innings, Mathews attacked and took the fight to the England bowlers especially the off breaks of Moeen Ali off whom he scored 46 of his 80 runs that included one six and six fours.

The pitch did not assist the bowlers as much as it had done at Leeds and conditions for batting was not all that difficult provided the batsmen had the patience to pick and choose which balls to play and leave.

The last time England enforced a follow-on in successive Test matches was against Bangladesh in 2010.

England did not waste any time getting the last two Sri Lankan wickets in 17 minutes with Broad and Anderson picking up one apiece to finish with seven wickets between them.

Lahiru Thirimanne was the last man out for 19 after displaying some character in his batting hanging around for 80 balls. Sri Lanka dismissed for 101 in their first innings represented the first time a team had been bowled out for under 120 runs in three consecutive innings in a Test since 1958.

Of the six wickets Sri Lanka took during the day four were due to outstanding catches.

Skipper Angelo Mathews’ blinder of a catch at slip to send back Alex Hales for 83 was the top of the lot. The England opener offered a full blooded cut off left-arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana and as the ball flew off the edge Mathews dived to his right and held the ball one-handed.

Sri Lanka’s brilliant catching compensated for the Lankan bowling which was too friendly on the slow pitch where the odd ball kept low.

Dimuth Karunaratne picked up a fine catch at slip to send back Alastair Cook for 15, denying the England captain his milestone of becoming the first Englishman to reach 10,000 Test runs. Cook started the day requiring 20 to reach the landmark but fell short by five when he was dismissed for 15.

Unless Sri Lanka put up a good first innings total, and make England to bat again in the second innings Cook may well have to wait until the start of the third and final Test at Lord’s on June 9 to get to the milestone. At Leeds, England batted only once and won the Test by an innings to go one-up in the three match series. Suranga Lakmal who replaced the injured Dushmantha Chameera pulled off a stunning catch at deep square leg when Nick Compton offered a full blooded pull with his score on nine.

The fourth catch of the day was held by Lahiru Thirimanne at short cover when James Vince drove at Siriwardana and the fielder diving to his right pulled off a ripper.

Sri Lankan bowling in these conditions looked harmless but their persistency paid rich dividends as they managed to prize out six England wickets.

Joe Root was the other England batsman to miss out on a hundred when he popped up a simple catch to Kaushal Silva at cover with his score on 80.

Hales and Root added 96 and Root also shared another half century stand with Vince. But each time England looked like running away with the game Sri Lanka managed to pull back and pluck a wicket.

Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the Lankan bowlers finishing with three wickets for 69 including that of Jonny Bairstow the man of the match at Leeds with a career best 140. Bairstow fell to the second new ball attempting to slash at Pradeep and giving Dinesh Chandimal a straight forward catch after scoring 48 off 57 balls.

With Moeen Ali who was unbeaten on 28 at the close, Bairstow added 70 for the sixth wicket. Chris Woakes who replaced the injured Ben Stokes was not out eight.

Like Cook, left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was also left seeking his 300th Test wicket. Herath created some problems for the batsmen with his guile and flight but England managed to overcame it and deprive him of the milestone. Herath is shy of one wicket from becoming the third Sri Lankan bowler to get to the mark.

Siriwardana considered to be the man with the golden arm justified his selection ahead of Dasun Shanaka with two wickets – both to excellent catches by Mathews and Thirimanne.

In the gloomy morning it looked as if Sri Lanka had got it all wrong when they left out Shanaka for the left-arm spin of Siriwardana, but later as the day progressed and the wicket started to get slow and keep low it seemed a good choice.

It seems the Lankans whose fielding had dropped drastically in recent times have worked hard in this area and the results are showing on the field.

The overcast skies gave away to bright sunshine during the final session of play. The forecast for the next two days is for good weather.

It is a key spot in the batting order and it has been occupied by batsmen in the caliber of Roy Dias, Ranjan Madugalle, Asanka Gurusinha, Roshan Mahanama, Russell Arnold and the greatest of them all Kumar Sangakkara.

Since Sangakkara’s exit from international cricket last year Sri Lanka has been struggling to find a suitable replacement to fill in that big void. Upul Tharanga was tried out in that position, Dimuth Karunaratne was experimented with, failing which they gave it to Lahiru Thirimanne and then to Udara Jayasundera.

Now that pivotal position in the batting order has been given to Mendis who has so far responded with great promise. Making his Test debut against West Indies in October last year Mendis scored 13 and 39 at the P Sara Oval. On the current tour to he has been given that position and he has answered with three half-centuries – two in the side games against Essex and Leicestershire and in the first Test against England at Leeds which incidentally happened to be his maiden Test half-century.

“I had a great start on this tour, and that puts me in a good position to play the games coming up,” said Mendis. “Everyone said it was a good innings, but they also gave me some advice on the weaknesses – especially about foot movement. We’re very disappointed as a side at how the match turned out, but we’re hopeful of doing better.”

Mendis was one batsman who was prepared to take the fight to the English bowlers who reigned supreme in helpful conditions.

Barely 21, Mendis represents an exciting talent that has emerged from the schools which is very rare these days. A product of Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa, Mendis won the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year award in 2013 before going onto lead his country in the Under 19 Cricket World Cup the following year.

He made his first-class debut for Bloomfield in the Premier League in 2015, but although he was in the national selector’s radar for some time it was not until he made a tour of Hyderabad in September for the Moin-ud-Dowla trophy that paved the way for his entry into the national team. With scores of 156, 52 and 47 he came into contention for a place in the home series against West Indies and now he has been given a further extension in the ongoing series against England to cement his place in the number three slot.

Mendis himself knows that there is a wide gap to bridge between playing first-class cricket in Sri Lanka and Test matches.

“It’s a big difference. I’ve only really played club cricket before this. I haven’t played in the A team. I was in some development sides. It’s a big challenge to score runs,” said Mendis. “But I’m glad I am able to be here. I did well with the development team in India last year, so that gives me a little confidence.”

Playing in England is not all new to this exciting right-hander. “I played for a club called Southgate in the Middlesex league. I got a lot of good experience from that, partly because I was on my own,” said Mendis.

“I learned a lot about how to adjust to conditions and how to deal with that initial disappointment of not knowing them very well and also about how to play when it’s cold. I had to do that alone, and got a lot of useful experience from that,” he said.

But being with the national team Mendis is not all alone, he has plenty of support coming his way.

“Everyone helps me – the captain, the vice-captain, the coach – everyone. I’m the youngest, but no one treats me differently. Whether I’m doing well or had a bad game I feel that support,” said Mendis.

“No one has tried to change my technique much. They’ve just asked me to play as I was. Mentally there were a few changes. The advice was mainly about mentally adjusting. They told me about being patient at this level, because it’s five-day cricket. That was something they stressed.

“They’ve also told me about how to respond when bowlers talked to me. If we go to argue with them, we lose our concentration. It’s important to focus on the game,” he said.

The current tour of England is proving to be a learning curve for young Mendis who is keen to secure a permanent place in the team.

“I’ve played in the number three position before – for club and development teams. It’s a big responsibility. I’ve been thinking about what is possible for me and what needs to be done there,” said Mendis.

“I have to contribute runs to stay in that position and the team. I try to bat the same way every day, with allowances for the pitch. Some wickets you can score quickly and others you can’t.”

There’s no doubt the Mendis is a strong legside player and the opposition will be keenly noting it. To be able to overcome that and score runs is the key to a good player and Mendis has all the ingredients to succeed.

Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva were both unbeaten on nought after just two balls, including a lone leg bye, were possible in Sri Lanka’s second innings before the umpires called an early close because of bad light.

Sri Lanka ended the day 206 runs behind after being skittled out for 91 in reply to England’s first innings 298.

James Anderson took five for 16, his best Test figures at Headingley, including a spell of four for one in 29 balls.

New-ball partner Stuart Broad took four for 21 in an innings that was completed inside 37 overs.Only Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews (34) and Lahiru Thirimanne (22) offered any sort of resistance with the bat.

Wicket-keeper Jonathan Bairstow held five catches after scoring 140 — his first Test century in England — on his Yorkshire home ground earlier Friday.

Stuart Broad sparked a Sri Lanka top-order collapse as England took charge of the first Test at Headingley on Friday. Sri Lanka were 43 for three at tea on the second day, 255 runs adrift of England’s first innings 298 which featured Jonathan Bairstow’s 140 on his Yorkshire home ground.

Dinesh Chandimal and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews were both 15 not out in testing, overcast conditions. Broad, the world’s number one-ranked Test bowler, needed just 12 balls to take his first wicket on Friday.

Coming from round the wicket, Broad had Dimuth Karunaratne out for a duck as the left-handed opener edged an excellent delivery that nipped away through to wicket-keeper Bairstow.

Kaushal Silva, Sri Lanka’s other opener, was caught behind off a sharply rising ball from James Anderson for 11.

Kusal Mendis, like Karunaratne, fell for a duck when he edged Broad and gave Bairstow his third routine catch of the innings.

Sri Lanka were now 12 for three, with Broad having taken two wickets for no runs in three balls. Those early Sri Lankan wickets also highlighted the value of Bairstow’s runs — and how costly it had been for Sri Lanka to drop him on 70, half of his eventual score. Mathews — whose Test-best 160 laid the platform for Sri Lanka’s win at Headingley two years ago that clinched their first series win in England — defiantly cut Broad through point for four. But he was almost undone by the last ball before tea, with occasional medium-pacer James Vince producing a spiteful delivery that leapt off a good length.

England resumed on 171 for five, having collapsed to 83 for five on Thursday.

Hales and Bairstow took their sixth-wicket stand to 141. But there was no maiden Test century for Nottinghamshire opener Hales.

Dropped on 82, he was out for 86 when, losing patience after nearly five-and-a-half hours’ concentration, Hales holed out off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath. Moeen Ali and Broad both came and went, with Bairstow in danger of running out of partners before he got to three figures.

But an overthrown three saw Bairstow to his second Test century and first in England following the Yorkshireman’s 150 not out against South Africa at Cape Town in January. AFP