IT was an England Lions debut to remember for Worcestershire pace-bowler Josh Tongue as he celebrated a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka 'A'.
Tongue produced a deadly burst of three wickets in five balls on the second morning of the second Test to finish with figures of 22-2-76-5.
His efforts helped the Lions dismiss Sri Lanka ‘A’ for 332 in 88.1 overs after they had resumed on 190-3.
Tongue had picked up the wicket of Nishan Madushka on day one, but he made major inroads when he came into the attack this morning with Sri Lanka A on 203-3.
He made the first breakthrough of the day in dismissing opener Lasith Croospulle (128) and his next delivery accounted for Lahiru Udara (0).
🦁 🙌 Josh Tongue celebrated his England Lions Test debut by completing a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in Galle.
— Worcestershire County Cricket Club (@WorcsCCC) February 8, 2023
Tongue produced a deadly burst of three wickets in five balls on the second morning of the second Test to finish with figures of 22-2-76-5.
📸 @OfficialSLC
Tongue struck again with the third ball of his next over, removing Chamika Karunaratne (0) as Sri Lanka collapsed to 219-6.
After an initial spell of 5-1-16-3, Tongue came back into the attack to send back Sri Lankan captain Nipun Dhananjaya for 61 to complete his five-wicket haul.
His overall analysis on day two was 11.3-1-31-4, and it was a proud sight for Worcestershire supporters when he walked off clutching the match ball at the end of the innings.
England Lions then raced to 234-3 off 35 overs by the close, with Jamie Smith (86 not out), Alex Lees (75 not out) and Josh Bohannon (54) the main contributors.
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