WHEN the Sri Lankans return to Northampton, their World Cup base, next May they are unlikely to be greeted by temperatures as high or an outfield as glassy and fast as they enjoyed at Wantage Road yesterday.

However, despite the friendly conditions, they scarcely looked at home in struggling to beat Northants by one wicket with 13 balls to spare after losing five men for 31 in nine frantic overs.

From 196 for four, in search of 228, they frittered away wickets in a slip-shod display which suggests that plenty of rough edges remain in advance of next Friday's triangular tournament opener, against South Africa at Trent Bridge.

Their top five all laid foundations but only the captain, Arjuna Ranatunga, with 69 from 72 balls, built an innings of any substance. He carried his side to the threshold of victory until, having seen Pramodya Wickremasinghe run out with the scores level, he picked out David Follett at backward square leg next ball.

Muttiah Muralitharan edged the winning runs past slip with last man Ravindra Pushpakumara, batting with a runner after aggravating a knee injury, at the other end.

Northants had rallied from 60 for five through an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 167 in 28 overs between David Sales and Jeremy Snape. The pair broke the stranglehold imposed by the spinners, Sales hitting a six and 10 fours in his 91 not out, while Snape's 78 runs came off as many balls.

Sri Lanka's reply was predictably forthright, boundaries accounting for 70 out of 101 in the first 15 overs before their advantage was so nearly squandered.