Sri Lanka v England

That pitch was never going to get easy and ENG as it is don't play spin well, I think SLN already have enough runs on the board to win the game, however, with so much time available they should try to muster another 100 runs and put the game out of ENG's reach.

i think this is out of reach now for England. Maybe thats why they are not trying to take the last 2 wickets to save some time and hoping that it might rain.

This Partnership is very important if England want to win this. I think its 80-20 at the momet for Sri Lanka. If this pair bat for another 100 runs then it will be 50-50.

Yep , it's going to be interesting !   Just why England keep digging themselves into such a deep hole by batting like clowns in the first innings is driving me crazy!

Those Dilshan strokes were completely unacceptable. Strauss is getting ripped because of some attacking strokes but look at how Dilshan was playing. Quite literally a shot a ball. Just woeful. 

Yes Clobs , coming in against spin asks a lot of lower order batsmen. Fine effort from Trott and Prior , thelatter unlucky to be caught as he was. DRS did England no favours , but it works both ways and the best side won. England woes will continue unless they make their runs in the first dig. To have any chance next week they need to win the toss , bat first and score 350+ !

Originally posted by kahmad A really good effort by Trott. Unfortunately he didnt get much support from the other end. It was being always tough to chase such a big target but they fought hard for it. India got number 1 in the rankings and lost the next 8 matches abroad. Now its Englands turn, they have already lost 4. Maybe 4 more to go...

SL catching was magnificent and won them the match. Thirimanne's catch at short-leg was extraordinary and Dilshan's fielding was fantastic as always. Trott played well but the rest didn't have the class and composure to stick with him.

I agree that ENG keep getting into positions to win and squandering (144 to win in Abu Dhabi, PAK 99 all out in Dubai, SLN reeling multiple times here in Galle) but 70 run defeats aren't slender in low-scoring Test matches. They aren't just losing, they are losing badly.

Good win for SLN, Herath getting 12 wickets in the match. ENG were in a good position at one stage but as Clobs said, it was a matter of one wicket and once Samit was in you knew it could all end quickly.

Sri Lanka win the toss again and elect to bat first.  Two changes to the visitors line up with Finn and Bresnan starting at the expense of the injured Broad and the unlucky Panesar.  No doubt that Monty is a much better bowler than Patel , but those dropped catches did him no favours.  Mathews returns for the home side , but won't bowl.  Surprisingly Chandimal is left out and Prasad gets a start because of Welegedera's injury.
       The pitch has some grass on it , but it's dry and will crack - batting last won't be much fun.   England haven't played a test in Columbo for 30 years , which coincided with the Lankans test debut!  How things change , the Lankans are warm favourites here to make it 2-0.
                Is it another false dawn for the visitors ? Jimmy Anderson does the business yet again by removing Dilshan and Sangakkara with successive deliveries ! So Sanga has fallen to Jimmy , 1st ball in both tests first innings.   The top man Mahela ,at the wicket now , without Monty maybe they'll catch him this time!
              30-2 after 8.3 overs.
            

Same old , same old.   No more wickets as the Lankans get to lunch on 82-3. Jayawardene looking very threatening on 40* and Samaraweera 20*.   The new ball and Anderson again doing the damage and then they hit a brick wall.  The fall of wickets in the subcontient seem to follow this pattern and might go some way to explain why England are struggling. The middle order is so important when the ball loses it's hardness and the spinners come to the fore.  England's soft centre has capitulated in 4 successive matches - surely they can't be so stupid as not to see just how the Lankans turn around a bad start ?   England need to hit hard after the break , Strauss can't just hope they'll gift a wicket , he needs to pressurise them.

Yes Mickey , Smith and Patel could be from the same mould and I agree , the selections show more about their  concerns rather than their respective cricketing abilities over their rivals.   Patel's bowling was okay today , but no more than that and surprise, surprise , he failed to take a wicket.  Swann got Mahela with one bowled around the wicket that turned from a shade outside off and was hitting leg , he played all around it ,a cracking delivery. Patel battled to get it off the straight and I got the impression the batsmen weren't concerned     other than they didn't want to get out to a part timer!
               Finn did well to weedle out the other Jayawardene and I think it's pretty even at the close  at 238-6.  Randiv and Mathews won't give it away and Mathews has shown the kind of resolve that the English will need sometime tomorrow.   Personally I'm happy that the wicketkeeper has gone - he's a class act , especially on home turf and getting him for single figures is a real fillup.
                I'm getting old , but forgive me for beating the same old drum - England must get a 1st innings lead to win this and if that means scoring 400 for a lead of around 100 then they'd better apply themselves better than they have this winter!


Edited by Sledger - 03 April 2012 at 1:35pm

The match is interestingly poised, it all depends on how well ENG bat now because SLN won't be making more than 300, I agree that selecting Patel is a very defensive and meaningless move, Monty would have been a much better choice or for that matter if they want to strengten their batting then even Bopara as a batsmen is a better choice.

Swann finally back to his wicket taking ways, not the same venom like he had a couple of years ago, so hopefully for England he can find that spark again. 275 is a good score, but like we always reiterate, if England can take a 100 run lead then they can win... it's as simple as that. Another loss here and I think Cook will be the test captain very soon, ODI captaincy has brought the best out of him with the bat too... Strauss is starting to look like he has past his expiry date, perhaps prematurely, and not too dissimilar to Vaughan.

Blimey , England get through to tea unscathed !   Strauss had a few hairy moments but at 83-0 , they're sitting pretty.  They've taken 36 overs to get to that score , so they have reined themselves in and played like test batsmen!  More of the same is required for the final session - I expect Cook and Strauss's tea tastes much sweeter just now !