Sri Lanka v England

287-3 with Pietersen taking Randiv apart !  He's hit a quickfire 55* off just 64 balls - a strikerate alien to everyone else on this slow , slow track.  The position is right up KP's street and he and Ian Bell (badly in need of a decent score) could well put this game beyond the Lankans in no time at all.  Surely they'll get a sizeable lead now , 150-200 isn't unlikely unless we see another batting collapse.
             Cook fell 6 short of another hundred , nicely supported by Trott  with 64. The pitch is a little up and down , but I think we're now seeing that Herath and Randiv are no more than decent spinners and not the worldbeaters the English made them look in the first test.


Edited by Sledger - 05 April 2012 at 8:52am

Bell hasn't grown as much as I thought he would after a successful Ashes series last year, some good Asian performances would have really set his name in stone as one of England's best this generation. KP on the other hand played an awesome knock, like the old KP in some ways, and made Herath and co. look like the ordinary spinners they really are. No real reason why England should struggle against SL in SL, Aussies had no problems last year and they're a far less competent side (unfortunately...).

Jayawardene is in superb nick. Captaincy has done him wonders, he looked so deflated during Dilshan's tenure and was starting to become a bit of a liability. Now he's emerging as SL's most valuable batsmen and one of the most in-form at the minute in world cricket. SL have bounced back here, and with their two best batsmen at the crease and a slender lead, England could miss out here. England are dying for a victory and it'd be a shame if they don't get over the line, certainly SA would be putting their hand up for the no.1 ranking. If England don't win you can only blame the selectors, who have picked a 'Steven Smith', in Samit Patel... at least Smith is a superb fielder, Patel can barely move... I do think Panesar, in his great form, would have made a difference!

Edited by Mikey - 06 April 2012 at 12:33pm

ENG are on top but SLN will try to grind it out tomorrow, remember two of their wickets are nightwatchmen, so Mathews and Prasanna are still there with Mahela and these three will have to be at the crease for long time, SLN need to ensure they bat 2 sessions if they are to draw this.

why wouldn't the 2 late wickets be a good thing?

Not a dig at DRS , but I am getting sick of this every little controvertial decision being made into huge point of discussion (even with DRS or without DRS series).Coaches/Team manager making rounds to 3rd umpires/match refree during the match. Silly!

England all set for victory, don't know what the hell Raj is on about here.

So a great win  by England , a truly deserved one. They have shown great character in time and again fighting it out only to fall short by one little partnership.Glad they did it this time.

Well the same holds good at lot of places mate!

Edited by MalhotraRaj84 - 07 April 2012 at 1:18pm

So finally England won and they really deserved it and i hope they win the series.

It's just a two game series Mystery and it's a tie at 1-1.

I must say it was pretty difficult decision to choose MOM between KP and Swann. In the end I think it was KP who really deserved the award as he was the one who made it possbile with his breath taking batting display when even the locals found it hard to score freely on that pitch. Swan had 10 wickets, and it is really a rare that someone gets 10 wickets in the match still does not get the MOM award. Just goes to show the importance of KP's innings.