1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

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1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

The first day belonged ENTIRELY to England! They bowled Sri Lanka out for a measly 188. And that's despite 92 from Sangakkara and 51 from Prasana Jayawardene. That's an absolutely shocking performance from the rest of the team. Hoggard took 4 wickets and Panesar took 3.

England finished the day at 49-1 before they quit early for light.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Ian Bell has continued England's dominance on Day 2. England is currently up to 130-2, while Bell is at 82 right now. They trail by a mere 58 runs. Lunch is coming up soon, but they'll take the lead soon thereafter.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Bell out for 83, England 145-3 at lunch, they trail by 43.

Murali has come on strong, taking the two wickets this morning. He may very well do more damage in the second session. We'll see if England is able to build a big lead or not.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Pietersen out for 31, that's Murali's third.
England 179-4. They only trail by 9 runs, but Murali may yet be able to limit their advantage.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Murali gets Bopara for his fourth, and then Fernando joins in the act and gets Prior a few overs later.

England 186-6 and they still trail by 2 runs! The combination of Murali and the wet conditions are really turning the match.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Rain stopped play at 186-6, and it now looks like the day is probably done. England were saved, but likely not soon enough. They're not going to get the huge lead it looked like they were heading for.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Play abandoned for the day with no further additions to the score. Collingwood is 14 not out with Sidebottom on one.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

England are 9/278, a lead of 90 runs. Ryan Sidebottom was out for 31 and then Muralitharan took the wicket of Paul Collingwood for 45, meaning that Murali is now the leading test match wicket-taker, beating Shane Warne's mark of 708. Muralitharan is up to 710 wickets now, getting Matthew Hoggard stumped by Prasanna Jayawardene.

These are handy runs for England though in what is a low scoring game, a lead of over 100 would be a nice buffer to have heading into each team's second innings.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Ljp86;194711 said:
...Murali is now the leading test match wicket-taker, beating Shane Warne's mark of 708. Muralitharan is up to 710 wickets now...
Click to expand...

@| @| @|
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

England was all out for 281, good for a lead of 93.

Second session of the day is just starting as Sri Lanka's second innings is getting underway. 5-0 so far, we'll see if Sidebottom and Hoggard can strike early again.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Sri Lanka are 1/152. Matthew Hoggard got Jayasuriya for 74, in probably his last test innings. Jayasuriya is expected to announce his retirement after the completion of the test or face being dropped by the selectors.

Sri Lanka leads by 59 and it looks as if the pitch is starting to favour the batters. The Lankans will need to score many more runs to set England a big chase here.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

2/167 at stumps, a lead of 74.

Michael Vandort fell in what was the second last over of the day as after the next over, the umpires offered the light to the battesr which they accepted. Sangakkara is 30 not out while Mahela Jayawardene is yet to score.

These two will have to score big here is Sri Lanka want to win and the rest of the line-up will also have to contribute. The Lankans will be looking to bat for probably all of Day 4.

Also, Sanath Jaysuriya has called it quits in the test arena after the current test but will still play one-dayers for Sri Lanka. It will be good to see him come down to Australia for the Commonwealth Bank Series.

Jayasuriya retires from test cricket
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Sri Lanka has lost 2 of its all time greats in Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya. Not only 2 greats, but 2 players who formed 1 of the most prolific opening partnerships in Sri Lanka's history, in both forms, and even 1 of the best ever statistically you'd imagine. My prediction is that Jayasuriya may retire from the one-day game after the tour down under. Now having a look at the future, Sri Lanka really should get Upul Tharanga back into the side, he's a talent.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

I'm having a hard time deciding who is the player with better form in test cricket right now - between the two of Jacques Kallis or Kumar. The bravery with which Kumar batted in the last test in Australia (and was unfairly robbed) continues with some quite incredible form. It is definitely a joy to watch this guy bat.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

what a game so far!!!!!!!!!

England need 104 runs with 4 wickets in hand with a minimum of 20 overs remaining.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Sidebottom gets a shocker from the umpire on his on his way for one.

9/253, Sri Lanka need only one wicket to win while England needs 97 runs.

12.4 overs left today.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Hoggard is bowled by Malinga for eight and the game is all over. Sri Lanka win by 88 runs, a fitting tribute for Sanath Jayasuriya who is now officially retired from test cricket and even picked up a wicket today.

Another poor effort from England, after having a good lead on first innings, they really stuffed this game up with some ordinary bowling and some average batting in the second innings. Besides Ian Bell, Michael Prior and Ravi Bopara, no-one else contributed much with the bat and once again it was left to the middle order to score runs to give them a sniff of victory. But, it wasn't to be with Muralitharan claiming two quick wickets to snuff out hopes of an English win.

The next game between these two sides starts on Sunday in Colombo.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

They were comparing Kevin Pietersen to Vivian Richards the other day during commentary (especially Ian Botham who said such a comparison is worthy). Performances like in this test would raise question whether he is in fact overrated instead.
 
Re: 1st Test: Sri Lanka v England at Kandy

Chandu;195323 said:
They were comparing Kevin Pietersen to Vivian Richards the other day during commentary (especially Ian Botham who said such a comparison is worthy). Performances like in this test would raise question whether he is in fact overrated instead.
Click to expand...

Pietersen is way overrated. Averaging 42.2 in his last ten test innings which is nowhere near what Richards averaged during his career. And his ODI form is worse, an average of 30.25 for his last 15 innings which suggests that he is out of form and most certainly overrated.

His average in both forms of the game has been dropping for quite some time.
 
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