2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Top Contributors
C

cleazer

Guest
2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Sri Lanka won the first test, so England is looking to even the series.
They're batting first, and so far Cook and Vaughan are up to the task.
Well, Vaughan especially.

It's lunch on day 1, and England are 97-0.
Vaughan is already up to 75!
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Vaughan was out for 87, but it was a great opening partnership for England.

England is currently 144-1 after 45 overs, a fine first half of the day.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Malinga took 2 wickets in 2 consecutive deliveries.
England is 258-5 at stumps.
Collingwood and Prior are the current batsmen.
A pretty even day of cricket I'd say.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Collingwood and Broad both out.
England is 275-7.

Prior and Sidebottom are capable of adding a fair amount of runs still, so Sri Lanka may have to wait a bit more before they can bat.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

England up to 7/341. Matt Prior is 71 not out and Ryan Sidebottom is on 16.

Why Matt Prior wasn't picked to play for England before Paul Nixon and Geraint Jones is anyone's guess. The guy has saved England from a major collapse after Cook, Collingwood, Bopara and Broad all fell within 14 overs of each other (different days though). If he can keep going, he'll propel Enland to a good first innings total.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Muralitharan takes the last three wickets of the innings so England finish with 351 all out. Prior was the last man out for 79.

Pretty even game you'd think. 351 will be a good score so it will be up to Sri Lanka to match that effort and possibly better it. Steve Harmison is back for England too which will boost their bowling stocks, just depends which Harmison will show up today.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Sri Lanka are 2/105 at stumps. They lost Sangakkara and Tharanga early but Vandort and Mehela Jayawardene have steadied the ship and are 50 not out and 43 not out respectively.

Tomorrow will be very interesting, Sri Lanka currently trail by 246 runs and the focus will be on whether they can overtake that score and if they do, how far they can go past it. Should be a cracking day 3.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Sri Lanka currently 279-3, they trail by 72 runs.

Vandort was finally out for 138. Mahela Jayawardene is still in there on 118.
There's about 10 minutes to go before tea. Sri Lanka should have the lead before the end of the day. If they can bat for a few hours on day 4, they should have a decent sized lead, and will leave themselves with a fair amount of time to try to get a win from this match.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Chamara Silva out for 49, but Mahela Jayawardene is just cruising along, up to 167 so far.

Sri Lanka 379-4 at stumps.

The lead is 28 runs, but it'll surely be in triple digits by the time they finish batting tomorrow. Sri Lanka has a good chance to win this test. I think the earlier they finish batting tomorrow, the more pressure the English batsmen will be under. Even though the SL lead my be smaller if they put England in earlier, the English batsmen will have to face the prospect of batting for a lot longer.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

They should bat for about a session and a half tomorrow and them send them back in to face a small testing period before the tea break. If the Lankans can prise out one or two wickets before then, they'll have a good shot at winning the game. Again, Muralitharan will play a crucial part. They should be looking to have a lead of about 200 by the time they declare.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

5/404, Jehan Mubarak fell to Harmison for nine.

The Jayawardene are in the middle now, Mehela is 182 and Prasanna is on one. The lead is only 53, Sri Lanka aren't showing much urgency at the moment, they've scored 26 runs from just over 10 overs.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Mahela reached 195 before he was out.
Sri Lanka have batted quite slowly today.
They've just come back from tea, with the score 546-8. The lead is 195.
I was thinking it'd be a bit bigger than that by now.
That said, England has been out in the field for 196 overs. They may be quite worn down, and it's possible that a few of them might give their wickets away a little too easily when (or if) they bat again.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

And right on cue, Prasana Jayawardene is out for 79, and Mahela declares.
Sri Lanka 548-9, the lead is 197.

There's still nearly 2 hours left in the day, so there's more than enough time for Sri Lanka to steal a wicket or two to give the English something to think about overnight.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

England are 0/48 at stumps, still trailing by 149 runs. Vaughan has top score with 28.

Tomorrow will be very interesting, Sri Lanka will be after early wickets to limit any lead that England may get while England will be looking to bat for the draw. The Lankans will be relying on Muralitharan to get most of the work done.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

You have to think England has a pretty good chance of surviving the day. It would be entertaining to see what would happen if Sri Lanka had to get 100 or so runs in just 10 overs though.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Vaughan and Cook have survived the first hour of the day.
England 101-0 after 30 overs, and a draw grows more inevitable with each over.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Vaughan out for 61, c & b Fernendo,
England 107-1.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

Cook out for 62 in the first ball after lunch.
England 163-2 now, and surely there's no way they can lose this match.
There's about 60 overs left in the day, but remember, England only trail by 34 runs, so Sri Lanka will have to leave themselves at least 10-15 overs in which they can chase down whatever lead England is able to put up.

We'll see, I guess.
 
Re: 2nd Test: Sri Lanka v England at Colombo

The weather ended this one early, but it still would've been a draw, regardless of the weather.
England was 250-3, good for a lead of 53 runs. Pietersen and Collingwood were putting together a decent enough partnership. It may have gone on for a bit. Mahela Jayawardene was man of the match. Chamara Silva came in and bowled 13 overs and got a wicket. I think that's the first time he ever bowled in either a test or an ODI. He wasn't too bad. Without Jayasuriya anymore, perhaps Silva will turn into a semi-regular bowler.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top