Sri Lanka vs England 1st test - Match thread.

[Biltong]

First topic message reminder :

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Suraj Randiv, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara


England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk), Samit Patel, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Monty Panesar

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.

[Luke]

Also good morning Eire & Alfie.

Fine Eire, i have sent it for review, and it came back that it was my fault, damn.

[eirebilly]

tiger

That will do KP

[alfie]

Bell playing himself in carefully

[eirebilly]

Bell even

[eirebilly]

Was all confused there, they were KP shots

[Luke]

Don't now about KP, But Bell is certainly decided to have a go.

[eirebilly]

You expect that from KP, i was all shocked there for a second when i saw it was actually Bell

[eirebilly]

Honours shared this session i feel but Sri Lanka have had the bigger impact on the game.

[Biltong]

England will have to bat well to get a decent lead here. Herath did very well in Durban against SA.

If I remember correctly he just missed out on 10 wickets there.
He might be the guy who is going to upset the applecart here.

[Biltong]

Is the pitch doing anything untoward?

[eirebilly]

No, not really biltong. Trott and Strauss got themselves out. I did not see the Cook dismissal.

[alfie]

Also good morning Eire & Alfie.

Fine Eire, i have sent it for review, and it came back that it was my fault, damn.

Good one , tiger


very much Sri Lanka's session , that. Need a big stand from these two or England will be in Trouble...

[Luke]

Good morning Biltong,

no the pitchs not doing anything really. Strange decisions from the batsman more of a problem. Cooks was just a good ball.

[eirebilly]

Yep, a big partnership is defo needed here for England. If these two can see them past 200 then they will be in good shape. Its not going to be easy though.

[alfie]

Was a typical Cook early dismissal ... Basically missed a straight one as he is inclined to do in the first couple of overs. Was very out.

the other two both played bad shots ... No blame attached to the pitch which is playing pretty well so far.

[mystiroakey]

wtf is wrong with england

[Biltong]

Morning tiger, morning alfie, dissappointing draw for Sa, I understand they dropped a few catches.

anyway back to this match. KP must keep his cool here and Bell will hopefully use this match to regain some form. Sri Lanka to me currently is difficult to read because of the retirement of Murali. He used to take so many wickets for them and you almost wonder who is going to take the wickets now.

England should still be able to get a lead even if it is marginal. apart from Mahlea noother batsman in the Sri Lanka line up looked good.

[Luke]

But Eire, if we cut out the stupid, and pre meditated shots than i think we can do well. This Sri Lanka attack is not as frightening at the moment as previous, and with the pitch not doing alot i feel if we play straight we can score quite well today.

Next dismissal my fault after that.

Also Biltong well done on SA seris win againat New Zealand, it's all setting up nicly for the summer.

[Biltong]

Yeah thanks Tiger, would have liked to go to England now whilst the boys are on a roll, it is now once again 4 months of no international cricket before we play england. we always seem to start slowly.

[alfie]

I am actually getting seriously worried about England's batting. The daft dismissals to innocuous deliveries seem to me a result of confused minds: a rush to assert themselves when there was no need to do other than bat "normally"
Has the disaster in Arabia caused them to forget how they have played for the last three years?

Certainly this pitch and this opposing attack afford a reasonable opportunity for them to prove they can bat in the sub-continent , but it will take better batting than we've seen recently.

At the moment I fear for England whenever Cook is dismissed early...

[Luke]

I do feel that is a problem for SA, and why England will win
After the test, 1 dayers and 20/20, against West Indies, the one day series against Australia we should be more than ready to go.

Though of course this test series will see how we have recovered from the Pakistan series (though obviously we did well in the 1 dayers 20/20),.

[eirebilly]

But Eire, if we cut out the stupid, and pre meditated shots than i think we can do well. This Sri Lanka attack is not as frightening at the moment as previous, and with the pitch not doing alot i feel if we play straight we can score quite well today.

Next dismissal my fault after that.

Also Biltong well done on SA seris win againat New Zealand, it's all setting up nicly for the summer.

Without a doubt but is easier said than done i am afraid. England, as a batting unit, have not been in form and i feel them pushing too hard. Just one big innings score is needed to bring the confidence back to them

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

apart from Mahlea noother batsman in the Sri Lanka line up looked good.

Which suggests that anyone with a modicum of switched onness should be able to make runs on a fairly benign surface, especially against mediocre sri lankan bowling.
Theres no excuse if England dont at leats threaten a lead.Their batting lineup is far deeper than the Lankans who came in undercooked and not playing well.

3 down isnt a disaster but it is a worrying start and piles the pressure on. One failed inning isnt a disaster, but when its the 7th in a row in tests you have to question that theres something fundamentaly wrong in Englands mental and technical approach to these games.

[eirebilly]

Oh dear, KP gone

[Luke]

Oh for gods sake, now Pietersen's decided to throw his wicket away.

I TAKE FULL BLAME FOR THIS.

Alfie got to agree, whats happened to just batting proparly.

[eirebilly]

It was an ok ball but KP is largely to blame for this dismissall.

[eirebilly]

On the positive side, Bell looks in fine touch

[alfie]

On the positive side, Bell looks in fine touch

You're playing with fire there , billy.

[eirebilly]

Oh god, Prior gone now. England are imploding

[eirebilly]

Whats the follow on mark?

[Luke]

Good point Eire, but then again he's just playing like he does. And now Prior's gone, though decidied to review it, how can such as adverage bowling attack, be causing such problems. Prior out, hope Patel does well.

[eirebilly]

On the positive side, Bell looks in fine touch

You're playing with fire there , billy.

Yep but he has a job to do to see England past the follow on mark here.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

OK this is just Poopie

[alfie]

Prior gone..

Sri Lanka by an innings , I think...

As in 2005 , it seems a tour of Pakistan (well,sort of) has destroyed an apparently strong England team and returned them to the middle of the pack

Enjoy the number one ranking , biltong

[eirebilly]

Bell is going to go for it and why not.

[eirebilly]

I hope that Patel can provide decent support.

[Luke]

To be fair, Jayawdene is captaining Sri Lanka very well with his field placings, Bell gets another 4, follow on is about 115 runs more requied.

[eirebilly]

115 more runs?

That will take some getting.

[eirebilly]

G'wan Bell

[hampo17]

Felt for Strauss on that review, the umpire shouldn't have allowed them to use the DRS as they took longer than allowed to decide. Hope somebody stands up, will be a long tour if it's like the Pakistan series again.

[alfie]

115 more runs?

That will take some getting.

Not even a remote chance , billy

they're gone.

[eirebilly]

I dont know alfie. If Bell keeps going and Patel, Broad and Swann hang about for a bit then its still possible

[eirebilly]

Anything under a 100 run lead for Sri Lanka will be a good result from here

[Biltong]

I do feel that is a problem for SA, and why England will win
After the test, 1 dayers and 20/20, against West Indies, the one day series against Australia we should be more than ready to go.

Though of course this test series will see how we have recovered from the Pakistan series (though obviously we did well in the 1 dayers 20/20),.

I think england will have the advantage being at home and having played more cricket yes.

South africa need to ensure their preperation for the england tour is well planned and well executed. It will be a very good test series.

Whether england or SA will win is a question best answered by the players themselves though.

There are a number of South africans who has been in decent nick this summer.

Batting
Alviro Pietersen in 8 innings averaged 53 with 2 centuries - his century in New Zealand may just be the catalyst he needs to cement his place and his confidence
Graeme Smith in 15 innings averaged 48.75 with 2 centuries and 3 fifties - after struggling with form he played some important knocks in Nz, once again leading from the front.
Amla in 13 innings averaged 47.25 with 2 centuries and 4 fifities - he some early dismissals but his from doesn't seem to dip much.
Kallis in 11 innings averaged 43.2 with 2 centuries and 1 fifty, but 4 ducks - a little out of form if you ask me, not up to his usual standards, still effective though.
De Villiers in 12 innings averaged 65.09 with 1 century and 6 fifties - simply superb at the moment.
Duminy in 2 innings averaged 136 with 1 century - took his chance when Kallis was injured and perhaps bought himself a lifeline.

Bowling
Steyn in 16 innings averaged 22.97 with 34 wickets - he seems to be struggling with form a little, but is still effective
Philander in 14 innings averaged 14.15 with 51 wickets - - when will the bubble burst?
Morkel in in 16 innings averaged 29.19 with 26 wickets - his form has been much better than those results.

The question is how will their form be affected with this 4 month lay off?

[Luke]

This is fantastic, 3 overs and we havn't lost a wicket, come on England we can still draw this.

[eirebilly]

In Bell we trust

[eirebilly]

Patel being very watchfull, just what was needed in these circumstances

[alfie]

Even if (very unlikely) the tail assists Bell to , say , 250 , England still have to bat last...

Patel gone now...still fancy my innings result

[Luke]

To be Fair Biltong if our batting carries on like this, through the summer then we could be in trouble with your bowlers.
Though should be a fantastic series, really looking forward to it.

Patel out now, damn we'll be struggling to get the draw, England need to get 119 to advoid the follow on, sorry Eire i missed heard.

[eirebilly]

Its going from bad to worse right now. Come on Broady

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