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.

[eirebilly]

I am not a fan of spin from both ends here either. Jimmy Panesar or Broad Swann for me.

[alfie]

Yes - there are times the dual spin thing is called for , but here we have two excellent players of spin , under pressure , and England's number one bowler is standing at slip while they patiently work their way into the innings...

I prefer variety , harder for them to settle...

[eirebilly]

In desperate need of a little speed now. This is becoming a little predictable and comfortable for the batsmen.

[Carrotdude]

I'd have Jimmy on for Panesar, not threatening at all really.

[Carrotdude]

Swann, however, is. 3 for him, Sanga is gone!

[eirebilly]

Staying with spin works. Swann with his third

[alfie]

I just don't think Monty looks threatening enough here...he is bowling tight , and if he bowls enough overs he may get five wickets eventually...but if he does I fear it will be way too late...

but Swann has the Big Wicket! game on ... But I still want Jimmy on now at the other end , just for a short burst

[Carrotdude]

I agree entirely with alfie, Monty doesn't look like taking a wicket, it's just not turning enough for him and he doesn't change his pace.

[eirebilly]

Agreed, take Monty off and bowl Broad or Jimmy with Swann

[alfie]

Strauss just not listening to us I'm afraid ...

need to send him a pigeon or something

[eirebilly]

He is not listening is he, the bad England captain

Panesar is just trying too hard. He does not look all that threatening.

[alfie]

Samaraweera looking too settled for my comfort...really need to change something here

bowl Patel if you must Strauss , but don't just let them ...OK , here's Jimmy.

Good.

[eirebilly]

Oops Jimmy , what do we know alfie

[alfie]

...and nearly a result straight away! Inside edge didn't miss by much...

Tony Greig banging on about spin is the only answer ... What game is he watching? Not a lot for the pace men but it is n't spinning like a top either...

and Patel having a go too, fair enough, want one more wicket tonight.

[eirebilly]

Got to love when you call for something and it almost pays off dont you

[liverbnz]

So our best bowler from the first innings bowls only 3 of the first 23 overs in the second innings? Odd tactics. Another 50 runs and England will be out of it.

[eirebilly]

I tell you, Jimmy is going to get one before close of play

He may leak the odd boundary but he asks questions of the batsmen

[alfie]

The down side to using a fast bowler is the odd boundary may come...as we see

but I think it is vital this stand is broken tonight and I don't mind a few runs if we can do that. I would have persisted with Swann though. But Patel broke through twice in the first innings...

Here comes Swann again

[eirebilly]

Just one more please England, just one more tonight

[Fists of Fury]

Oh yes Swanny you beauty!!! The key wicket.

[eirebilly]

Yes

[eirebilly]

Fists me old mukker, hows you?

[alfie]

This is why I prefer England not to play 2 ( or 3) spinners...the captains , on pitch or in box , get a bit obsessed with spin and forget their fast bowlers...

one spinner can usually do it anyway ... In this case Swann as he takes a vital wicket!!!!!

[alfie]

come on , one more now...

( getting greedy)

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Nice. The big thing here is that its all the proper batsmen that England have removed.
They should be able to mop up the long tail relatively easily from here, and be faced with an acheivable ( by any normal side) score to win. The problem is that with the pitch getting firendlier to spinners its England that have to get those runs.....

[alfie]

Now I would bowl Broad to the night watchman

...but Strauss won't

[eirebilly]

Shall we be greed and expect another wicket today

[eirebilly]

Now I would bowl Broad to the night watchman

+1. Broad loves to bowl at nightwatchmen

[Fists of Fury]

Fists me old mukker, hows you?

Not too bad thanks, buddy.

Been keeping up with the cricket in despair at our batting woes, but still retain the slightest glint of hope. We need a big morning tomorrow, anything more than 250 and we have next to no chance, judging by our pathetic effort first up. Still a bit of batting to come for Sri Lanka.

[alfie]

Must admit Patel is bowling quite well here

...that one turned!

Think England have an outside chance of keeping the target to about 250 , but it will still require a big change in their attitude to chase that , even with unlimited time. Cook and Trott the keys...

still have to take five more wickets. , mind.

[liverbnz]

Great to Swann back in form. I was getting a bit worried about him of late!

[eirebilly]

Good man Fists

Not in as bad a shape as could have been expected after the batting today. Interesting day tomorrow that could see the conclusion to this test

[Mike Selig]

What a strange test match! I swear there's not much in the pitch, the odd ball has spun but that's about it.

Crucial wicket at the end of play there, tomorrow morning the bowlers should be fresh and England have always picked up early wickets in every session so far. If they can get Sri Lanka out tomorrow morning, then there's still a bit of a chance, but the batsmen really just have to deliver.

[liverbnz]

Some stats:

England's biggest chase on Asian soil is 209 back in 1961 against Pakistan.

The biggest chase in Sri Lanka is 171 in 2001 (I think).

In chasing 368 back in 2003 in Kandy, England reached 285/7 before time called a draw which is what England were looking for with Chris Read and Gareth Batty being in at the end and blocking their way home.

[Mike Selig]

Thought it was 161 in 2001? And that was fairly nervy (7 wickets down).

Anyway the past is the past. Sri Lanka are hot favourites but this is cricket, anything can happen.

I still think the pitch is good and Sri Lanka's attack is average.

[alfie]

I'd agree with that...

At least we can be grateful this fight back can leave us something to look forward to tomorrow , rather than an inevitable Sri Lankan march to a 400 lead and slow (or quick!) death by spin.

Sri Lanka 70% to England 30% ? It isn't going to rain.

[eirebilly]

Be more positive alfie

See you here tomorrow

[Fists of Fury]

Realistically we need to remove Sri Lanka's last five for 50 runs tops to stand even an outside chance in this one.

[Mike Selig]

I think it's more 80-20. That's just because of how England have batted recently. On the other hand Australia chased down 300odd shortly after being bundled out for 47. Can England turn it around?

[Fists of Fury]

I have my doubts unfortunately, Mike. First of all though we need those last 5 wickets in order to give us that chance. If they put 100 on for those then we can probably forget it.

[Guest]

Anderson the best of the English bowlers in the first innings, with Swann the worst of the lot.

The second innings, Anderson hardly bowled at all but now Swann is the best of the English bowlers by miles. It seems so weird.

The BBC is now full of stories about how the batsmen are letting the bowlers down, and how scared / terrified the top order English batsmen are in the sub-continent. The only thing to fear is fear itself - so it's "poopy-time" for the batsmen apparently.

[Duty281]

What a crazy, crazy Test match. This pitch is barely doing a thing and yet 25 wickets have fallen in 2 days.

We cleaned Sri Lanka for 318 which I thought was around 80-130 runs short of par. How wrong I was.

England's batting was inept, so bad. It's becoming more and more clear that this is a mental thing, it's not about ability. We all know Herath and Randiv would barely get a look in if this Test was played out of the subcontinent, but in the subcontinent, strange things happen to English batsmen. Let's analyse the dismissals:

Cook - Got a good ball early on, no shame for him.
Strauss - Poor stroke
Trott - Charging down the wicket on 12, I'd expect KP to do that, not Trott.
KP - Unlucky, he chopped on to his stumps
Prior - Playing a spinner off the backfoot is asking for trouble
Patel - Poor technique and maybe nerves
Broad - Playing shots
Swann - Brilliantly caught after playing shots
Bell - Crap defensive stroke
Monty - Missed a straight one

And as I prepared for England to roll over like they had done in the past, something strange happened... they fought back.

What a time it was for Swanny to come back into form, 4 wickets to reduce Sri Lanka to 84/5 at the close (a lead of 209) and all the danger men back in the pavillion. IF England manage to take the last 5 wickets and restrict Sri Lanka to a lead of 275 or less, then we can still win.

Remember, the ability of our batsmen is still there and chasing 275 or less is not impossible on a Day 3 pitch. This time tomorrow Sri Lanka may have wrapped up a win or England could be on the cusp of a famous victory.

Believe

[JDizzle]

To be fair to Trott, it was a rubbish ball and I actually think coming down the pitch was the shot to play to that delivery and 9 times out of 10 I think he smashes that for four, but he just missed it on this occasion.

If England can skittle SL quickly, and leave themselves only 250-270 to win, I can see them chasing that. It does only take one partnership after all!

[Duty281]

To be fair to Trott, it was a rubbish ball and I actually think coming down the pitch was the shot to play to that delivery and 9 times out of 10 I think he smashes that for four, but he just missed it on this occasion.

If England can skittle SL quickly, and leave themselves only 250-270 to win, I can see them chasing that. It does only take one partnership after all!

Exactly, just one 100 partnership and we're about 40% there.

[mystiroakey]

abit gutted - this is contiunuing exactly as it left in pakistain- mirror performances- bowlers doing ok , but opponent batsman getting one partnership an innings, england not doing enough!!

[JDizzle]

If one of Cook, who is Mr. Reliable, or Trott, who did look in decent touch before playing an awful stroke can get a ton we should be over a third of the way there if we bowl well!

Of course, this is the view if you refuse to look facts in the face, if we are realistic we will probably lose by 150 runs!

[mystiroakey]

there is no reason wy england cant bowl em out for another 50- and get the 250 run chase. but the worrying aspect is it feels like groundhog day to me. well they turn it around?

[guildfordbat]

A case can be fairly made for the scoreboard now making it level pegging. However, to get to that stage from 15-3, Sri Lanka must feel they are in the ascendancy ....

I agree. The pitch looks flat, but when Australia played Sri Lanka in the first test and scraped to 270ish the pitch looked flat as well. Then Sri Lanka collapsed for 100. I think England should score 400 on this wicket, but then I thought they'd chase down 150 against Pakistan. Sure Sri Lanka's bowlers are reputedly average, but Herath will bowl stump to stump and must fancy his chances of getting Pietersen LBW, Strauss is under pressure, Bell can't buy a run and Patel is on debut (and I hold my hand up and will say he did very well on day 1).

There's an old saying: "you only really know how good a pitch is once both sides have batted on it". I think some are a bit too keen to call it England's day. I would call it evens, with Sri Lanka with the momentum.

Mike - well, two days gone now and it seems more appropriate to criticise the batting than the pitch.

Anyway, I appreciated your comments above even though I know you reserved judgment in a further post. Like you, I think it's now 80/20 in Sri Lanka's favour. Despite another batting wobble today, Sri Lanka will certainly believe they are in the ascendancy as day three approaches.

As I was getting at last night, believing you hold the upper hand often ensures you do. As Gordon Ross wrote concerning the May-Cowdrey partnership of 411,: ''England believed they had the measure of Ramadhin, and whether they had or not, believing was half the battle.''

[Guest]

Just watched the highlights. The top order need to be more positive. What I saw with Herath that the players just got pinned back into their crease and eventually they were going to get trapped. Prior and Patel both got trapped. KP tried to play positive and when he went back into his crease he wafted after a wide one turning in and dragged onto his stumps. Trott I have no idea what he was doing. Bell, Swann and Broad showed that with the right aggression that runs are to be had on this pitch.

What can be said is that the bowlers have got England back into this match and if they chase 280+ there is so much time in the game that England could chase it down. I would hope if England have 2 days worth of batting that they would and should be able to chase it down.

[Duty281]

Just watched the highlights. The top order need to be more positive. What I saw with Herath that the players just got pinned back into their crease and eventually they were going to get trapped. Prior and Patel both got trapped. KP tried to play positive and when he went back into his crease he wafted after a wide one turning in and dragged onto his stumps. Trott I have no idea what he was doing. Bell, Swann and Broad showed that with the right aggression that runs are to be had on this pitch.

What can be said is that the bowlers have got England back into this match and if they chase 280+ there is so much time in the game that England could chase it down. I would hope if England have 2 days worth of batting that they would and should be able to chase it down.

More positive?! We were doing the exact opposite of Pakistan and being too positive. We need to be less positive and more selective.

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