Sri Lanka v England 2nd Test Match Thread

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Not too early for this is it? After their 'heroic' defeat last Thursday, England will need a win to tie the series and preserve their no.1 ranking while Sri Lanka need a win or tie to win the series.

England's preparations haven't been helped by the fact that Broad will miss out due to injury while Sri Lanka's have been boosted by the news that Mathews will return from injury. Cricinfo predicts the following line-ups with two changes for each team:

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Lahiru Thirimanne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jaywardene, 5 Thilan Samaraweera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Prasanna Jayawardene, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dhammila Prasad, 11 Suranga Lakmal.

England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steve Finn.

The pressure is really on Andrew Strauss, for his batting (justified) and his captaincy (unjustified). England's batsmen will also be feeling the heat as well - they haven't made over 400 so far this winter!

Keep an eye out for the rain, some is predicted on the first day. Game starts at 5:30 BST. Come on England!

[Biltong]

Congratulations to england, it was really a professional performance.

Sri Lanka was on the back foot from the start. anderson very good, and Pietersen again showing what he can do when he stays in.

[mystiroakey]

so still no.1 biltongbeky

[Biltong]

so still no.1 biltongbeky

Enjoy it mystir.

[mystiroakey]

I will do!!

[Biltong]

I'll tell you what Mystir.

When we beat you in your back yard. we'll take the win and you can keep the ranking.

[mystiroakey]

Beat England in Engalnd- Now that is funny

[Biltong]

You're right, it was in 2008 as well.

[mystiroakey]

Check yhis article out. interesting reading in regards to steyn and anderdon.. and there left ies and righties averages.. cant wair for the summer

[mystiroakey]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/559986.html

[Duty281]

Very professional in the end by England, took the last 4 wickets without too much fuss and knocked off the runs required only 2 down. Our bowlers have shown they can hack it in the subcontinent which gives us big big confidence for India. Our batsman may also be benefited by the fact that there is only 1 world-class bowler for India and that is Zaheer Khan but I'll start worrying about that series when September rolls around! Roll on the summer!

[VTR]

Pleased with this win. KP brilliant, Swann not far behind. Just shows the important thing in these confitions is to stay in the game then things can happen quickly.

Shame we didn't apply that in the First Test first innings as I feel we should be beating SL in any conditions post-Murali. Anyway, after the 3-0 in the UAE we'd probably all have taken 1-1 in this series.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

yep England couldve and shouldve played like this more this winter, kind of frustrating in a way but good to see them get it right.
Some mitigation that they had really bad luck with the tosses and getting the worst of the conditions, but theres been a couple of unforgivable batting flumps that still make this a bad winter.
Anderson and Swan have confirmed they have what it takes to be effective in any conditions.

[Guest]

After 3 hours sleep and managed to catch up on some eye shut, what a result for England. KP again. Wow. Shades of 2005. The confidence and the footwork was majestic. Cook is showing some form that had left him in UAE. The bowlers, well there isn't enough praise I can heap on them. I thought the interview with Swann and Anderson was a touch of class. Not on the batsmen backs at all and for me shows the unity in the camp. Even with the 2005 Ashes winning side, there was an 'old' guard type mentality and even into the 2006/07 side there was a divide. Flower was worked wonders.

Back to England now and West Indies and South Africa coming up. I bet Bell will look forward to batting on English tracks. There has been some lows during this winter tour, but it ends on a high. Can't wait for it.

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