England vs Sri Lanka 2nd test debate

First topic message reminder :

So the 2nd test is upon us,Will England make another tremendous win or will Sri Lanka fight back to win the 2nd test? All will be known in 5 days time.

The 12 man teams are as follow:

England
Andrew Strauss (C)
Alistair Cook
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Ian Bell
Eoin Morgan
Matt Prior (W-K)
Stuart Broad
Graeme Swann
Chris Tremlett
Steve Finn
Jade Dernbach

Sri Lanka (Can't find the 12 man squad anywhere)

Tillakaratne Dilshan (C)
Tharanga Paranavithana (Spell check!)
Lahiru Thirimanne
Kumar Sangakkara
Mahela Jayawardene
Thilan Samaraweera
Dinesh Chandimal
Prasanna Jaywardene (W-K)
Thissara Perera
Suraj Randiv
Ajantha Mendis
Rangana Herath
Dilhara Fernanado
Chanka Welegedara
Suranga Lakmal
Farveez Maharoof

Once again like the 1st feel free to discuss the action

And updates of the match will be up on the thread.

Impressing me too, Billy

Sterner tests lie ahead of course , but he's done all you could ask today ...I would certainly see him as a must-have for any tour of the sub-continent , with his expertise against spin.

Fascinating to see these two batting together : two contrasting players , one with a rapier and the other with a broadsword...score ticking over.

Agreed dyer, if these two can stay in then they should get close to (if not past 300) today which will be a great platform for tomorrows play.

They are not hanging around are they alfie. This is very impressive stuff from them. Already a partnership of 72.

There may even still be time to see Mogs get his ton today...... Damn i hope i dont curse him now.

eirebilly wrote:There may even still be time to see Mogs get his ton today...... Damn i hope i dont curse him now.

Maybe: another 45 minutes? Depends how much strike he gets ...new ball due too , but the bowlers are looking very tired...main thing is he doesn't chuck it away, plenty of runs to get tomorrow.

Fast 50 Prior

Fantastic 50 from Prior

Who would have thought that Mogs would be playing the anchor role :yikes:

Bang on alfie, plenty of runs to be had tomorrow but Prior and Mogs have really taken advantage here.

Agreed. Matty P's played some great shots too. Nice to see some attacking intent...took just 64 balls too.

300 up, we all would have taken this at 22-3.

Prior is playing beautifully.

They are racing along here : 4.7 rpo this session

Sri Lanka had a great start , but if they don't strike again tonight it will end up England's day.

Some sloppy stuff in the field lately...Sir Ian not impressed

I'd like to add my voice to those admiring the effort from Moggy.. it was just what his team needed.

I think that the team have done really well; to recover from an early collapse to a score that's maybe only a ton short of a really good first innings score is great stuff already.

Certainly SL will gain no confidence now. It's runs on the board and the early rewards of putting Eng in have not paid off as the day wore on.

Bothams gets it totally wrong

Morgan gone for 79,another England batsmen gets out close to there century.

doh.

still, very good and SL have to bat and do the same against a vastly better attack.

100 run partnership done very quickly.

Oh no, Mogs out but he still did a great job.

Well played Morgan & Prior.

Dammit! As I type this Morgan is out lbw.

Great effort though and between them they've ensured England get a decent 1st innings total.

we still have the advantage

Rats !
Good review by Sri Lanka and good night Mogs !

I would have sworn that pitched outside leg...New ball pays off.

Fine innings by Morgan, but now the bowlers have to do their bit with the bat.

Game back in the balance...

This may actually be a good track for Broad to make some runs.....

Turning out to be a very even contest. England are racking up the runs, but Sri Lanka keep snagging wickets. This could be a lot closer than the 1st Test.

Broad and Prior just need to bat out the remaining overs of the day.

which they are very capable of doing

you would say we bat pretty much all the way down, tremlett and finn are no mugs with the bat

Finn and Tremlett can hang around for a while but I would love another big partnership from these two.

Shows how hard it is to recover from a shocking start : three good partnerships (and in truth they have all been broken when a wicket was least expected) but still the scorecard is a little short of par on this pitch.
Good efforts from Broad/Swann can still ensure a good total, but if Sri Lanka can grab another one tonight they'll feel still well in it...

Could be a good match.

All things considering, this has been a fine performance by England today. 3 batsmen getting some good runs and at a very quick pace. This has to put Sri Lanka under some pressure, especially if they dont lose anymore wickets today.

espeically with lankans brittle line up

Well, if Broad and Swann can notch 30-40 each, that will see us finish near enough on 400.

which is par on this pitch

Broad living a charmed life but he is getting valuable runs

Six more overs....Say 335 for the day?

335/6 would be England by a whisker - 335/7 maybe Sri Lanka on top.

Stay tuned...

Prior swinging at alot of these wide balls ,has gotta be careful.

would say 400 is par in these conditions cricketfan.

what conditions the pitch is flat

400 England will be pleased with,I wasn't sure they would even get 300 after there start.

It loks like a pretty flat pitch cricketfan and the outfield is fast. That said, i think that Swann will get some movement tomorrow when he bowls.

thats what i am saying 400 is par

the pitch dont usually turn at lords, and the small amount of grass that there is, will keep the pitch together.

Sorry cricketfan, missread your post

ok mate.

Lovely drive Broad

Got a few here last year didn't he

Prior and Broad playing a few shots before the end of play.

Whoa! Broad feeling frisky today - he's not hanging around.

Have a feeling Sri Lanka will post a good 1st innings score - they'll be determined to make up for their 2nd innings collapse last time, but if England can get a good 2nd innings lead, they may crumble again.

Lovely shots from both men.

350 is on here today. What a recovery

Anything you can do...Prior smashes 2 fours in a row...runs coming fast off the new ball.

I was a bit under with the 335 wasn't I ? Two more overs - I'd be very happy with 350/6...

England will need to continue this in morning before putting Sri Lanka in around team time-ish possibly before.

What a day of cricket. Enjoyed every minute of it.. Even trebs cam out of retirement

Final over here.

i think 450-500 will be execllent

450 England would certainly be pleased with,500 may be a bridge too far.

Same time tomorrow lads?

for a little bit then i have a cricket match