England in Sri Lanka

[aussie_ben91]

England deserve to have some luck and draw this game out.

If I remember quite rightly, the 1st Test against India earlier this year was a draw which England should've won and after that India pretty much blew them out of the water and the series could've been totally different had England had've won that first match.

 

[wolf]

Wow we are still hanging on at tea. 209-6, Bell on 62, Prior 35. Partnership of 49 between Bopara and Bell and partnership of 70 so far between Bell and Prior. Bell has taken 170 balls and Prior 99 balls, so using up valuable time.

We need 141 runs to win with minimum 32 overs remaining and at least 2 hours remaining. Doubt we will do that, but hopefully we can hang on for a draw, although even that is unlikely.

 

[ivanvdm15]

good bowling from Vaas

 

[RoboRocks]

Prior and Bell are picking Murali on this slow pitch. If they can get to and survive the new ball then England have a great chance.

 

[irottev]

Come on England, play out the draw. How many overs left today?

Sidebottom, Panesar and Hoggard will probably be easy Murili wickets. These guys will have to do the bulk of the work.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Prior goes as soon as I switch on the television.

C'mon England...

Damn, what a shame..

Truly feel sorry for Sidebottom, is having absolutely no luck. Drop catches against India & in this game and now a shocking LBW decision.

 

[charith]

Good win for us. Fitting way to send off Sanath as well. Unlucky sidebottom there in the end with the inside edge but the umpiring errors were balanced out i reckon atleast 3 shouts couldve been given for SL and Hoggys one to get sanath was marginal.

Overall SL played the better aggresive cricket even though the slow batting at the end of day 4 nearly cost them, and deserved to win. Sangakkara was magnificent once again in the form of his life and Murali getting the 2 big wickets in the end of Prior and Bell.

Good test cricket. Hope for more of the same in Colombo and Kandy

 

[nuffa]

Good win for us. Fitting way to send off Sanath as well. Unlucky sidebottom there in the end with the inside edge but the umpiring errors were balanced out i reckon atleast 3 shouts couldve been given for SL and Hoggys one to get sanath was marginal.

Overall SL played the better aggresive cricket even though the slow batting at the end of day 4 nearly cost them, and deserved to win. Sangakkara was magnificent once again in the form of his life and Murali getting the 2 big wickets in the end of Prior and Bell.

Good test cricket. Hope for more of the same in Colombo and Kandy

yeah its been a fantastic match... gr8 tribute to sana..

 

[RoboRocks]

Good test match for both sides. Sri Lanka performed brilliantly after they got bowled out for 188 and Murali was fantastic as they fought back.

Englands attack were surprisingly ineffective on that wicket. I would keep Sidebottom but replace Anderson with Swann since Colombo has a reputation of being a turner of a pitch. If Hoggy is not fit the I would turn to Stuart Broad since Harmison is not fit enough to play and it would be a risk that England can ill afford to take.

 

[Sureshot]

Do we want two bowling debutants in the same side? Two spinners sounds like a good idea to me, also gives us a good batsman at 8, I'd be tempted by Harmison, but I might just go for Broad, Anderson was poor in this match. See what happens up until Sunday.

I thought Prior and Bell did well today, in the end being outdone by fantastic deliveries from Murali. Anderson and Sidebottom needed to contribute more with the ball and some of the senior batsman could've done a bit more. Good test for Prior though, that'll do his confidence a world of good.

 

[wolf]

Great effort on the last day, not many teams will get 260+ in the last innings on the last day against Murali, but it was our second innings bowling performance that lost us the match. Looks like Hoggard will be out, and I would plump for Broad over Harmision for the next test, and swap Anderson for Swann. It doesn't concern me that they are debutants.

 

[ivanvdm15]

sad to see Jayasuria didn't get his 100 wickets

 

[SciD]

England batsmen should look closely how Misbah plays. They should stay as low as possible to play spin and takle low bounce on the pitches.

 

[Leicester Fox]

Prior was our man of the match for me. I know Bell did well but his keeping was very good and definietly a lot better than the India series and he showed he's a classy batsmen in the 2nd innings. I think test cricket is getting far too reliant upon the toss, if we win the next 2 I think we'll dfinitely at least level the series, if we lose the next 2 I don't think we stand a chance. This test showed once again how much we need Flintoff too,so many situations with the ball where he would have changed the game. Eventually we'll learn to win games from having sides 40-5 but until we do we're no going to win in Sri Lanka.

 

[RoboRocks]

Do we want two bowling debutants in the same side?

They seem to be the best choices since Hoggard won't be fit, and Anderson bowled poorly. Harmison isn't fit from what we have heard so it has to be Broad. We need the seconded spinner in colombo and you can bet the Sri Lankans will play the 2 spinners as well.