Sri Lanka in England/Netherlands

[evertonfan]

You must be reasonably young evertonfan? A fair few of us English fans were brought up on batting collapses being the standard

Difficult to get worked up about them these days, just be grateful that more often than not England are in an excellent position

I'm 15, but although i am reasonably young, i have witnessed a few english collapses in my short time. I vaguely recall seeing highlights of England Vs Windies in Trinidad when I was about 4 or 5; I thought 46 all out was good score back then, until my dad explained the game to me!

 

[puddleduck]

I'm 15, but although i am reasonably young, i have witnessed a few english collapses in my short time. I vaguely recall seeing highlights of England Vs Windies in Trinidad when I was about 4 or 5; I thought 46 all out was good score back then, until my dad explained the game to me!

That's about right! Seeing England go from 100-3 to 150 all out was common place. The problem was they would be attempting to chase something like 400 at the time :

 

[CricketFan999]

Been away since they've started playing so haven't seen anything but I have noticed no more wickets have been takeing. Is England bowling really lack luster again or is Sri Lanka just batting really well? Or a mixture of both?

 

[BigCrickNan]

England aren't bowling too well this afternoon. Monty needs to come on soon :upray

 

[evertonfan]

England looking a bit flat now; is it just me or do England have a session like this in every test? They can never maintain the momentum and steamroller teams, it seems like every now and again they catch 'every ball hits the middle of the bat easily' disease.

 

[sohum]

Or you could just give some credit to the Sri Lankan batsmen.

 

[tsyrmas]

great partnership going from Dilshan and Vandoort. w00t for Sri Lanka

 

[puddleduck]

Or you could just give some credit to the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Yes spot on

Sri Lanka batted well, England bowled reasonably well, all in all a decent session with a key wicket for England at the end. Well they all bowled pretty well except Mahmood who didn't seem able to put more than 2 balls an over in the right area.

It is rare that anyone steamrollers anyone in test cricket winning every single session. So fans expecting England to dominate every session are being a little optimistic, and a little disrepectful to the opposition.

 

[sohum]

So fans expecting England to dominate every session are being a little optimistic, and a little disrepectful to the opposition.

Yep, especially given their sturdy and courageous 2nd innings performance in the last test match.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Dilshan's wicket fell in the end of the day. But I've got a feeling if Sri Lanka manages to get a 200-225 runs lead, that would be defendable.

 

[CricketFan999]

Any lead over 100 is defendable I feel when the defending team has the likes of Muralitharan to bowl with on a day 4 or 5 pitch.

 

[puddleduck]

At the same time England get the new ball tomorrow morning, and if Hoggard gets into a groove and Plunkett has recovered from his shoulder knock and continues in the form he was in the first innings, Sri Lanka could be skittled quite quickly.

Key for them that they get a good partnership involving Vaas again. If they can get 150-200 should lead to an interesting conclusion to the match. Although if England then get off to a good start I wouldn't expect too many problems. However if the seamers pick up a wicket or two before Murali even gets involved then Sri Lanka will have a chance.

 

[evertonfan]

Or you could just give some credit to the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Yeah absolutley, I didn't mean any disrespect to the Sri Lankans, I was merely commenting on the fact that sometimes England look a little flat in the field, and sometimes expect wickets to fall automatically.

 

[sohum]

I think the morning session tomorrow will hold the cards. If Sri Lanka can survive the early morning swing from Hoggard, they should be able to press on and make a decent total. Remember, that a draw for them is almost as good as a win against the #2 English team. So they would probably rather be safe than throw all the dice in, though that would signify that they are not ready to acknowledge themselves as one of the best.

 

[aussie1st]

It will take something special for SL to draw or win this one. As long as rain stays away then their batters will have to replicate what they did in the first test. Murali should prove a handful as should Vass so SL just need a competitive total and to get out KP quickly.