Sri Lanka in England/Netherlands

[ZoraxDoom]

Murali on fire!! He already has 7 out of the 7 batsmen out. Can he get all 10??

 

[Englishandproud]

It gets worse, Hoggy run out, didnt seem to be running very quick.

 

[jazz]

i think he will

 

[Englishandproud]

Murali on fire!! He already has 7 out of the 7 batsmen out. Can he get all 10??

He cant now, lol.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Aww...no 10 wickets for Murali. Ah well, atleast he still can get 9...

 

[hondeyho]

Awful calling - absolutely dreadful.

England require another 189 runs with 2 wickets remaining

Do you expect them to do that?

FOR GODS SAKES PLUNKETT AND LEWIS STAY IN!

 

[PhilD123]

Good shot by Plunkett. Monty and Lewis will guide them home.

 

[hondeyho]

I will be happy if we get over 200, it's obvious we've lost this test match and it won't do any good for our Test Ranking or confidence going into the Pakistan series but we need to learn how to bat against spinners - I know that Murali is one of a kind.

I do hope that Murali does do well but then again I don't, I'm an England Fan and I'm not turning my back on them.

 

[Englishandproud]

Lewis will get to about 40 then monty will come in a guide us home

I'm an England Fan and I'm not turning my back on them.

Why would you even consider that anyway ? We have drew a seris at home mainly due to a masterclass of bowling by murali, nothing to be ashamed of.

Plunkett hits good shot straight down the ground.

 

[PhilD123]

Monty's maiden test century..

I wont turn my back on them either, it is only a blip.

EDIT: Lewis out lbw muralitharan.

 

[CricketFan999]

Here comes Monty, quickfire century by him and we're home

 

[hondeyho]

Plunkett is a clever lad though - he's been defending all of Murali's Masterclasses and so has Lewis, they must be careful as to not give away any edges and if a chance comes to hit it along the ground and most importantly hit it with confidence.

Well Lewis didn't last long - neither will Monty. An average of 6 won't get you far against Murali.

 

[Englishandproud]

Monty hits a four and another one, best shots of the day and biggest cheers.

 

[PhilD123]

Haha, Monty hits Murali for 4, great stuff.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

This run chase has an all too familiar feeling for england. If ever there's an advertisment for the aussie selectors to play Macgill in brisbane this is it....no matter how high tech their bowling machines are, the poms are still mesmerised by quality spin.

Indeed. It's all very well practicing against a machine, but it doesn't actually help a batsman in picking what a spinner like Muralitharan or Warne is going to bowl. After a while, I suspect most batsmen could cope with big spin, but it's the variations that are much harder to pick up, as Warne showed last year and Murali has again in this match.

This match provides all the proof that is needed to confirm we need our strongest team out with our best captain to really compete. The worry is the batting line-up is pretty much as strong as it will get with the odd change here and there for in form and out of form batsmen. The biggest problem though is the back up bowling. Mahmood has got a lot of work to do, Plunkett is still young and tends to spray it about, Tremlett seems too friendly in a way and Lewis will be cannon fodder in conditions that don't offer much. The only change that will happen will be Harmison for the Lewis/Mahmood spot, which is much needed.

As I said before, Sri Lanka thoroughly deserve to win this match. Well done.


Shot Monty!!