Sri Lanka Threatening To Turn The Tables

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

The Test and Series Threaten to Escape

 

June 23^rd 2014

 

When England were 278-2 late on Saturday, already 21 ahead and with Robson and Bell piling the agony on the Sri Lankan attack, you would hardly have been able to get a price on an England victory and the only doubt seemed to be when it would occur and by what margin. Right now, while not in a strong position, Sri Lanka know that eighty more runs would give them a shot at victory and that, if they can get close to England’s first innings total, they will be favourites.

England made a real mess of the match starting on Saturday evening, when a position of utter dominance was thrown away. With Moeen Ali managing to extract big turn against the left-handers, there is some concern that chasing 200+ may not be easy. This is a pitch where, when a batsman gets in, runs are on offer, but where one wicket can often lead to three or four in quick time. Sri Lanka’s last 5 wickets went down for 29 in the first innings, England’s last seven for 44.

The feeling is that the current partnership is critical for Sri Lanka. If it is broken, the end may come quickly. If it thrives, Sri Lanka could well set England a really tricky target. The new ball will be due after 7 overs: if Sri Lanka have already lost a wicket when it is taken, the match could be all over by Tea but, if England waste it, things may start to get ugly.

For long periods yesterday, very little was happening but, when they did, it was usually Liam Plunkett who was involved until, with things starting to get alarming in the evening session with the runs coming far too easily for comfort, Moeen Ali produced two wickets in three balls. Moeen’s performance posed various questions as he extracted big turn with some deliveries, including concern that if a bowler usually treated as a part-timer could do that, what might Herath do on the same pitch? Moeen has though, in a decent spell and, most particularly, in those two balls, shown that he could develop into a useful spinner at this level, of his batting is up to the job. He is though under some pressure in his specialist role after showing poor shot choice in his last two dismissals and needs some runs in England’s chase, although Alistair Cook would probably much rather that he did not get another chance to bat in this match.

The most likely scenario is that Sri Lanka’s innings is over, or coming to an end by lunch. If it is not, particularly if either Jayawardene or Matthews are still at the crease, England may be starting to stare an extremely unpalatable defeat square in the face.