Sri Lanka v England, 3rd Test Day 4: Tea Kills Sri Lankan Hopes of a Miracle

 

Sri Lanka v England

3^rd Test Day 4: Tea Kills Sri Lankan Hopes of a Miracle

November 26^th 2018

 

There have only been 8 successful fourth innings chases at the SSC, while twelve times, including today, the chase has ended in defeat. The highest successful chases are:

·       326-5: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, 1988

·       172-4: Sri Lanka v West Indies, 2005

·       142-5: Sri Lanka v England, 1993

·       131-5: Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 2000

·       74-6: England v Sri Lanka, 2001.

For a significant part of the afternoon session, Sri Lankan fans started to dream of pulling-off an incredible heist. Had Tea come half an hour later, it is possible that Sri Lanka would have won, given how Lakmal and Pushpakumara had added 58 in 12 overs and were grinding-down the bowling to helplessness with a mixture of solid defence and hard swinging.

The deficit at Tea was 43 and horrible thoughts were rising in the backs of the minds of the visiting fans, as the home fans started to wonder if they were going to see a historic turnaround. Numerous times though a significant Sri Lankan partnership has broken just after Tea, changing the momentum of a match: what Joe Root could not obtain with a bowling change, he invariably managed with a cup of Ceylon tea – rival to Darjeeling as the best cuppa in the world and, in this series, a lethal wicket-taker. While Pushpakumara was swinging merrily, they were distracted from the nerves that come with knowing that a target, previously out of reach, was almost within touching distance. A tenth wicket partnership can be gloriously uninhibited when it knows that victory is impossible. Had Tea come with fewer than 20 wanted to win, you can imagine that the nerves would have been transferred to the fielding side and that Sri Lanka would have been, perhaps, the favourites. As it was, the batsmen trooped back to the pavilion just before the fielding side reached a state of total disarray.

The result was almost inevitable. You felt that the first two overs after the interval would be the danger: if the batsmen got through them, they might yet knock off the runs; if they survived five overs after Tea, panic might set in to the fielding side, but that those first two overs might well be decisive.

Fourth ball after Tea, Lakmal got a ball that straightened just enough to hit the stumps. Before Tea, most likely he would have dealt with it. After Tea, the instincts and the concentration were dulled just enough for the ball to miss Lakmal’s prod. Jack Leach had the last wicket of the series, sealed the 0-3 win and, to boot, equalled Moeen Ali’s tally of wickets for the series and ensured that even though Ben Stokes topped the bowling averages for the series, he would pip Perera, Moeen and Sandakan to top the averages for spin bowlers.

England had made heavy weather of finishing off a spirited opposition. As predicted last night, the biorhythms were off in the morning, the nightwatchman did hang around and the momentum was lost, with a substantial sixth wicket partnership threatening to bring Sri Lanka back into the match. As though has been the Sri Lankan wont throughout the series, just when their batsmen were getting on top, they threw it away. The stand was at 102. Mendis was approaching a century. And a senseless runout stopped both Mendis and the partnership. There were 22, fifties in the series – 11 by England, 11 by Sri Lanka – yet the only four centuries were scored by Englishmen. No England batsman was dismissed between 64 and 107, but six Sri Lankan batsmen were. Adil Rashid bowled a googly. Roshen Silva pushed it away and set off for two. Leach fielded and threw, right-handed, with lethal precision at the non-striker’s end and an end was opened. A flat England side were re-invigorated and Moeen and Leach shared the last four wickets: the first two to catches to Keaton Jennings, who took six in the match, eight in the series and, surprisingly, was pipped to the title of leading catcher, not by either of the wicket-keepers, but by Ben Stokes, with 9[1]. Jennings only went to the Short Leg position after Rory Burns took a sickening blow there: you wonder how many catches he might have had in the series if he had fielded there for all three Tests.

Much has been made of the retirement of Herath for Sri Lanka, but this is largely a red herring as he has not for the last couple of years wanted to play even a full 3-match series. While he played both Tests at home against South Africa, he played just one in the shared series in the Caribbean. The overall impression was of two limited sides, with England always just a little too good for their opponents, particularly at the critical moments. Sri Lanka though are nowhere near as poor as some of the apologists have claimed: you do not beat South Africa 2-0 with a poor team and, in that series, all five Sri Lankan bowlers, all of whom also played against England too, averaged under 17.3 with the ball. Against bowlers who had been devastating against South Africa, England found a method that worked so well that the same bowlers took their wickets at triple the cost.

It is not a brilliant England side. There are too many manifest weaknesses for that, but it has the makings of a pretty good one if it can consolidate in the New Year in the Caribbean.  

 

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[1] 8 caught and 2 stumped for Ben Foakes. 7 caught and 1 stumped for Dickwella.

Sri Lanka v England, 3rd Test Day 3: Two Fallible Sides Serving-up a Series of Twists and Turns

 

Sri Lanka v England

3^rd Test Day 3: Two Fallible Sides Serving-up a Series of Twists and Turns

November 25^th 2018

 

Sometime tomorrow, barring yet another bizarre twist in this series, England should wrap-up a 0-3 victory: only the third side ever to do so in Sri Lanka. They will do so, despite showing serious fragility that the Australians and Indians, amongst others, will be watching with great interest, given that both will be opponents in the next year.

There have only ever been eight successful fourth innings chases at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground at Colombo in thirty Tests there that have reached a fourth innings – the most recent, in 2005 – while eleven times, it seems likely soon to be twelve, the chasing side has lost. To win, Sri Lanka must produce the highest successful chase at the ground and the eighteenth highest in Test history. And they must do it from a perilous 53-4, with a nightwatchman at the crease and the England spinners getting plentiful help, quite apart from Ben Stokes doing what Anderson, Broad and Curran have failed to do, by taking wickets. Stokes has one fewer wicket in 26 overs than Lakmal, Anderson, Curran and Broad have managed in total in the series in 126.

Strange things have happened in this series. Both sides have had top-order collapses that have made it appear that batting was impossible, before the same bowlers have then started to look totally inoffensive and the pitch as flat as a pancake. No one knows whether or not England will turn up in the morning and find that the biorhythms are wrong and that catches go down, the bowlers cannot hit their line or length and the side looks totally flat in the field. However, the main difference between the sides has been the way that, even when a match has seemed to be slipping away, someone has stepped-up and swung the match back England’s way. In the first innings, things looked very difficult for two sessions until Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid turned the innings upside down.

Provided that the nightwatchman falls early, England can afford to be patient and set attacking fields. There are runs in the bank. Sri Lanka does not have a lot of batting left. Karunaratne and Mathews, who were two of the home batsmen who will look back on the series with most satisfaction, are gone. Unless one of the remaining batsmen shows some real stubbornness, the match may not go far beyond Lunch. But there lies the rub. If the nightwatchman hangs around and Mendis gets a proper start, things could easily go flat again. Add a hundred run partnership and the win will not look anything like so certain, leaving England in need of another spark of magic. We have seen both situations both in this match and in the series: just when you think that another house of cards collapse is about to happen, Sri Lanka show some real right.

One thing that has been evident in this Test is that an England tail without Curran and Anderson does not stick around in the same way. However, after a horrible top-order collapse, in which the top four could aggregate only thirty runs, Stokes, Buttler Moeen, Foakes and Adil Rashid did just enough to set a target that should be too many to chase.

Burns and Jennings have not sealed their places. One innings at #3 does not make Bairstow a long-term solution. All three will need to have a good tour of the Caribbean to nail down their spots for the summer. And, while playing two spinners against the West Indies and Australia is a distinct possibility, England are not going to play three: even though the suggestion is that Jack Leach will be the one to miss out, if long, containing spells are required, Moeen Ali and Jack Leach may be a better combination, but at the cost of a longer tail. With the wicket-keeper standing up for 90% of the overs, Ben Foakes is essential but, when the fraction of overs bowled by the spinners drops to 30 or 40%, an effective stopper who is a front-line bat may be more important. However, Ben Foakes might argue that he is the highest run-scorer on either side, although runs against Sri Lankan spinners do not guarantee runs against the Australian pace attack. In other words, while this series has clarified many issues for next winter’s tour of India, half the places in the side will be up for grabs in the West Indies.

There is still a match to be won and time for players to impress. How many runs would be equivalent to another brilliant grab or two by Keaton Jennings at Short Leg? While Perera is guaranteed to be the top wicket-taker of the series – even if Moeen Ali takes all the remaining wickets, he can only equal Perera’s 22 – Moeen, Jack Leach and Adil Rashid can still all finish the highest wicket-taker for England and thus earn some brownie points. At the same time, their averages are almost identical and they also have similar strike rates and are in a battle with Ben Stokes and Perera to top the bowling averages for the Test series.  

For everyone, this is the last chance to impress before the squad is picked to play the West Indies.

Sri Lanka v England, 3rd Test Day 2: Two Sessions of Total Sri Lankan Dominance Before Surrender

 

Sri Lanka v England

3^rd Test Day 2: Two Sessions of Total Sri Lankan Dominance Before Surrender

November 24^th 2018

 

Can this series get any odder? Sri Lanka totally dominated the first two sessions of play and looked set to punish a sloppy England and set up an utterly invincible position when, somehow, after Tea, they found a way to hand the initiative straight back.

173-1, twenty-two balls before Tea, Karunaratne and De Silva were both sailing through the 70s. Both looked set for a century and England looked utterly devoid of ideas. Joe Root had dropped two catches – both, of course, off Stuart Broad – and had cost England some way north of one hundred runs already. It looked set for a difficult post-Tea session with an old ball that was doing precisely nothing. Moeen had been flogged out of the attack. Stuart Broad had retired to the outfield after a second, luckless spell, presumably to be as far from his captain as possible. And, after a long spell, Jack Leach was being picked-off, without threatening to take a wicket on the best batting pitch of the series.

Where is Ben Stokes (just a single over in the 2^nd Test)? Where is Adil Rashid, the fans asked? Finally, they came on in tandem and, after a long spell when the scoring was accelerating and the match was drifting away, suddenly things happened. Stokes had an LBW shout that was turned down, but was umpire’s call. Adil Rashid bowled a ball full. De Silva turned it to leg. And Keaton Jennings swooped. Whatever his problems in the slips last summer, Jennings is not missing a thing under the helmet.

While both Stokes and Adil Rashid can have the control of a paint spray, both are able to make things happen. While Stokes roughed the batsmen up – an achievement on a pitch that offered him absolutely nothing – the odd ball started to turn prodigiously. Karunaratne got one in the ribs just before Tea, which ensured that there would not be an extra over before the break. That will have allowed time for the blow to get cold and may explain why, straight after Tea, Karunaratne played outside a googly that turned beautifully, edged on the pad and straight to Jennings when a century appeared his for the taking. Two new batsmen at the crease and Sri Lanka fell apart. There was a period of four overs at 205-5 when a wicket did not fall but then four fell in three overs as Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid gave the batsmen the holy terrors.

Apart from the first wicket, that had fallen to Leach, the other nine all involved combinations of Jennings, Foakes, Stokes and Adil Rashid. If Jennings did not catch it with cat-like reflexes, Foakes did and when neither was involved, it was Adil Rashid with a dead-eyed throw to produce a run-out off the bowling of Stokes.

240ao represented a barely believable collapse. After the highest partnership of the series – a small matter of 142 between Karunaratne and De Silva – the highest partnership for the last eight wickets was just 14. After two sessions in which the last three wickets surrendered cheaply and tamely and then the Sri Lankan batsmen made merry, with England far below the level of the first two Tests, the match had been turned on its head. From facing a potential large deficit, England had a totally unexpected 96-run lead, extended to 99 before bad light intervened.

Best-ever Test figures for Adil Rashid. Four catches for Keaton Jennings – one short of Yajuvendra Singh’s Test record. Three wickets for Ben Stokes, in a series in which seamers have been passengers. And after three very poor sessions, one good session was all England needed to set up a potential 0-3 whitewash.

A bizarre series has taken another very odd turn.

Quite apart from the victory in the Test, there is plenty for England to play for. Burns and Jennings both need a score to seal their places. Jonny Bairstow will be keen to add more runs at #3. Moeen would like some runs too. And the bowlers will need a score to defend in the fourth innings. And, poor Stuart Broad will hope that someone does take a catch off his bowling, should he manage to induce one.       

Sri Lanka v England, 3rd Test Day 1: Another Strange Day

 

Sri Lanka v England

3^rd Test Day 1: Another Strange Day of Sri Lankan Self-destruction

November 23^rd 2018

 

In the end the selectors made the pragmatic picks. Despite being only very lightly used, Jimmy Anderson has been rested and Stuart Broad given a chance to add to his wicket haul. Given that Jimmy Anderson has not taken a wicket since the second ball of the series, has not looked like taking one and the fact that the heat in Colombo has been brutal today, Stuart Broad may not be quite so pleased to have been given a game come Tuesday. Possibly more significant is the fact that Sam Curran’s slight niggle has given Jonny Bairstow the chance, albeit in the problematic #3 position, to get back into the side.

England’s start to the day could not have been better. Joe Root equalled the world record by winning his eighth consecutive toss – given that this is Test #2329 and that the odds of winning eight consecutive tosses are only 256-1 against, even having a sequence of ten consecutive tosses won would not be unusual in more than two thousand matches – and thus gave his batsmen first use of a pitch that, unlike some in this series, will be baking under the sun most of the time for however long this match lasts. While the pitches for the first two Tests did not deteriorate as much as expected, the absence of hot sun on them was reckoned to be the principle reason.

Certain traditions though have been respected. Once again, Sri Lanka played one seamer – lonesome Lakmal – and bowled five spinners through the day, with Perera sharing the new ball, as usual. The average opening partnership during this series has been 22 – seven of the nine opening partnerships have been 22 or lower – and that is exactly how many Burns and Jennings put on. England were in trouble at 36-2, with both openers out, but ended the day on top. Sri Lanka’s use of reviews was awful, they missed chance after chance and their heads dropped through the day. Better use or reviews, better luck with decisions and taking their chances would have seen England shot out for 220-ish. If Sri Lanka do lose 0-3, a large part of the blame will have been due to their own kamikaze tendencies.

However, there have been some novelties. So far, all nine batsmen have reached double figures, but the backbone of the innings came from #3 and, neither Ben Foakes (out for 13) nor Sam Curran (injured) have bailed out the top order. From looking set for 400, a middle order wobble – collapse is too strong a word – has left 350 as the immediate target and 380 probably the summit of ambition.

One could start jumping up and down and shouting “yippee!!!” at Jonny Bairstow’s century, thinking that we have a solution to the #3 spot, but let’s see if this is just a flash in the pan. Not so long ago, the success of Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings in India made one think that England had a ready-made opening pair for the next decade, but it did not quite work out that way. However, Jonny Bairstow has an incentive: he knows that he makes a success of batting at 3 or, probably, does not play at all. Knowing that he was playing for his immediate England future, he did everything that could be asked of him. Partnerships of 100 with Joe Root and 99 with Ben Stokes set England up. The innings rattled along at 3.5 per over and Sri Lanka wilted in the heat.

England will hope that Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid will be able to bat on for a while in the morning and, with no threat of the ball bouncing around his ears, Stuart Broad will hang around and support whichever of the two bats longest. 350 is the absolute minimum that England should settle for and one would hope for 370 or 380. The longer that the Sri Lankan fielders have to fry in the sun, the more likely that their minds will not be attuned to batting when they come out to reply. Certainly, England will want to delay bowling as long as possible. Sri Lanka, in contrast, will want to avoid yet another England tail-end revolt that would tip the balance definitively England’s way.

Sri Lanka v England, 2nd Test Days 5: Sri Lankan Spin to Defeat

 

Sri Lanka v England

2^nd Test Day 5: Sri Lankan Spin to Defeat

November 18^th 2018

 

At 176-4 and 221-5, Sri Lanka seemed well on the way to a victory that had appeared to be impossible when Jack Leach had reduced them to 26-3 inside the first eight overs. At Tea on Day 4, Matthews and Dickwella were batting with supreme confidence; England looked out of ideas and Joe Root was wondering where a wicket would come from. Twelve overs later, the match was over.

At the end of the reckoning, neither the five-run penalty was not decisive, nor was this to be the Test match with the highest aggregate without a century partnership. It was not even close in the end: a margin of 57 is quite convincing. In the end, England were just a little better when it counted.

However, the biggest single difference between the sides, apart from the spinners, has been the fact that England have the only three centuries of the series. There have been fifteen fifties in the series so far: eight by England and seven by Sri Lanka. Discounting Ben Foakes’ unbeaten 65, the respective conversion rates have been three of seven England fifties have become centuries, while not one of the seven Sri Lankan fifties has been converted. Six of the eight highest scores so far in the series have come from England. And, in all four innings, England have scored faster than the Sri Lankans by about half a run per over, keeping the Sri Lankan bowlers under pressure.

It has to be said that England’s bowling in this match has not reached the standards of the 1^st Test. Jack Leach bowled three consecutive full tosses before finally hitting his length but, when he did, he was far too good for the batsmen. Credit to him that at least the full tosses showed that he was trying to pitch the ball up further. With Sri Lanka nine-down and both Moeen and Leach with four, it was a race between them to take the last wicket. Leach won it and obtained a first, five-wicket haul in just his third Test, suggesting that a future in which the availability of all-rounders allows England to play Moeen and Leach in a twin-spin attack.

Despite that, too much of the bowling in the Test has been too short and has missed the testing length that would have used the devil in the pitch. Adil Rashid had a spell earlier in the match when he struggled to get the ball anywhere near the correct length and line although, in general, he has been hamstrung by the fact that, when he did get it right, LBW was ruled out because he had to pitch outside leg and the ball usually turned too much to hit the stumps anyway. Moeen bowled some magic balls and quite a few that were not so magical. However, through the series, in the bowler v bowler analysis, England’s bowlers have trumped their Sri Lankan opponents, being just a little better, a little more consistent – although some critics would say that “a little less inconsistent” is more accurate, here – having fewer bad spells. One wonders what Muttiah Muralitharan would have done with this pitch.

A bowler v bowler comparison over the two Tests is interesting:

·       The top wicket-takers of the series are Moeen Ali and Dilruwan Perera, both off-spinners: both have 14 wickets, but Moeen’s have cost two runs fewer each and at a strike rate of 36 instead of 45.

·       Off-spinner, Akila Dananjaya, has made one of the great international starts, with three, five-wicket hauls in his first five Tests, which have brought him 27 wickets, but Jack Leach has taken three more wickets in the series at half the average and with a significantly better strike rate.

·       The support act has been Adil Rashid, for England and the combination of Rangana Herath and Malinda Pushpakumara, both Slow Left Arm, for Sri Lanka. Adil Rashid’s 7 wickets at 30.9 look, on paper, to be a modest contribution to England’s success, but the same number of wickets for Herath and Pushpakumara have cost 46.7 each and their strike rate has been 84 against Adil Rashid’s 57.

Only in one area have Sri Lanka actually had an advantage and, surprisingly, that is in the seamers.

·       Sri Lanka have used just one seamer – the modestly named Ranasinghe Arachchige Suranga  Lakmal – whose 4 wickets at 40, with a strike rate of 65, have easily trumped the 3 wickets at 67 with a strike rate of 138 of Anderson, Curran and Stokes. That said, Lakmal has bowled just 43 overs in 4 innings, while England’s trio have bowled 69 overs, of which almost two-thirds (41 overs) have been delivered by Jimmy Anderson, who is just ahead of Jack Leach as the most economical bowler of the series (we are talking about just one run in a dozen overs as the difference in economy here).

However, the seamers have been bit-players through the series and to have a superiority there is certainly not going to turn a match.

It is facile to say that a not especially good England side have beaten a poor Sri Lanka. No doubt plenty of Australians will be happy to say that things will be very different next summer, but you can only beat what you have in front of you. England fans are not renowned for their lack of cynicism: when their side wins, the opposition is poor, when it loses, it is rubbish. Better sides than England have gone to Sri Lanka and come away a poor second best. South Africa were whitewashed 2-0 in July. Sri Lanka’s previous three series were away against India, Pakistan and Bangladesh: the last two series saw three wins from four matches, while India only beat them 1-0, to give Sri Lanka a W5 D3 L1 record since India won 3-0 in Sri Lanka in August 2017, at least, until England hit their shores.

England go to Colombo with the chance to obtain a rare series whitewash in Asia. It is possible that they could decide to stick with a winning eleven. It is also possible that Jimmy Anderson could be rested and Stuart Broad given a game. There is also a case for Jonny Bairstow to come into the side and to bat at #3, but that would have to be at the expense of a bowler, which, understandably, England would be reluctant to do, although if Sam Curran’s slight niggle were to rule him out, Bairstow for Curran would be one option. It will be interesting to see which way England will go with their selection.

Sri Lanka v England, 2nd Test Days 1-4: The Series on a Knife-Edge

 

Sri Lanka v England

2^nd Test Days 1-4: The Series on a Knife-Edge

November 17^th 2018

 

Normally, in Asia, you have two types of Test match: the one played on a road, in which you would struggle to get a result in eight days, let alone in five and the one played on a minefield, with bewildered batsmen and only the weather allowing the match to reach a fourth day. And then there is Pallekele, which, on the first day looked as if it could be a very brief match indeed but, instead, has turned out to be the perfect pitch. We are going into a fifth day with all four results possible. The momentum has swung back and forth. And, to date, it has produced 1198 runs for 37 wickets at 32.4 runs per wicket. So far we have had one century and nine fifties. In three of the four innings, a spinner has shared the new ball, yet batsmen who play positively have scored runs… and quickly.

For significant periods of the game, the bat has dominated the ball. There have been eighteen partnerships of thirty or more, yet no century partnership and, should Sri Lanka reach 254 in their second innings, it will become the highest-scoring Test with no century partnership. Yet, after a dire start to their chase, a start in which Jack Leach proved lethal with the new ball, Sri Lanka were able to produce partnerships of 77, 73 and 45 to reduce England close to desperation, as a seemingly trivial win seemed to be turning into the likelihood of a numbing defeat.

With England already 0-1 up in the series, it seemed likely that Sri Lanka would want a result pitch to level the series quickly and give them the chance of winning it at Colombo. Joe Root won the Toss and saw how the ball started to misbehave at once. The immediate take was that the match might not last three days and that 150 would be too many to chase in the fourth innings. However, it has not turned out that way at all.

England took a pragmatic approach and kept an unchanged side. With the seamers almost redundant – Jimmy Anderson has bowled 19 of the 24 overs of seam from England in the match – and Sam Curran offering far more with the bat than Stuart Broad, there is every chance that Broad will miss Colombo too. There is even a scenario whereby England might want to bowl two spinners next summer to give a better balance to the attack, with Stuart Broad sacrificed to accommodate a bottom four of Moeen, Curran, Leach and Anderson. Similarly, Ben Foakes’ start – he is the leading run-scorer in the series – makes it hard to know how to fit Jonny Bairstow in the side. Although doubts remain about Keaton Jennings, his match-winning century in the 1^st Test will allow him to see out the series and Rory Burns has done enough to suggest that he will seal one of the spots as an opener, while everyone else’s position is solid, at least for this series. Ergo, unless there is an injury – reportedly, Sam Curran has a sore side and has not bowled in this innings, which gives them some hope, but then Ben Stokes, who is definitely not injured, has only bowled one over in the match, so far – Jonny Bairstow may join Stuart Broad in not getting a game in this series.

What we have seen so far is that, as the ball softens, batting gets easier. England went from 176-7 to 290ao in the first innings and from 219-6 to 346ao in the second, with stands of 60 and 41 for the last wicket. Sri Lanka went from 165-6 to 336ao. In all three innings so far, shifting the tail has been hard work yet, here, Sri Lanka need just 75 more to win from their 9, 10, Jack: this is no forgone conclusion.

If Sri Lanka lose, two moments will stand out. One is the five run penalty for deliberately running one short in the first innings, which actually cost Sri Lanka six or seven runs (depending on how you count them), because the two that had been run were struck off, plus the five-run penalty. The second is the way that, having gone to Tea today at 219-5, with England down and almost out, two wickets fell immediately after, in the twenty balls that were possible before the rain arrived. Matthews, who had gone to Tea 87* and was threatening to take the game away from England, fell third ball after the interval and, with the rain imminent, Perera fell to Jack Leach, just moments before the rain arrived finally.

The forecast for Day Five is for rain and storms. This has actually been the forecast for every day of the series, so there is no guarantee that it will be right this time but, if the forecast is right, both sides may need to hurry to ensure a positive result.

Three wickets left. Seventy-five to get. 301 the target. And, with the way that the tail has batted on both sides so far in this Test, you would not wager too much money against Sri Lanka knocking off the runs. With the dangerous Dickwella at the crease and with a licence to play shots, the end may be quick, one way or the other.

If England win, Colombo is a dead rubber.

If Sri Lanka win, draw, or tie, it is the decider.

Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test Day 4: Farewell Rangana Herath, a Gentleman even in Defeat

 

Sri Lanka v England

1^st Test Day 4: Farewell Rangana Herath, a Gentleman even in Defeat

November 9^th 2018

 

England’s target was simple: if Sri Lanka lost more than one wicket per session today, England would win, sooner or later. The win might be hard work but, unless at least two batsmen made big hundreds and unless Sri Lanka went into the last day with at least seven wickets in hand, it would come eventually. As it was, despite passages of play when it seemed that nothing was happening, the game ended well before the end of the fourth day and ended with the slapstick of a batsman sprawling in the dust in a desperate and vain attempt to regain his crease.

The Sri Lankan problem was the same as in the first innings. Batsmen who are increasingly attuned to T20 cricket simply did not have the patience to hang around for long enough to build a partnership that would at least seriously inconvenience the opposition. The top five Sri Lankan batsmen all passed twenty, yet only Mathews could reach fifty and even he got out soon afterwards, ending any chance of the match lasting into a fifth day and maybe, just maybe, salvation thanks to the miracle of intervention from Jupiter Pluvius. There was just one partnership that reached fifty – the 51 for the first wicket. After that, partnerships of 39 for the 3^rd wicket, 46 for the 4^th, 36 for the 6^th and 32 for the 8^th were all inconveniences, but each stand was broken before it could get threatening.

Some stands were ended by a rush of blood, some by a lapse in concentration. Having been reprieved the first ball of the last over before Lunch, launching a big swing at Stokes, the review showing that the ball had just missed the edge, de Silva poked at the next ball and ensured that this time the bowler was not to be denied. Instead of going to Lunch at 98-2, it was 98-3 and you felt that an end was open. Mendis fell, swinging wildly, just as it looked as if they might be able to get through to Tea with no further loss, exposing the hobbled Chandimal, who was unable to move his feet against Jack Leach and was snared rapidly. And then, suddenly the ball was starting to turn a lot again and, first ball after Tea, Moeen befuddled totally Dickwella: it was over, bar the shouting.

The plaudits have gone to Ben Foakes and Keaton Jennings. Foakes’ 107 in the first innings was the turning point of the match. His 37 from 34 balls in the second innings, the injection of pace needed before the declaration. Jennings’ 192 runs, for once out, were just a fraction less than the final margin of victory. Yet, the 4-66 and 4-71 of Moeen had a lot to do with the victory. Moeen is one of those unfortunate souls who a substantial minority of the fans will always criticise, whatever he does. One of the more brutal and unjustified comments was that he is both a mediocre batsman and bowler who cannot hold down a place in the side. However, 8-137 were his best match figures abroad and he almost always offered threat.

Moeen though, benefitted from having plenty of support. Jack Leach took 2-41 and 3-60 and, surely, has booked his place in the 2^nd Test and well as showing both himself and a lot of other people that he is going to take a lot of wickets at this level. Even Adil Rashid, who went through one of his awful patches in the morning where the Square Leg umpire and wicket-keeper were in more danger than the batsman, suddenly started to rip the ball past the bat after Lunch, sowing uncertainty in the minds of the batsmen. And Ben Stokes bowled a brutal spell at a time when nothing was happening, making a critical breakthrough.

Sri Lanka were, apart from the first session of the match, comprehensively outplayed. It is tempting to suggest that one mediocre side beat another mediocre side, but there is the temptation always to talk down any opponent who has been beaten, as being not very good. Sri Lanka were only as good as England let them be. England were not brilliant, but they were pretty good.

England have ended a run of two years and fourteen Tests over four series without an away win. And, in that time, there have been ten defeats (the sequence, since that last win in Bangladesh, is: WLDLLLLLLDLLDW). Maybe it is not the dawn of a new era but, at least, England will have an unexpected chance to seal the series at Kandy.

For that Test, it was expected that Stuart Broad and Jonny Bairstow would come back. Maybe England will decide that two spinners are sufficient, but it is hard to see how both players can be accommodated and there are extremely good arguments for playing an unchanged XI. Nothing sends a message like saying to two of the players who are usually first on the teamsheet that they have to win their places back because their replacements have made themselves undroppable. Probably the only way that both Stuart Broad and Jonny Bairstow can play is if Jimmy Anderson is rested and the pitch looks as if it will not suit Jack Leach. Changing a winning side though would be harsh.

Defeat was not the way that Rangana Herath planned to finish his Test career. He will go back to his bank job on Monday, warmed by the constant tributes, the affection of a crowd that ended up being largely English, the guards of honour and the respect of teammates and opponents. Herath is the living proof that a player can suddenly come good late in his career and become a reference for his side. He ends with figures that are more than respectable and knowing that he has been the rock of his side for the last few years. Certainly England know that their job will be easier without him in the 2^nd Test.

Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test Day 3: Jennings Forces Checkmate

 

Sri Lanka v England

1^st Test Day 3: Jennings Forces Checkmate

November 8^th 2018

 

Let’s start with a few numbers to put in context Sri Lanka’s victory target of 462.

·       Over the seventeen years that Galle has been a Test match venue, this is the twenty-fourth fourth innings chase.

·       Six of those chases have resulted in wins but, although five of the six were by a margin of ten wickets (the other was by seven wickets), the largest successful chase at Galle is just 99.

·       Three sides have hung on for draws, most memorably, England, in 2003, with 9 wickets down, surviving 108 overs in total – the longest that a side has batted out for a draw at the ground.

·       More alarming for Sri Lanka is that twice sides have failed to chase a total under 80 and three more sides have failed to chase targets under 140.

·       The best-ever effort in a losing cause at Galle is Pakistan’s 300 in 114 overs in 2012. 

England have asked Sri Lanka to score a record fourth innings chase for Tests, or to bat out a minimum (assuming that the predicted rain again holds off) of 187 overs. This match can only be a draw if plenty of time is lost to rain.

In other words, barring major intervention from Jupiter Pluvius (other gods are available), Sri Lanka have to far surpass anything ever achieved at this ground to avoid a heavy defeat. And they have to do it with two, injured batsmen. Dinesh Chandimal is still severely hampered by a groin strain and cannot bat higher than #7, while Dhananjaya De Silva, who batted at #3 in the first innings, tried to stop a drive off his own bowling from Keaton Jennings, received a heavy blow on the thumb for his pains and, even though he did try to bowl again after treatment, managed just one ball before going off.

On the plus side, some comfort comes from the fact that the pitch is not the spitting cobra that Galle has been famous for in the past but, the England spinners are getting some help and can attack without worrying about runs. The two England seamers just got a single over each with the New Ball, but Jimmy Anderson enjoyed the luxury of no fewer than five slips. With the light meters out, the spinners came straight into the attack and we had the novelty of four different bowlers delivering the first four overs of the innings and five bowlers delivering the seven overs by the Close, with the batsman almost suffocated by close fielders. In the case of Silva, suffocated was the word, as a flick caromed off the shin pads of Keaton Jennings at Short Leg, into the hands of Ben Foakes, who threw down the stumps, with Silva well out of his ground: Silva managed to ground his bat just in time, but Sri Lanka were fortunate to get away with that one.

It is amazing how the marginal choices have dominated this Test. Had Alastair Cook not retired, Keaton Jennings would, most likely, not have been on this tour. His contribution to this Test has been 192 runs for once out. Similarly, Ben Foakes would not have played had first Jonny Bairstow not hobbled himself playing football, earning Foakes a call-up as cover and then Joe Denly hobbled himself with some seriously sub-standard performances in the warm-ups. Foakes has scored 144 runs and taken two catches and a stumping so far. With play tomorrow likely to resemble a close-catchers’ convention, Foakes may yet turn out to be a match-winner with the gloves, as the spinners attempt to apply pressure and the edges fly. Catches win matches and there is no doubt that a specialist ‘keeper, accustomed to standing up to spinners at The Oval, could make all the difference.  There are so many occasions in Tests when a stubborn stand develops and is only broken by a piece of individual brilliance behind the stumps; tomorrow may be such a day if the early breakthrough does not come.

That England are in this position is mainly down to a monumental innings of 146* from Keaton Jennings. He will not have convinced the critics, who will point to a Test average under 30, despite two centuries, but he was picked on the promise that he showed in India in 2016 and he has delivered when it was needed. Against India, during the summer, he was getting starts, but not capitalising. In the first innings, he reached the 40s and fell: in fact, in his last 7 innings in all cricket, he has reached 40 six times but, before today, had only reached 50 once in those innings. Today though, he rode his luck, reined-in his aggression and showed the sort of application that Alastair Cook would have approved of.

It was a tale of contrasting fortunes. Before the series, any fan worth his salt would have told you that Rory Burns would make stacks of runs, but that Keaton Jennings was living on borrowed time. In fact, Burns has made 9 and 23, taking his total to 98 in 4 innings on the tour and, in a situation in which he was under little pressure, seemed nervous and finally, inevitably looked for a run where none was available and ran himself out. However, in the context of an innings in which Sri Lanka needed quick wickets, an opening partnership of 60 – equalling the best England have managed in the last year and the best for England since July 2017 – was just what was needed.

When England went from 60-0 to 74-3, Sri Lanka were getting back into the game, with Moeen Ali (who averages just 14.5 in his four matches batting at first drop, against 29.9 batting at #8 and 44.9 batting at #7, surely cannot continue to be offered as a sacrifice in this position) falling cheaply again and Joe Root following him. Another quick wicket would have seen England in some trouble, but the bowlers simply could not keep up the pressure.

As Jennings sealed up one end, Ben Stokes played himself in carefully and then cut loose. From 23 from 64 balls, Stokes added 39 runs from the next 29 balls that he faced, including 3x6. Buttler did not quite get going, but still launched one straight back over Perera’s head, before Foakes came in and produced a brutal cameo, including sixes off consecutive balls as Joe Root indicated that the declaration was imminent. Even in that final slog though, England never really got away from the bowlers, with the exception of Dananjaya, who has been punished in both innings: match figures of 38.5-4-183-2 and a duck are not going to enhance his chances of playing at Kandy.

With Sri Lanka possibly needing to make four changes for the 2^nd Test – replacing the retiring Herath, quite possibly the two injured players too and, potentially, dropping Dananjaya – they could do with the morale-boost of a good fourth day here. History, though, is against it. You would expect the game to be over well before the scheduled Close. If it is not, the ever-present threat of rain at this time of year will lead to a very nervous final day of the match.

Sri Lanka v England, 1st Test Day 2: The Beard that is Feared Strikes Back

 

Sri Lanka v England

1^st Test Day 2: The Beard that is Feared Strikes Back

November 7^th 2018

After a remarkable second day of this Test, an England side that looked horribly underprepared, has bullied and outplayed Sri Lanka now for five consecutive sessions. It is not something that many fans were expecting. The script called for something different when England’s last two wickets fell quickly, but the dark mutterings that England had wasted winning the Toss, would find themselves chasing a significant first innings deficit and that a third innings collapse would bring the match to a swift end were found to be shameless scare-mongering, not to mention, utter drivel. There is still a lot of work to do to win this Test, but England have made a good start. Sri Lanka will need to dismiss England for no more than 130 to stay in this match and even that may be too many: based on what we have seen so far, anything over 250 will be a big chase.

However, there are storm clouds on the horizon… literally. The weather forecast for the next three days calls for thundery showers, with a rain interruption almost certain sometime around midday tomorrow. Friday’s forecast is not much better. However, with three days left to play and the lead 177, there should be enough time to force a result, even if rain does intervene.

That said, Day 2 could not have gone much better. Ben Foakes reached his century, albeit in partnership with Jimmy Anderson and then the same combination got an early breakthrough. The bonus was that Sam Curran also added an early wicket as the New Ball did swing a little. However, the question of his ability to bowl a long, holding spell never arose because, after six overs with the New Ball, broken by a change of ends when Jack Leach came on, he retired to the outfield as soon as the ball ceased to swing and did not return. However, 6-1-16-1 was just the opening spell that England needed. Nothing profligate. No easy runs and, when the spinners came on, with Sri Lanka 30-2 and, as the batsmen tried to break the shackles, first Jack Leach and the Moeen Ali rammed home the advantage. We then had the one phase of play when it seemed that Sri Lanka might grab back the advantage: Chandimal and Matthews played sensibly, milked the bowling and accumulated without risk. Had they been able to bat for another hour, England might well have wilted, but the bowlers kept plugging away. Adil Rashid almost removed Chandimal as soon as he came on, but the edge that he induced dropped just short of Ben Stokes. He was not to be denied for long though and Ben Foakes showed what a specialist ‘keeper brings to a side by making a smart stumping as Chandimal was lured out of his ground by the leggie.

Rashid’s reward was to be whipped straight out of the attack. England seem to have decided over the last few tests that, rather than bowling him into the ground, Adil Rashid is to be used as a shock weapon to come on and make breakthroughs, rather than take the heat of bowling thirty straight overs. It seems like a strange way to treat your premier strike bowler, but it seems to be working.

Broken the Chandimal-Matthews stand, Sri Lanka kept losing wickets each time that a stand started to form. Matthews fell after he and Dickwella seemed to be getting the innings back on an even keel, while the highest stand of the innings apart that fourth wicket effort, was just 35. It all pointed to a chronic lack of patience. Conditions were probably easier than on the first day, because the ball was spinning less, even if the England bowlers did produce the occasional jaffa. All three spinners played their part but, in the end, the plaudits went to Moeen Ali, with 4-66, even if he deserved a 5-for. Gone is the defeated Moeen of a year ago. The Beard that is Feared is back. He bowled more overs than all three seamers together and combined well with Leach and Adil Rashid, but more than anything, bowled with intelligence, variation and confidence. The three England spinners kept their discipline and hunted as a pack, taking eight wickets between them and the batsmen really had no answer to it. Whereas England had gone from 164-6 at the fall of Buttler, to 342ao, batting another 53 overs, Sri Lanka subsided from 171-6 to 203ao in 8 overs, as the tail was brushed away.

Sri Lanka needed a devastating response when England batted again. Instead, Jennings and Burns batted solidly through to the Close. It is far too early to hail this as the new opening partnership that England have been longing for, but the openers have the chance to turn the knife in the morning and cement their places for the foreseeable future… that is, at least until the end of this series, if they can bat on for an hour or so in the morning. Do that and they will have the kudos of setting-up an England victory charge.

England need 123 more to set 300 for Sri Lanka to win. That equates to 161ao. Pass 161 and it will be hard to see any way that Sri Lanka will be able to avoid a crushing defeat, giving England their first ever win at Galle. If they do so, it will be the marginal choices – Foakes, Curran and, to a lesser degree, Leach, who set the standard with a mean first spell and early wicket – who will have set it up.

That though, is something that still needs to be worked for. There is still plenty of cricket left in this game and England need a good first session to make sure that the advantage is not squandered.