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.