| 0.0 : Dhananjaya de Silva, the skipper of Sri Lanka says that there is always swing in the first hour. Adds that Pathum Nissanka has been in good form in white-ball cricket. Mentions that they need to pick up 20 wickets to win and they have brought in Lahiru Kumara for his experience. Ends by saying that they need to execute better in this Test. |
| Ollie Pope, the captain of England says that they would have batted anyway. Adds that when you are in Lord's, you look up and then look down, that's what they say. Mentions that they are happy to bat and got what they wanted in both games. Ends by saying that the conditions are slightly different, more English and quicker outfield. |
| Just moments away from the start of the 2nd Test, but before that, the players from both sides make their way out to the middle and line up for their respective national anthems. It will be Sri Lanka's first followed by the national anthem of England. |
| All in readiness now! The sun is out here at Lord's and it is the perfect English weather, great for a Test match. Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence are the openers for England. Asitha Fernando has the new red cherry in his hand and is raring to go. Let's play... |
| 0.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Fuller, a little bit of shape in. On off. Duckett drives it towards mid off and takes one. England are off the mark and so is Duckett. |
| 0.2 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, Some shape away again. This is just outside off. Lawrence leaves it alone. |
| 0.3 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 0.4 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, On the pads. Dan Lawrence looks to flick but misses and gets hit on the pads. |
| 0.5 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, Good stuff from Fernando! Length and outside off. A little bit of shape away. Left alone. |
| 0.6 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 0.0 : Who will bowl from the other end? |
| 1.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Length and around off. Duckett leans forward and keeps it out. |
| 1.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 1.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Back of a length and on middle. Duckett plays it to mid on. |
| 1.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On the off pole. Duckett gets right behind the line and defends. |
| 1.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Another one on a good length and on off. Duckett pushes it to mid off this time. |
| 1.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Good stuff! Tidy to begin with! Another one on a length and around off. This is pushed past cover. A run taken. |
| 2.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Four! |
| 2.2 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Four! |
| 2.3 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, On the pads. Duckett misses out. He gets hit on the pads as he tries to flick. |
| 2.4 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Width on offer. Outside off. He loves it there but this time, he ends up chopping it to the keeper. |
| 2.5 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Four! |
| 2.6 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Dot to end but the damage was done earlier on! Length and around off. Kept out. |
| 3.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, 4 Byes. |
| 3.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, Just outside off. Lawrence leaves it alone. Better. Need to bowl here a lot more. |
| 3.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, Good stuff again. Length again and around off. A little bit of shape away. Blocked. |
| 3.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On the off pole. Duckett lunges and keeps it out. |
| 3.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, A slight midfield! A run taken! Angled into the pads. Lawrence flicks it to mid-wicket. The fielder fumbles and a run is taken. |
| 3.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Around off. Length. Blocked. |
| 4.1 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, Fuller and on off. Lawrence drives but to cover. |
| 4.2 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, Four! |
| 4.3 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 4.4 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, On off. Lawrence blocks it out. |
| 4.5 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 4.6 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, Good leave! Outside off. Dan shoulders arms to this one. |
| 5.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Two again! On middle. Duckett works it through square leg. Takes two. Easy runs. |
| 5.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Length again and around off. Duckett gets behind it solidly and blocks. |
| 5.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On the pads. Duckett misses the flick again. It hits the pad and rolls on the leg side. A leg bye taken. |
| 5.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, FOUR! That is pure timing! There could have been a better effort in the field but once he beat the fielder, there was no chance of stopping it! On middle. Lawrence pushes it past the diving mid on fielder and it races away. |
| 5.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, On off. Length. Defended. |
| 5.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Dan Lawrence, Dot to end the over! On middle. Lawrence works it to mid on. |
| 6.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Nicely played! |
| 6.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 6.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 6.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, No run. |
| 6.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, OUT! c Nishan Madushka b Lahiru Kumara. |
| 0.0 : The skipper, Ollie Pope walks out to the middle. |
| 6.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 7.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 7.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, 4 Byes. |
| 7.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, 1 run. |
| 7.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 7.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, 1 run. |
| 7.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 8.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 8.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, PEACH! Lahiru Kumara is making the ball talk here at Lord's! |
| 8.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 8.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 8.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Fuller one and on middle, Ollie Pope prods out and blocks it out. |
| 8.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Maiden over! On a length and on off, Ollie Pope plays a solid front foot defense. |
| 9.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Back of a length and around off, Ben Duckett waits for it, uses the pace of the ball to steer it away towards third man, the fielder chases it and slides to stop it. Three runs taken! |
| 9.2 : Asitha Fernando to Ollie Pope, OUT! TAKEN! Asitha Fernando strikes now! This is really a nothing shot from the English skipper but the Lankans won't mind that one bit. |
| 0.0 : Joe Root comes out next. |
| 9.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, FOUR! As easy as you like! |
| 9.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 9.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 9.6 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Short of a length and around off, Joe Root keeps it out to the off side. End of a successful over for Sri Lanka! |
| 10.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Fuller delivery, on off, Ben Duckett stays in his crease and blocks it down the pitch. |
| 10.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, 2 runs. |
| 10.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, On a length and around leg, Ben Duckett clips it through square leg for a single. |
| 10.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Good length and on off this time, shaping in, Joe Root stays back and steers it towards point. |
| 10.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, FOUR! Classy from Joe Root! Lahiru Kumara overpitches this one, on middle, Root takes a good stride towards the line of the ball, presents the full face of the bat and plays the perfect on-drive beating mid on for a boundary. |
| 10.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Pulls hie lenght back a bit, on leg, Joe Root nudges it towards deep square leg for one. |
| 11.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Fuller one and around off, shaping away, Joe Root takes a couple of steps forward to cut the swing and drives it through cover-point for a single. |
| 11.2 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Back of a length and on leg Ben Duckett swipes it towards fine leg for a run. |
| 11.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Hits the hard length this time, on middle, shaping in, Joe Root looks to play at it but gets an inside edge through mid-wicket for another run. |
| 11.4 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, 1 run. |
| 11.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Asitha Fernando bangs it hard onto the pitch again, outside off this time and shaping away, Joe Root leaves it alone. |
| 11.6 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Short again but down the leg side now, Joe Root lets it go, Nishan Madushka dives to his left to collect it. This is not going to bother Root at all. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! Players are getting their refreshments in the middle. Sri Lanka made a proper start picking two wickets in the first 10 overs and they would love to capitalize on the situation. Ben Duckett and Joe Root has huge duty on their shoulders to anchor the innings and try not to lose any wickets before lunch break. |
| 12.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Beauty! Lahiru Kumara comes from 'round the wicket and bowls on a length just outside off, nipping it away from the left hander. Ben Duckett hangs back and looks to play it inside the line but gets beaten on the outer edge. |
| 12.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 12.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 12.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Fuller and outside off, around sixth stump. Ben waits for the delivery and cuts it late towards deep backward point. Excellent work at the deep as the fielder dives to his right and saves the boundary. Only double taken in between. |
| 12.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Four! |
| 0.0 : Milan Rathnayake comes back into the attack now. |
| 12.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, 1 run. |
| 13.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On a length and on middle, Ben Duckett stays back in his crease and knocks it towards mid on. |
| 13.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Absolute beauty! |
| 13.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 13.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Uppish... but safe! |
| 13.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 13.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Full-length delivery around off. Ben Duckett lunges and blocks it down to the pitch. |
| 14.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Pitches up, outside off. Joe Root camps back and dabs it towards cover for no runs. |
| 14.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Play and a miss! |
| 14.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Appeal goes round, once again but Umpires says nothing! Lahiru Kumara has a word with DDS and they take the review! |
| 14.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 14.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 14.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 15.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 15.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, On a length, swinging it away from the batter, outside off. Joe Root punches it towards backward point. |
| 15.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length deliveyr, sprays it down the leg. Joe Root goes for a glance but misses. |
| 15.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 15.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length delivery on off. Joe Root decides to stay back and dabs it down to the pitch. |
| 15.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Pitches up, on off and middle, angling in. Joe Root rocks back and uses his wrist to tickle it away, between the gap of mid-wicket and square leg. The ball doesn't have enough legs to roll towards fence, but the batters takes three runs in the middle. |
| 16.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Good-length delivery on off, shaping in. Joe Root hangs back and places his willow down to defend the delivery back to the bowler. |
| 16.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 16.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, 1 run. |
| 16.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Full, on middle and leg. Joe Root flicks it towards right of the square leg fielder. Dhananjaya de Silva dives to his right and makes a stop. No runs from the ball. |
| 16.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length, on off and middle. Joe Root blocks it down. |
| 16.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 17.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Fullish on off. Ben Duckett leans on the delivery and rests it down. |
| 17.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Hard-length delivery just outside off. Ben Duckett shuffles across the stump and knocks it towards mid on. |
| 17.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On a length just outside off, angling a shy bit in. Ben Duckett shuffles once again and tickles it towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 17.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 17.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 17.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fullish and around off. Joe Root pats it towards backward point for no runs. |
| 0.0 : We will see spin for the first time as Prabath Jayasuriya replaces Lahiru Kumara. |
| 18.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Ben Duckett, Prabath Jayasuriya starts with a loopy delivery, full and on off, Ben Duckett knocks it past the diving short mid-wicket fielder and towards mid on for a single. |
| 18.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, FOUR! Put away! Prabath Jayasuriya goes quicker but drifts down the leg side, fuller as well, Joe Root goes down and paddles it away beautifully towards the deep fine leg fence for a boundary. |
| 18.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter, short and on leg, Joe Root flicks it through backward square leg for a single. |
| 18.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Ben Duckett, OUT! TAKEN! Prabath Jayasuriya strikes in his very first over! Introduction of spin has worked for the visitors and to be honest, this is another unforced error from the batter. |
| 0.0 : Harry Brook comes out to the middle. |
| 18.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Flighted, full and on middle, Harry Brook drills it towards mid on. |
| 18.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, A low full toss, on middle, Harry Brook drives it wide of mid on for a quick run. |
| 19.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, Fuller and on middle, angling in, Harry Brook tucks it to short mid-wicket. |
| 19.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, On a length and on off, Harry Brook stabs it towards point. |
| 19.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, Pitched up, on middle, Harry Brook blocks it down the pitch. |
| 19.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, Goes full again and just outside off, Harry Brook looks to drive it away but gets an inside edge to the leg side. |
| 19.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, Good length and on the fifth stump line, shaping in, Harry Brook watches it through and lets it go to the keeper. |
| 19.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, FOUR! Lovely shot! Back of a length and around off, Harry Brook waits for it, keeps his weight on the back foot, uses the pace of the ball and opens the face of his bat to guide it sweetly past point for a boundary. He made it look easy! |
| 20.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, On a length and on middle, angling in, Joe Root hops up and dabs it towards point. |
| 20.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Length again but a bit outside off, shaping in, Joe Root takes his front foot towards the ball and then leaves it alone. |
| 20.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, FOUR! Easy pickings! Lahiru Kumara goes a bit too full this time, on off, Joe Root leans on nicely on to his drive and creams it through covers for a sweet boundary. He is looking in fine touch here! |
| 20.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length and around off, Joe Root stabs it out towards short covers. |
| 20.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Hard length and on off, Joe Root punches it straight to point. |
| 20.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Good shot, but gets no reward! Pitched up, on middle, Joe Root drives it firmly down the pitch, Lahiru Kumara goes down on his follow-through but fails to get any hand on that, the ball hits the stumps at the non-striker's end but Brook was alert anyway. |
| 21.1 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Short of a length and outside off, Harry Brook cuts it away towards deep point for a single. |
| 21.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Goes fuller now, on off, Joe Root lets it go to the keeper. |
| 21.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Rolls his fingers this time, takes pace off and bowls this full, outside off, Joe Root once again offers no shot at it. |
| 21.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, On a length and on off, Joe Root pats it wide of point for a run. |
| 21.5 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Back of a length and outside off again, Harry Brook once again cuts it away to deep point for one. |
| 21.6 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Touch fuller, on off, Joe Root keeps it out to the off side. |
| 22.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Back of a length and on off, takes off a bit, Harry Brook adjusts well and pushes it towards short covers. |
| 22.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Fuller and on off, Harry Brook drives it towards wide of mid off for a single. |
| 22.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 22.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 22.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Back of a length and on middle, angling in, Harry Brook nudges it towards mid-wicket. |
| 22.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 23.1 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Good-length delivery just outside off. Harry Brook prods, leans on the delivery and defends it right under his eyesight. |
| 23.2 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Fullish, around off. Harry Brook leans on the delivery and drives it gently towards mid off. |
| 23.3 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Some movement! Back of a length outside off, on the sixth stump. Harry Brook looks to push it outside off but some extra bounce from the track of Lord's, helped the ball to bounce over the willow. |
| 23.4 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 23.5 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Good leave! |
| 23.6 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Fullish and straighter, on middle and leg. Harry Brook flips it towards mid-wicket. That will be it for LUNCH of Day 1! |
| 0.0 : SESSION SUMMARY - A good session of Test cricket! Sri Lanka will be happy with the three wickets theyâve got but England will be pleased with the rate they have scored at. Duckett batted freely, he scored at a brisk rate but Pope and Lawrence couldnât hang around with him. Root and the opener then put up a good stand to get the innings back on track but that was broken too as Duckett fell 10 short of a half-ton. Root though is set now and Brooks has looked solid. England will hope the two ca |
| Sri Lanka bowled well, they managed to take wickets at regular intervals. Except for Rathnayake, every bowler has a wicket at least. They would want to keep chipping away at the wickets. The second session we believe will be a lot better to bat so Lanka will have to be patient and hit the right lines and lengths. An important second session coming up at 12.40 GMT. |
| ... DAY 1, SESSION 2 ... |
| We are back for the post-Lunch session on Day 1! The umpires are out in the middle and so are the players of Sri Lanka. Joe Root is all set to resume his stay on the crease alongside Harry Brook. It will be Lahiru Kumara who will get proceedings underway with the ball after the interval. Let's play... |
| 24.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Starts well! Back of a length just outside off, angling it a shy bit in. Joe Root looks to cut but no room to perform one and gets beaten on the outer edge. |
| 24.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Chance of a run out... but wide from the stump! |
| 24.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 24.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 24.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 24.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 25.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, 2 runs. |
| 0.0 : Milan Rathnayake will be bowling from the other end. |
| 25.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, Four! |
| 25.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 25.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 25.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, FOUR! Casual fielding at the deep! |
| 25.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 26.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, 2 runs. |
| 26.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 26.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 26.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Pitches up outside off. Joe Root drives it well but straight to the cover fielder. |
| 26.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 26.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Fuller, outside off, on the fifth stump, shaping it in. Harry Brook lunges and looks to perform another drive but gets the inner edge and the ball thumps his own pads. |
| Prabath Jayasuriya rejoins the attack now! |
| 27.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 27.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter and fuller, once again on off. This time Root lunges and drives it towards mid off. |
| 27.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter and yorker, on leg. Joe Root sweeps it late towards towards deep fine leg to get a single. |
| 27.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Pitches up on middle and off. Brook prods and rests it down. |
| 27.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 27.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Fuller and on middle. Harry Brook hangs back and defends it down. |
| 28.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 28.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Bangs a short one, on off. Joe Root gets on his toes to pull it low, towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 28.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, FOUR! Short and punished! |
| 28.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Back of a length outside off. Harry Brook taps it towards gully. |
| 28.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, FOUR! Beautifully done! Harry Brook is up and running! |
| 28.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Back of a length just outside off. Harry Brook dabs it towards gully. |
| 29.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 29.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 29.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 29.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, FOUR! Oh... that is such a beauty to watch! |
| 29.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 29.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 30.1 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, On a length on middle. Harry Brook goes deep into his crease and tickles it towards mid-wicket for no runs. |
| 30.2 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Back of a length just outside off. Harry Brook punches it towards the vacant cover region and hurries for a single. |
| 30.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 30.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Fuller on leg. Joe Root flicks it towards deep fine leg and gets a single. |
| 0.0 : Who will walk out next? |
| 30.5 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, OUT! LBW! Asitha Fernando cries for appeal and Umpire raises his finger this time! Harry Brook opts for a review! |
| 30.6 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, 1 run. |
| 31.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Slower and around off. A little bit of turn. Defended. |
| 31.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, A little too full this time and on middle. It is clipped to mid on. |
| 31.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Pushes this one through around off. Smith blocks. |
| 31.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Nicely flighted and around off. Smith keeps it out nicely. |
| 31.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Good stuff! Yet again, gives it a little bit of air and lands it on middle. Smith plays it to mid on. |
| 31.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, The one that comes in with the arm now! On middle. Smith hangs back and blocks. |
| 32.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Length and around off. Root stays back and defends. |
| 32.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 8 dots in a row now! Good length again and on off. Root lunges and plays to towards gully. |
| 32.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 32.4 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, Beaten! Another one on a length and around off. This lands and moves away. Smith is beaten as he looks to defend. |
| 32.5 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, FOUR! Off the outer half! It was all along the ground through. Smith's first boundary! Fuller and around off. Smith drives, this goes more off the outer half, past point and it goes to the fence. |
| 32.6 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, The inside edge saves him! Length and around off. This lands and jags back in. Smith looks to defend but gets an inside edge onto the pads. |
| 33.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 33.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Yet again, takes a long stride forward and keeps this ball on off out towards cover. |
| 33.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 33.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Quicker this time and around off. Root pushes it to cover. |
| 33.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Slower and around off. Blocked. |
| 33.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Just the two from the over then! Floats it up on off. Kept out. |
| 34.1 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, Really good stuff from Fernando! He's bowling quite well here. Amidst a really good spell! On middle. Good length. This is played back to the bowler. |
| 34.2 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, And again, around off, length. Smith plays it to point. |
| 34.3 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, Angled into the pads. Smith works it through square leg and gets to the other end. |
| 34.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Fullish and on middle. Root drives but back to the bowler. |
| 34.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, FOUR! Too short and put away! That is too easy for Root! On the body. Root rocks back and pulls it past square leg. This one races away to the fence. |
| 34.6 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Angled into the pads. Root looks to flick but gets an inside edge onto the pads. It rolls on the leg side. A run taken. |
| 35.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Around off. Defended. |
| 35.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 35.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Slower through the air and on off. Root pushes it to covers. |
| 35.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Angled into the pads. Root works it through square leg. Takes one. |
| 35.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Floats it up on off. Smith leans forward and blocks. |
| 35.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Fuller and on middle. Smith works it to mid on. |
| 36.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, On a length and around off. Root pushes it to mid off. |
| 36.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Down the leg side. Root looks to flick but misses. |
| 36.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, On the pads again. Root clips it through square leg for one. |
| 36.4 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, Around off. Good length. Smith pushes it to mid off. |
| 36.5 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, Another solid block to this ball on the middle pole. |
| 36.6 : Asitha Fernando to Jamie Smith, Outside off. Length. Smith opens the face of the bat and guides it to point. |
| 37.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Slower and on off. Root pushes it to mid off. |
| 37.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Angled into middle. Root looks to defend but it goes off the inner half through square leg for one. |
| 37.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, On middle. Smith blocks it solidly. |
| 37.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Slower and on middle. Smith keeps it out again. |
| 37.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, On off. Loopy delivery. It is pushed to cover. |
| 37.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Around off. Defended. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! Once again Sri Lanka succeeded in breaking the rugged partnership of Joe Root and Harry Brook which might turn into a dangerous one. After the loss of the wicket England have made a passive approach and clearly they want the situation to calm down. Jamie Smith and Joe Root will be looking to rotate their strikes now and keep the scoreboard ticking. |
| 38.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller one and on off, Joe Root looks to drive it away but gets an inside edge onto his pads as the ball rolls down the pitch. |
| 38.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FIFTY FOR ROOT! Yet another fine knock from the master batter from England! Full again and on middle, Joe Root nudges it wide of deep mid-wicket for a couple of runs. Root holds the key for the hosts in this first innings. |
| 38.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Great timing! Back of a length and around off, Joe Root hops up, opens the face of his bat and punches it past point for three comfortable runs. |
| 38.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Goes full again, on off, Jamie Smith strides out and knocks it towards mid on. |
| 38.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Pitches it up around off, Jamie Smith drives it firmly but straight to mid off. |
| 38.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Another full delivery, on middle and off, Jamie Smith uses his feet and drills it towards mid on this time. The fielder hits the stumps at the bowler's end but Root is inside his crease. |
| 39.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on off, Joe Root pushes it towards covers. |
| 39.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Floated, full and on middle, Joe Root prods forward and blocks it out solidly. |
| 39.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 3 runs. |
| 39.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 39.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 39.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 40.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Good length but well outside off, Joe Root walks across and leaves it alone. |
| 40.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, On a length and on off, angling in, Joe Root works it off the inner half of the bat through square leg for a single. |
| 40.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Back of a length and on off, Jamie Smith punches it from the toe-end of his bat towards mid off. |
| 40.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Hard length and on off again, Jamie Smith once again slaps it straight to mid off. |
| 40.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Touch fuller, on middle, Jamie Smith stays back and pats it towards covers. |
| 40.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Four dots in a row to end the over then! Goes fuller again, on off, Jamie Smith drives it with a straight bat but fails to beat mid off once again. |
| 41.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Quicker, short and on middle, Joe Root stays back and tucks it to short mid-wicket. |
| 41.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Floated, full and on middle, Joe Root goes down and sweeps it to deep square leg for a single. |
| 41.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, FOUR! Gets it through this time! Prabath Jayasuriya drags his length back, on off, Jamie Smith quickly moves on his back foot and punches it away sweetly through covers for a boundary. He was never going to miss out there! |
| 41.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 41.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Darts this oen full and angling in, Jamie Smith clips it to short mid-wicket. |
| 41.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Flighted, full and on off, Jamie Smith goes inside out and drives it straight to mid off. 5 runs off the over! |
| 42.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FOUR! Oh..very lucky for the batter! |
| 42.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 42.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Tocuh fuller, on off, Joe Root strides out and push it towards covers. |
| 42.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Good-length delivery, on off, Joe Root dabs it down to point. |
| 42.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Goes back to his fuller length, on the sixth stump line, Joe Root walks across and blocks it out nicely. |
| 42.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, A slight appeal for LBW, but turned down! |
| 43.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Slower through the air, full and on middle, turns away a bit, Jamie Smith uses his feet, almost gets beaten by the flight but blocks it well in the end. |
| 43.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Flighted, full and on middle, Jamie Smith defends it on the front foot. |
| 43.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 43.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Flatter now, short and on middle, Jamie Smith moves back and nudges it to mid-wicket. |
| 43.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Flighted, full and on middle, Jamie Smith keeps it out on the pitch. |
| 43.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, FOUR! Fine shot! |
| 44.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller delivery, on middle, jags back in a sharply, Joe Root watches it through and blocks it out. |
| Slight hailt! |
| 44.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FOUR! Brilliant shot! |
| 44.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Short of a length and on off, Joe Root steers it away again but finds point this time. |
| 44.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Milan Rathnayake bangs this into the pitch again, outside off, inviting the batter, but Joe Root is not interested in playing at that. |
| 44.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 44.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FOUR! Uppish but goes away! |
| 45.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, On middle. Smith works it to mid-wicket. |
| 45.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, On middle. Flatter. Smith goes right back and defends it into the ground. |
| 45.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 45.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, On middle. Fuller. This is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 45.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Angled into the pads. Smith pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 45.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Lobs it up on off. Smith pushes it back to from where it came. |
| 46.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller and on middle. Root takes a few steps forward and works it through square leg for one. |
| 46.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Lovely! The bowler did well though to get a boot on it. He saves one. Fuller and on middle. This is driven hard back to the bowler. Rathnayake hangs his right boot out. It hits it and goes towards the long off fence. Mid on runs after it, dives and saves a run for his side. Fifty run stand up. Much needed one for England as they were in trouble after they lost Brook. |
| 46.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 46.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Outside off. This is guided past point for one. |
| 46.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 46.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Lands short! Length and around off. This lands and moves away. Smith looks to drive but this goes off the outside half. Lands just short of the gully fielder. |
| 47.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 47.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 47.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 47.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, This is eased down to long off for one. |
| 47.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Fuller and on off. Smith pushes it to covers. |
| 47.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Gives it air and lands it on off. Defended. |
| 48.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Around off. Length. Defended. |
| 48.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Close! Gets this one to jag back in from around off and on a length. Root looks to defend but it goes off the inner half through square leg for one. |
| 48.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, On off. Back of a length. Defended. |
| 48.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Misses out! That's his favourite shot! Does not connect this time! Short and around off. Smith stands tall and looks to pull but misses. |
| 48.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, FOUR! In the air but in the gap! Fuller and on middle. Smith works it but wide of mid-wicket and this one gets to the fence. |
| 48.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, OUT! c Nishan Madushka b Milan Rathnayake. |
| 0.0 : Chris Woakes comes out to the middle now. |
| 49.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Around off. This is pushed down to long off for one. |
| 49.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, On middle. This is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 49.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Slower and on off. Woakes blocks. |
| 49.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, On the stumps. Kept out again. |
| 49.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, On the off pole. Blocked. |
| 49.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Quicker and on off. This is pushed to cover. |
| 50.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller and on off. Root drives it to mid on. |
| 50.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Good length again. Root is solid in defense. |
| 50.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller and on off. Root plays it to cover. |
| 50.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 50.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, On off. Length. Defended. |
| 50.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Good length again. Kept out. |
| 51.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, FOUR! Great use of the feet! Tossed up and around middle, Chris Woakes skips down the track to get to the pitch of the ball and just chips it over mid on, the ball trickles away for a boundary. He gets off the mark now! |
| 51.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 51.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 51.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Flighted, full and on off, Chris Woakes taps it towards short covers. |
| 51.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 51.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Pushed through quicker, full and on off, turns away a bit with bounce, Chris Woakes hangs his bat away to block, the ball hits the shoulder of the bat and drops dead on the off side. |
| 52.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, On a length and on middle, angling in, Joe Root clips it towards fine leg for a single. |
| 52.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, Back of a length and around off, Chris Woakes punches it away wide of covers for a couple of runs. 200 up for England now! |
| 52.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, Pitched up and on off, Chris Woakes looks to defend but gets an outside edge along the ground towards backward point. |
| 52.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 52.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, Tooch fuller now, on off, Chris Woakes pushes it towards covers. |
| 52.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, Pitched up again, on middle, Chris Woakes is solid in his defense again. THAT WILL BE TEA ON DAY 1! |
| 0.0 : TEA, DAY 1 - Session Summary - 103 runs, 29 overs, and 2 wickets. Just after the start of the Lunch break, Harry Brook survived a run out in the very first over. But that incident shook both the batters pretty well to hold their focus on communicating better. They looked good and were stroking a couple of boundaries, but the change of end from Asitha Fernando once again lived up to the expectation to hunt Brook down. |
| After the arrival of Jamie Smith on the track, the intent of England was clear as water and the instruction was not to lose any more wickets till the end of the day. They started their passive approach and kept their composure on track. In the meantime, Root successfully bagged his 65th half-century in Test cricket format and continued to circulate the scoreboard. They both did an exceptional job of picking the score from 130 for 4 to 192 and formed a sturdy partnership of 62 runs. |
| Lankan bowlers were trying all sorts of spells but nothing was favoring them. There got a couple of edges but the English batters were escaping with a thin line. However, the story didn't continue as it was rolling, and all thanks to Milan Rathnayake. He caught Smith off guard and eliminated him off the pitch in the 49th over. |
| Right then! The Lankan bowlers have cleaned half of the opposition's batting unit and they would love to wrap things up as quickly as possible. But will the English batters shape themselves to go all guns out after the Tea break? Or, will they would be looking to pursue their partnership for the next couple of hours and survive till the end of the day? Stay tuned, as an enthralling final session on Day 1 will start at 3.00â¯pm GMT. |
| ... DAY 1, SESSION 3 ... |
| 53.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 53.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 0.0 : We are back for the third and final session on Day 1! The umpires have taken their places out in the middle as the Lankan players stride out to the middle. Chris Woakes and Joe Root are all set to resume their stay. |
| 53.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Quicker, full and on the pads, Joe Root clips it through square leg for a single. |
| 53.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Goes short and on off, Chris Woakes stays back and keeps it out on the pitch. |
| 53.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 53.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Gives it a bit more flights this time, full and on off, Chris Woakes fends it away once again. |
| 54.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 53.6 : Lahiru Kumara will be bowling from the other end. |
| 54.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 54.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length and on off, Joe Root dabs it away towards point. |
| 54.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, On a length and around off, Joe Root keeps it out to the off side. |
| 54.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 54.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Pulls his length back a bit, outside off, Joe Root steers it to deep point for a single. |
| 55.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, FOUR! Poor delivery and gets the correct treatment! |
| 55.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 55.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on middle, Joe Root goes down and sweeps it towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 55.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 55.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 55.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 56.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 56.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, On a length and on middle, angling in, Joe Root stays back and blocks it out solidly this time. |
| 56.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Fiery stuff! Lahiru Kumara bangs in a quick and sharp bouncer, on middle, Joe Root sways away from it. |
| 56.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Another good bumper, on middle, Joe Root lets it go as it flies well over his head. |
| 56.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 56.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, Good length and on middle, Chris Woakes pats it down to mid-wicket. |
| 57.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on off, Joe Root taps it to short covers. |
| 57.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 57.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 57.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 57.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 57.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, No run. |
| 58.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length and on off, Joe Root winds up for the pull, but then decided to nudge it towards short mid-wicket. |
| 58.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Fuller one and on middle, ranging in, Joe Root blocks it out as the ball rolls towards short covers. |
| 58.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 58.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 58.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 58.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Chris Woakes, OUT! c Asitha Fernando b Lahiru Kumara. |
| 0.0 : Gus Atkinson comes out to the middle. |
| 59.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 59.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Flatter and fuller on off. Gus Atkinson prods and eases it towards mid off. |
| 59.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fullish once again just outside off. Gus Atkinson goes deep into his crease and looks to dab it down but gets nicked on the outer edge and the ball rolls towards his off side. |
| 59.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Touch fuller on off. Joe Root lunges hard and pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 59.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 59.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 60.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 60.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Pitches up, just outside off. Joe Root brings his willow down to push it away from the crease. |
| 60.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 60.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 60.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Good-length delivery on off. Joe Root eases it towards the left of the bowler. Lahiru Kumara pouches to his left and makes a stop. |
| 60.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Fuller and outside off. Joe Root pushes it towards short cover. A maiden over and the crowd have to wait for his century! |
| 61.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fuller on middle and leg. Gus Atkinson flicks it towards square leg and gets a single. |
| 61.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Full-length delivery just outside off. Joe Root eases it back to the bowler. |
| 61.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 61.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 61.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fuller, outside off. Joe Root blocks it towards short cover fielder. |
| 61.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Drats fuller once again on off. Joe Root eases it towards mid off fielder and no runs. Root will have to wait for it. |
| 62.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 62.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Pitches it up just outside off. Joe Root pushes it away towards his off side. |
| 62.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, FOUR! HUNDRED FOR ROOT! He had to wait for the final run, but he has got that in his own style. |
| 62.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Root is opening his stance now! Short of a length on middle. Joe Root pulls it from the inner part of his willow towards deep fine for a single. |
| 62.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Pitched up, just outside off, on sixth stump. Gus Atkinson knocks it towards short cover for no runs. |
| 62.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Fires a short one, over the helmet of the batter. Gus Atkinson looks to hook it away but misses. |
| 63.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 63.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, A bit flatter around off. Joe Root pushes it outside off. |
| 63.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up fuller, on off. Joe Root goes deep into his crease and pushes it towards the vacant cover region and gets a single. |
| 63.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Six! |
| 63.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 63.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Tossed up, just outside off. Gus Atkinson eases it towards cover. |
| 64.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 64.2 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Back of a length, angling down the leg. Gus Atkinson turns a bit to pull it but ends up lifting his willow up and ends up making a leave. |
| 64.3 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! This is some exceptional shot from Gus Atkinson! |
| 64.4 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 64.5 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Fullish just outside off. Gus Atkinson knocks it towards cover. |
| 64.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, On a length on middle and leg. Gus Atkinson rocks back and nudges it towards mid-wicket for no runs. |
| 65.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Touch fuller, on leg. Joe Root goes deep into his crease and tickles it towards square leg for a single. |
| 65.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, 2 runs. |
| 65.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fullish, on stump. Gus Atkinson blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 65.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, SIX! Another biggie from Gus Atkinson! |
| 65.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Short of a length on off. Gus Atkinson dabs it down to the pitch. |
| 65.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Tossed up fuller, outside off. Gus Atkinson gets forward and defends it towards his off side. |
| 66.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 66.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 250 for England! Pitched up, outside off. Joe Root lunges and pushes it towards cover-point and gets a single. |
| 66.3 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Short of a length on leg. Gus Atkinson pulls hard towards deep backward square leg fielder and gets a single. With that single, Gus Atkinson gets his best score in Test cricket format! |
| 66.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 66.5 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Yorker, but wide outside off. Gus Atkinson swings but gets beaten on the outer edge. |
| 66.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Attempted yorker, but the ball slips from the hand of Asitha Fernando and he bowls a lower full toss on middle. Gus Atkinson looks to work it towards his leg side but get the major connection on the outer part of his willow. The ball rolls towards the vacant cover region and gets a single. |
| 67.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Milan Rathnayake comes from over the wicket and bowls on a good length on middle. Gus Atkinson hangs back and dabs it back to the bowler. |
| 67.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, On a length, once again. Gus Atkinson places his willow to his front and defends it outside off. |
| 67.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, A bit fuller outside off. Gus Atkinson punches it hard toward deep cover-point fielder. The batters gets a comfortable single. |
| 67.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fullish, just outside off. Joe Root prods halfway and nudges it across the line towards mid on for no runs.  |
| 67.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Tad fuller, outside off, on the fifth stump. Joe Root lunges halfway toward the delivery and defends it solidly, right under his eyesight. |
| 67.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FOUR! Simply outstanding from Root! |
| 68.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Bangs it short and on middle. This is pulled down to fine leg for one. |
| 68.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Root now takes one as he works it with the angle through square leg. He wanted two but had to settle for one. |
| 68.3 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! That is lovely! This guy has played some sparkling shots. Another boundary for him. Length and outside off. He hits it on the up and this one races away to the fence. |
| 68.4 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 68.5 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Back of a length and on middle. Blocked. |
| 68.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Another dot  to end! On middle. Length again. Blocked solidly. |
| Change? Yes, Kamindu Mendis joins the attack now. |
| 69.1 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, No run. |
| 69.2 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, FOUR! That is a hit-me ball! It is short and outside off. Root says thank you very much and slaps it past cover. Another easy boundary. |
| 69.3 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, Two more! Mendis goes around the wicket. He bowls it on middle. This is reverse swept towards third man for two. |
| 69.4 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, Four! |
| 69.5 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, Now takes one as this is hit down to long on. |
| 69.6 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, Two more! End of an expensive one! On middle. This is pushed past cover. Two. |
| 70.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Angled into the pads. Root works it towards fine leg. He takes one and wants a second but refuses it in the end. Good call. |
| 70.2 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Around off. Length again. Defended well. |
| 70.3 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Length and outside off. Atkinson does not play at it. |
| 70.4 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, On the stumps. Length. Defended. |
| 70.5 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Shorter and around off. This is punched to cover. |
| 70.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Angled into the pads. This is flicked but to mid-wicket. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! England are very much back on track. Joe Root and Gus Atkinson are setting the standards for their nation and they are living up to the expectations of their supporters. On the flip side, Sri Lanka despite starting the inning on their side, they are now trying everything to get a breakthrough but nothing is going according to their plan. |
| 71.1 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, FOUR! Another poor ball. A drag down and Root puts it away. This is way too short and on middle. This is pulled hard through mid-wicket. No chance of stopping that. It races away. |
| 71.2 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, No run. |
| 71.3 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, On middle. Quicker. Root pushes it to cover. |
| 71.4 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, Flatter and around off. This is guided past point for one. |
| 71.5 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 71.6 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, On middle. Blocked again. |
| 72.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Length and around off. Root drives but to covers. |
| 71.6 : Milan Rathnayake (17-1-66-1) is back into the attack. |
| 72.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FOUR! The Lankan bowlers just seem tired! Another loose ball. Short and outside off. Not enough effort in it. Root drags it through mid-wicket and this races away to the fence. |
| 72.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Length and around off. Root keeps it out. |
| 72.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 72.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, On the stumps. This is blocked. |
| 72.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 73.1 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, Fuller and on off. Atkinson pushes it past cover and takes two. |
| 73.2 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, On middle. This is worked through square leg for a couple. |
| 73.3 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, Fuller and on off. This is pushed to mid off. |
| 73.4 : Kamindu Mendis to Joe Root, Leg bye. |
| 73.5 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 73.6 : Kamindu Mendis to Gus Atkinson, Six! |
| 0.0 : Slight halt! Joe Root is having a bit difficulty handling his bat as the physio is applying some bandages on his hands. Nothing to worry about, as he is ready to continue his inning. Prabath Jayasuriya rejoins the attack. |
| 74.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up fuller, down the leg. Joe Root gets down on his knee to place the sweep but misses. |
| 74.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fuller, outside off. Joe Root pushes it towards vacant cover for a single. |
| 74.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fuller just outside off. Gus Atkinson prods and eases it towards thee left of the bowler. |
| 74.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, 300 comes up for England! Flatter and fuller down the leg. Gus Atkinson clips it pretty late towards deep fine leg region and collects easy three runs in the middle. |
| 74.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fuller and on leg. Joe Root prods and pushes it towards wide right of the bowler. Prabath Jayasuriya scoots and charges the ball and keeps the pressure on the batter. The batters cancel the plan to take the single. |
| 74.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Pitched up, on middle. Joe Root works it towards mid-wicket and gets a comfortable single. |
| 75.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Overpitched delivery on middle. Joe Root tickles it from his pads towards deep square leg and gets a brace. |
| 75.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length delivery on off. Joe Root nudges it towards deep square leg and gets a single. England are comfortability getting their singles! |
| 75.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 75.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fullish delivery, on off and middle. Joe Root knocks it towards mid on for no runs. |
| 75.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Good-length delivery, just outside off. Joe Root taps it towards gully. |
| 75.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length delivery just outside off. Joe Root lunges and brings his willow down to defend it solidly, right under his eyesight. |
| 76.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Short of a length, on middle and leg. Gus Atkinson stands tall and pats it towards the right of the bowler. |
| 76.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fuller on middle and leg. Gus Atkinson with no footwork eases it towards his leg side. |
| 76.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Pitched up, fuller on middle. Gus Atkinson prods halfway and works across the line towards his leg side. |
| 76.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 76.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Full-length delivery outside off. Joe Root lunges and punches it hard towards sweeper cover for a comfortable single. |
| 76.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Touch fuller on off. Gus Atkinson goes deep into his crease and pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 77.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller delivery just outside off. Joe Root plants his front foot and defends outside off. |
| 77.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length delivery wide outside off. Joe Root strides out to drill it towards the cover region. |
| 77.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, OUT! c Pathum Nissanka b Milan Rathnayake. |
| 77.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 0.0 : Matthew Potts walks out to bat now. |
| 77.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 77.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 78.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 78.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fullish around off. Gus Atkinson punches it but straight to the cover fielder. |
| 78.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 78.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, An appeal but Umpire says nothing! Short of a length, angling down the leg. Gus Atkinson looks to flick but misses. |
| 78.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 78.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, Tossed up, fuller on off, drifting in. Matthew Potts blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 79.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 79.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Fires a short one, on middle. Gus Atkinson looks to hook it but misses. |
| 79.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Uppish... but safe! |
| 79.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Short of a length outside off. Gus Atkinson pulls it towards mid-wicket and gets a couple of runs. |
| 79.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! What a way to bring his maiden half-century! Absolutely outstanding from Gus! Good-length delivery outside off. Gus Atkinson strides out halfway but punches it with all his straight, along the green turf towards sweeper cover for another boundary. |
| 79.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| . |
| 80.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Back of a length on middle. Matthew Potts hops and dabs it down. |
| 80.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Now, the new ball has already started to speak! Full-length delivery, outside off, angling in towards off, but shapes it away from the batter. Matthew Potts looks to play it inside the line but gets beaten on the outer edge. |
| 80.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Pitched up, on off. Matthew Potts blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 80.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Touch fuller, angling in towards the batter. Matthew Potts rocks back and pats it back to the bowler. |
| 80.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Bangs a short one. Matthew Potts ducks under it and the ball files away to the keeper. |
| 80.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Back of a length on off and middle. Matthew Potts hangs back and tickles it towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 81.1 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, FOUR! Uppish... but Matthew won't mind as it's in the gap! |
| 81.2 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 81.3 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, 1 run. |
| 81.4 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 81.5 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 81.6 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 82.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 82.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Fuller and on middle, Matthew Potts blocks it out. |
| 82.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 82.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Four! |
| 82.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, FOUR! TWO IN TWO! A proper shot now! Short of a length and on middle, Matthew Potts stands tall, gets on top of it and swats it over mid on for another boundary. |
| 82.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Good comeback from the bowler! Hard length and just outside off, shaping away, Matthew Potts has a poke at it but gets beaten on the outside edge. |
| 83.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, On a length and around off, Gus Atkinson tries to push it but gets an inside edge towards fine leg for a single. |
| 83.2 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 83.3 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, A bit fuller but outside off, shaping further away, Matthew Potts leaves it alone. |
| 83.4 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Hard length and just around off, shapes away again, Matthew Potts offers no shot at it. |
| 83.5 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Goes fuller, on middle, shaping in, Matthew Potts tries to block but gets an inside edge onto his pads. That saves him otherwise it was plumb. |
| 83.6 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, BEAUTY! Wide of the crease, good length and on off, straightens a bit, Matthew Potts gets squared up as the ball zips past the outside edge. |
| 84.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Shorter and outside off. Atkinson goes after it but misses. |
| 84.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Around off. Kept out. |
| 84.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! Brilliant form Atkinson again! What a knock this is! Length and on off. He drives it through covers. This one races away. |
| 84.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Lengyh and on off. Defended. |
| 84.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Six! |
| 84.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Leg bye. |
| 85.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 85.2 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 85.3 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Four! |
| 85.4 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, 1 run. |
| 85.5 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, 2 runs. |
| 85.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| Change? Yes, Prabath Jayasuriya rejoins the attack. We will see some spin with the new ball. |
| 86.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, Fuller and on off. This is pushed down to long off for one. |
| 86.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, On middle. Kept out well. |
| 86.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Fuller and on off. Atkinson hits it down to long off and gets to the other end. |
| 86.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 86.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 86.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, Around off. Potts pushes it to cover again. |
| 87.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! Pulled away! Goes short and on middle. This is pulled hard through mid-wicket. It races away to the fence. |
| 87.2 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, On middle. Good length. Blocked. |
| 87.3 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Fuller and on middle. This is hit down to long on for one. |
| 87.4 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Length and outside off. Left alone. |
| 87.5 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, On the stumps. Potts gets right behind the line and plays it to cover. |
| 87.6 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, A harmless nut to end the day! Outside off. Good length. Left alone. |
| 0.0 : After being put in to bat, England faced some early challenges, mainly with batters failing to convert their starts into significant scores. However, the positive was that the scoreboard kept moving, largely thanks to Joe Root ââââââ's brilliant form. Root navigated through the tough periods and was the standout performer on Day 1, showcasing his class with a superb innings and reaching his 33rd Test century. Sri Lanka started strong with the ball but gradually lost their edge as |
| After winning the toss, Sri Lanka made a surprising decision to bowl first, as teams generally prefer to bat at Lord's. However, the Sri Lankan pacers made the most of the conditions, securing an early breakthrough. Lahiru Kumara set the tone by forcing a nick from Dan Lawrence, justifying his inclusion in the match. Asitha Fernando then dismissed England's skipper, who never looked settled at the crease. Joe Root came in and looked solid from the outset, forming a steady partnership with Ben Du |
| The second session saw Root and Brook upping the scoring rate, looking comfortable at the crease. However, their momentum was halted when Fernando trapped Brook LBW, ending his promising start. Root, unaffected by his partner's departure, continued to bat with confidence, enjoying a bit of luck along the way. He reached his 65th Test fifty and then shifted gears, playing more aggressively. Jamie Smith, who has impressed since his debut, struggled initially but managed to play some attractive sho |
| Sri Lanka went into the final session in a good position but standing on their way was Root as they threw everything at him, but nothing broke him down. Not only that, but he went on to equal the record of Alastair Cook for most centuries by an English batter in Tests. Woakes couldn't stick around for long as Kumar sent him back, but Root was just on another level. He also found a good partner in His Atkinson who is mainly known for his bowling, but came in and attacked the Lankans from ball one |
| Right then, that is it from an exciting Day 1 of this 2nd Test. England have the upper hand and will want to keep the pressure on the visitors. Sri Lanka will need their batters to step up to challenge the hosts. Day 2 will begin on 30th August, Friday at 10 am GMT, but you can join us early for all the build-up. Cheers! |
| ... DAY 2, SESSION 1 ... |
| Hello and welcome to Day 2 of this thrilling second Test between England and Sri Lanka at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground in London. With the game currently tilting in England's favor, weâre set for an action-packed day of Test cricket that could be crucial. The weather looks favorable, promising another full day of play, just like Day 1. |
| England will be pleased with how they ended Day 1, recovering well after a shaky start. Once again, the middle order showed resilience, anchoring the innings and boosting the score. Ben Duckett was the only top-order player to make an impact, but Joe Root remains at the crease, having played a superb knock of 143 runs from 206 balls. The lower middle order, particularly Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts, added vital runs, with Atkinson achieving his highest Test score. Expect England to play aggres |
| Sri Lankaâs bowlers will look to bounce back on Day 2 after a tiring first day in the field. They started well, taking three wickets in the first 19 overs, but the middle order slowed their momentum. They couldnât capitalize even with the new ball after the 80th over. With a new day ahead, the bowlers will come out refreshed, aiming to take the remaining three wickets. Stay tuned as the action is about to resume! |
| In all readiness for the action on Day 2 to begin! The two umpires stride out to the middle, followed by the Lankans as they take their positions. Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts are on their way to the crease to resume their innings for England. Lahiru Kumara will get the job to start the proceeding for Sri Lanka. Let's play... |
| 88.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! Runs straightaway! A boundary in fact. A loosened to begin with. On the pads. Atkinson works it fine and it races away to the fine leg fence. Perfect start for England. |
| 88.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! That is one of the best shots he has played! Wow! Length and around off. Atkinson strokes it on the up and this races through covers. Two boundaries to begin Day 2. |
| 88.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Has Kumara got his revenge? There is an appeal and the finger is raised but Atkinson reviews. Seems to be going down leg. NOT OUT! It is, with that angle and with the movement, it always seemed like that. Good use of the review. Kumara goes wide of the crease and bowls it on off. This lands and jags back in and hits the pad. The celebrations are short lived. |
| 88.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Around off. Length. Kept out. |
| 88.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Outside off. Length. Atkinson throws his bat at it. This goes off the inside edge and down to fine leg. A run taken. |
| 88.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Dot to end but a good first over for England. Outside off. Length. Left alone. |
| 0.0 : Milan Rathnayake will be bowling from the end. |
| 89.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Solid! Length and around off. Atkinson gets right behind the line and defends it. |
| 89.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Back of a length this time. Atkinson rises and punches it to covers. |
| 89.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, NO BALL AND FOUR! That is a poor ball! On the pads. Atkinson just works it fine yet again and this races away. His third boundary so far. |
| Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Now takes one! Around off. He pushes it through covers and gets to the other end. |
| 89.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Matthew Potts, 1 run. |
| 89.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Yet again a delivery outside off. Not played at. |
| 89.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Just wide! A good nut! Length and on middle. This lands and moves away. Atkinson looks to flick, this goes off a leading edge wide of gully and to deep point for one. |
| 90.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 90.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! He hits that really hard! He gets into the nervous nineties! Short and on the body. This is pulled and he splits the gap between fine leg and deep square leg. |
| 90.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Takes one! Outside off. This is guided past point for one. |
| 90.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 90.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, Back of a length and on off again. Potts defends it to cover. |
| 90.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 91.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Outside off. Length. Left alone. |
| 91.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, On middle. This is defended back to the bowler. |
| 91.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Around off. Atkinson guides it to point. |
| 91.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Takes one now as he guides this past the point fielder. |
| 91.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Matthew Potts, That swung a long way! This starts angling into middle but then moves away. Potts looks to defend but this goes past the outside edge. Lovely. |
| 91.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Matthew Potts, On middle. Potts works it to mid-wicket. |
| 92.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! Shot of the game so far! That takes him onto 99. Fuller and around off. Atkinson shows the full face of the bat and creams it through covers. No chance of stopping that. |
| 92.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, On middle. Atkinson works it to mid on. |
| 92.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, He did not need to go after that! Length and well wide outside off. Atkinson pushes at it but misses. |
| 92.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Four! |
| 92.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Angled into the pads. Atkinson works it to mid-wicket. |
| 92.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! Put away with disdain! Top, top shot! On middle. Slightly shorter. This is hammered past mid-wicket and this races away. Top stroke. |
| Change? |
| 93.1 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Angled into the pads. Potts works it to mid-wicket. |
| 93.2 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Around off. Defended. |
| 93.3 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, OUT! c Nishan Madushka b Asitha Fernando. |
| 0.0 : Olly Stone walks up to the middle. |
| 93.4 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 93.5 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, 1 run. |
| 93.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Angled into the pads. Atkinson looks to flick but misses. This hits the pad and rolls on the leg side. A leg bye taken. |
| Change. |
| 0.0 : Change? |
| 94.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Short and on off. Gus Atkinson goes deep into the crease and nudges it across the line towards mid-wicket. |
| 94.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 94.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Full-length delivery on off. Gus Atkinson punches it towards long off and gets a single. |
| 94.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, 2 runs. |
| 94.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Pitched up, on middle. Stone eases it across the line towards his leg side. |
| 94.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Tossed up fuller on off and middle. Olly Stone prods and works it towards wide mid on for a single. |
| 95.1 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Asitha Fernando comes from over the wicket and bowls fuller on off. Olly Stone prods halfway and taps it towards the left of the mid on fielder. |
| 95.2 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Pitches it up, once again, on middle. Stone rocks back and pushes it towards mid on fielder for no runs. |
| 95.3 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Fullish, on middle and leg. Stone punches it towards mid on once again. |
| 95.4 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, 400 up for England! Full-length delivery, outside of, on fifth stump. Olly Stone hangs back and looks to punch it outside off but gets the connection on the outer edge and the ball rolls towards deep backward point and gets a couple of runs. |
| 95.5 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Four! |
| 95.6 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, 1 run. |
| 96.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 96.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, 2 runs. |
| 96.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 96.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 96.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Flatter and fuller on middle. Ollie Pope defends it down. |
| 96.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, 1 run. |
| 97.1 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 97.2 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 97.3 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 97.4 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Trails of short ball and it's effecting the batter! |
| 97.5 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Short and down sprays down the leg. Olly Stone does nothing to it. |
| 97.6 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Asitha Fernando comes from over the wicket and bangs another short on middle and leg. Olly Stone ducks and is happy to leave it alone. |
| 98.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 98.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 98.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, A bit more flatter but fuller on off. Olly Stone prods and rests it down. |
| 98.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Full-length delivery down the leg. Olly Stone makes no footwork and nudges it towards square leg for a single. |
| 98.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Tossed up fuller, on middle. Gus Atkinson defends it towards mid on. |
| 98.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Overpitched delivery just outside off. Gus Atkinson jams it toward long on and gets a single. |
| 99.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! STREAKY! Another bumper from Asitha Fernando, pitching it down the leg and shaping it towards the leg and middle. Gus Atkinson looks to hook it but gets the top edge and the ball loops over the wicket keeper and rolls away for four runs. |
| 99.2 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries! Gus Atkinson is enjoying batting on this pitch! |
| 0.0 : Shoaib Bashir is the last man in. |
| 99.3 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, OUT! TAKEN! Excellent catch in the deep! That is some athletic stuff! |
| 99.4 : Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir, No run. |
| 99.5 : Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir, No run. |
| 99.6 : Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir, 1 run. |
| 100.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Shoaib Bashir, Tossed up, full and on middle, Shoaib Bashir knocks it down the pitch. |
| 100.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Shoaib Bashir, Floated, full and on middle, Shoaib Bashir tucks it to short mid-wicket. |
| 100.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Shoaib Bashir, FOUR! He breaks the shackles now! Prabath Jayasuriya flights this up around middle, Shoaib Bashir goes down on one knee and heaves it away towards the deep mid-wicket fence for a biggie. Every run will hurt Lanka even more now. |
| 100.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Shoaib Bashir, Quicker, full and on middle, Shoaib Bashir turns it to the leg side. |
| 100.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Shoaib Bashir, Goes short and on middle, angling in, Shoaib Bashir nudes it towards mid-wicket. |
| 100.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Shoaib Bashir, A loopy low full toss, on middle, Shoaib Bashir drills it down to long on for one. |
| 101.1 : Asitha Fernando to Shoaib Bashir, Uppish... but safe! Bouncer, on leg. Shoaib Bashir pulls it a bit late towards deep fine leg. The ball airs a bit and drops safe towards right of the deep fine leg fielder. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! England are in a commanding position and have a firm grip on the game. We saw Gus Atkinson getting to his maiden Test ton and they are closing in around the 450-run mark as well. Sri Lanka will hope that they can get the last wicket in the next couple of overs and then it will be up to their batters. Asitha Fernando to continue with the short-ball stuff. |
| 101.2 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 101.3 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 101.4 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 101.5 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Hard-length delivery on middle and leg. Olly Stone slog mistimes his slog towards mid-wicket for no runs. |
| 101.6 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, OUT! CAUGHT! |
| 0.0 : A splendid batting performance from England finally comes to an end! Joe Root was obviously the standout batter for them with his incredible knock of 143 off 206 balls, but Gus Atkinson came in as the surprise package for Sri Lanka. He smashed his way to his maiden Test hundred and that helped the hosts to go past the 400-run mark. |
| Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be disappointed as they started pretty well with the ball, but just could not pick up wickets at regular intervals and conceded a few big partnerships as well. Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers with his fantastic five-wicket haul while Milan Rathnayake and Lahiru Kumara chipped in with a couple of wickets each. Prabath Jayasuriya also picked up one, but they only have themselves to blame as they could have kept the hosts well under 400 or even und |
| ... SECOND INNINGS ... |
| We are back! |
| 0.1 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Right on the money! Chris Woakes comes 'over the wicket and serves this full, on middle, shaping in, Nishan Madushka takes a half stride out and blocks it down the pitch. |
| 0.2 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Good length now, on off, shaping away a bit, Nishan Madushka steers it towars point. |
| 0.3 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Fuller again, on middle, angling in, Nishan Madushka is solid in his defense. |
| 0.4 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Back of a length and around off, Nishan Madushka stays back and dabs it towars point. |
| 0.5 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Five dots now! Chris Woakes goes back to his fuller length, in line with the stumps, Nishan Madushka fends it with a straight bat. |
| 0.6 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, A maiden to start with then! Chris Woakes has found a good line and length here! Pitched up, on middle, Nishan Madushka keeps it out well. |
| 0.0 : Gus Atkinson will be bowling from the other end. |
| 1.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Gus Atkinson begins with a full delivery around off, angling away, Dimuth Karunaratne lets it go to the keeper. |
| 1.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, FOUR! Sri Lanka are finally underway! Gus Atkinson serves this a bit too full, on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne uses his wrists well and flicks it away elegantly through mid-wicket for a boundary. |
| 1.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, A shout for caught behind, but turned down! Joe Root at first slip seems very interested and Ollie Pope takes the review here. |
| 1.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and just outside off, Dimuth Karunaratne leaves it alone. |
| 1.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 1.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, BEATEN! Gus Atkinson goes fuller and on the sixth stump line, angling away, Dimuth Karunaratne looks for the big booming drive but gets beaten on the outside edge. |
| 2.1 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, On a length and on middle, angling in, Nishan Madushka steps across and tucks it to short mid-wicket. |
| 2.2 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Good length and around off, Nishan Madushka stays back and steers it towards point. |
| 2.3 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, EDGED AND FOUR! Very, very lucky for the batter! |
| 2.4 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 2.5 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Back of a length and around middle, Nishan Madushka work it off the inner half of the bat through square leg for a single. |
| 2.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, BEAUTY! Chris Woakes pitches it up around off, angles it away again, Dimuth Karunaratne once again gets drawn into the drive as the ball zips past the outside edge. |
| 3.1 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Fuller one and angling into leg, Nishan Madushka clips it towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 3.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne hops up and stabs it down towards covers. |
| 3.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Goes fuller and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne pushes it towards short covers. |
| 3.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and outside off, there to be put away, Dimuth Karunaratne cuts it away nicely but straight to point. |
| 3.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Hard length and around middle, Dimuth Karunaratne keeps it out to the leg side. |
| 3.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Touch fuller, on leg, Dimuth Karunaratne works it wide of mid on for a run. |
| 4.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Just short! |
| 4.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne punches it through covers for a brace. |
| 4.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Good bowling! Chris Woakes hits the hard length, on off, this one nips back in sharply, Dimuth Karunaratne stays in his crease to play, but misses and gets hit high on the pads. |
| 4.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 4.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, A shout for LBW, but turned down! Chris Woakes goes a bit fuller, on middle and leg, shaping in, Dimuth Karunaratne fails to block it and wears it on the pads. The only thing that saves him is if this pitched outside leg. England decides against the review anyway! |
| 4.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Fullish and on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne tucks it to the leg side. |
| 5.1 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, On a length and around off, Nishan Madushka pushes it towards covers for a single. |
| 5.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne keeps it out to the off side. |
| 5.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Fuller and on middle, shaping in, Dimuth Karunaratne tries to block it but gets a bit of an inside edge towards mid-wicket. |
| 5.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Pitched up but down the leg this time, Dimuth Karunaratne fails to glance it away. |
| 5.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, FOUR LEG BYES! Sri Lanka won't mind that! Gus Atkinson strays in line once again and bowls this on a length and on the pads, Dimuth Karunaratne tries to flick it, but it goes off his pads and to the fine leg fence for a boundary. |
| 5.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Another shout for LBW, but nothing doing! A bit fuller and around middle, nips back in, Dimuth Karunaratne gets stuck inside his crease and gets cut in half as well, the ball hits him high on the pads. The bounce saves him there. |
| 6.1 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 6.2 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, OUT! DRAGGED ON! Chris Woakes draws first blood and deservingly so! This is not the best of the balls, but his discipline has rewarded him. |
| 0.0 : Pathum Nissanka comes out to the middle as first down for Sri Lanka. |
| 6.3 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Good length and around middle, shaping in sharply, Pathum Nissanka tries to defend but gets beaten by the inward movement and the ball hits the pads. Appeal, but not given. |
| 6.4 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Length again and on middle, getting it to shape in once more, Pathum Nissanka hops up to work it away but misses and takes one on the pads again. |
| 6.5 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Much fuller now around off, Pathum Nissanka drills it down the ground towards the long off region, it slows down in the outfield as the batters take three. Sri Lanka will hoping to not lose another wicket before Lunch! |
| 6.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 0.0 : Change? Yes, Olly Stone joins the attack now. |
| 7.1 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Oh..that is really close! Incredible work at short leg! |
| 7.2 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 7.3 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Back of a length and around off, Pathum Nissanka keeps it out to the off side. |
| 7.4 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 7.5 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, 1 run. |
| 7.6 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and outside off, Dimuth Karunaratne lets it go to the keeper. |
| 8.1 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 8.2 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, BEAUTY! Fuller again and just outside off, straightens a bit, Pathum Nissanka prods out to block but gets beaten on the outside edge. |
| 8.3 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Nice shot! Short of a length and outside off, Pathum Nissanka gets the chance to free his arms and crunches it through covers for a lovely boundary. |
| 8.4 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Fuller and on off, shaping in, Pathum Nissanka looks to defend but this one bounces a bit more and goes off the shoulder of the bat to the leg side. |
| 8.5 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, 4 Leg byes. |
| 8.6 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 9.1 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, OUT! DRAGGED ON AGAIN! Would you believe it? England just about managed to sneak in this over before Lunch, and they have got a wicket out of it. Olly Stone is absolutely delighted and he gets a Test wicket after being out of the team for around three years. This is back of a length and just outside off, Dimuth Karunaratne just like his opening partner looks to cut it away but without much footwear, gets an inside edge back onto the stumps. Sri Lanka lo |
| 0.0 : SESSION SUMMARY - Have to say it has been Englandâs morning! They managed to take their score to over 400 and that was all thanks to Atkinson who got up a fine ton and then dismissed an opener too in the little overs they had to bowl before the break. They would hope they can keep the good work going even after Lunch. |
| Sri Lanka on the other hand, needs a partnership, the wicket is good, the second day is probably the best one to bat and they would love to make good use of it. They did lose one early but Karunaratne and Nissanka managed to get through a few tough overs. However, just as when they were looking settled, Olly Stone in the last over before Lunch got rid of Dimuth Karunaratne to put even more pressure on the Lankans. Can they start a fight back after the break? A testing second session coming up |
| ... DAY 2, SESSION 2 ... |
| 9.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 0.0 : We are back for the post-Lunch session! |
| 9.3 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Full-length delivery on middle. Pathum Nissanka nudges it towards short leg with one bounce. |
| 9.4 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Pitches it up, on middle. Pathum Nissanka with no footwork tickles it towards deep square leg and gets a couple of runs. |
| 9.5 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, On a length, on off. Pathum Nissanka gets behind the line and looks to dab it down but gets the connection on the outer edge and the ball rolls away towards the gully region. |
| 9.6 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, OUT! CAUGHT! Olly Stone gets another one in his second over! |
| 0.0 : Who will walk out now? |
| 10.1 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 10.2 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 10.3 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Good-length delivery outside off. Angelo Mathews leaves it alone. |
| 10.4 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 10.5 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, CLOSE CALL! |
| 10.6 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 11.1 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 11.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 11.3 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, 1 run. |
| 11.4 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, FOUR! TOP SHOT! |
| 11.5 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, On a length on stump. Angelo Mathews tucks it towards mid-wicket for a single. |
| 11.6 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, 2 runs. |
| 12.1 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 12.2 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Fullsh just outside off. Angelo Mathews prods and rests it down. |
| 12.3 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 12.4 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 12.5 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 12.6 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 13.1 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, 1 run. |
| 13.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, FOUR! SHOT OF AUTHORITY! Back of a length on off and middle, shaping in. Angelo Mathews stands tall, opens his stance and pulls it away towards deep square leg fence to get four more runs added into his account. |
| 13.3 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 13.4 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 13.5 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 13.6 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, 3 runs. |
| 0.0 : Matthew Potts replaces Chris Woakes. |
| 14.1 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 14.2 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 14.3 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, 2 Leg byes. |
| 14.4 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 14.5 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Just short! |
| 14.6 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Pitched up, on middle, shaping in, Dinesh Chandimal plays a solid front foot defense. |
| 15.1 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 15.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 15.3 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 15.4 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 15.5 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 15.6 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 16.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Around off. Length. This is guided to point. |
| 16.2 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Angled into middle. Mathews works it to square leg and wants one but is sent back. |
| 16.3 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Length again. This time he angles it into the off pole and gets it to leave the batter after it lands. Matthews is beaten as he looks to defend. |
| 16.4 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Yet again angled into middle. Mathews works it to mid-wicket. |
| 16.5 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 16.6 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Maiden then! Around off. Shortish. This is pushed to cover. |
| 17.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 16.6 : Gus Atkinson is back on. |
| 17.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Lets the ball come to him and then works it through square leg for one. |
| 17.3 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, On the pads. Mathews looks to flick but misses. It hits the pad and rolls on the leg side. A leg bye taken. |
| 17.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Nicely played! Touch fuller but on the pads. Chandimal gets his front pad out of the way and works it through mid-wicket. This races away to the fence. |
| 17.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Not a lot of bounce there! Length and outside off. This stays low. Chandimal looks to drive but it goes under his bat and just past the off pole. |
| 17.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Bangs it short this time and Chandimal is quickly onto it. He pulls it through mid-wicket for two. |
| 18.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Beaten again! Another one which lands on a length and moves away. Mathews looks to block but this whizzes past the outside edge. |
| 18.2 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, On the pads. Mathews works it around the corner and takes one. |
| 18.3 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Yet again a little too straight. Chandimal looks to flick but misses and gets hit on the pad. This rolls on the leg side for one. Leg bye. |
| 18.4 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 18.5 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Around off. Defended. |
| 18.6 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Lands short! On a good length and around off. Chandimal pushes at it, this goes off the outside edge but lands just short of second slip. |
| 19.1 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Tip and run! Around off. Just squares Mathews up a little. It goes off the outer half towards point for one. |
| 19.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, On middle. Good length. Blocked. |
| 19.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, On middle. Angled into the pads again. This is clipped through square leg for one. |
| 19.4 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, FOUR! Well played! Opens the face of the bat at the very end. This was around off. Swung away a little. Mathews guides it past point and this races away. |
| 19.5 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, On middle. This one angles into the batter. Mathews works it on the leg side for one. |
| 19.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Cut away! Short and wide, asking to be hit. Chandimal throws his hands at it and this goes to the point fence. |
| 20.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, OUT! b Matthew Potts. |
| 0.0 : Who will walk out now? |
| 20.2 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 20.3 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, Back of a length. This is pushed to cover. |
| 0.0 : Kamindu Mendis comes out to the middle now. |
| 20.4 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, OUT! TAKEN! Two in the over! Potts is on fire and England are all over Lanka here. They are five down and not even got to a 100. Length and on middle. This lands and moves away. Dhananjaya looks to work it on the leg side but it goes off a leading edge to third slip. A duck for the Lankan skipper. |
| 20.5 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 20.6 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 21.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, On off. Kept out well. |
| 21.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Fuller and on middle. Chandimal drives but finds mid on. |
| 21.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Angled into middle. Chandimal works it to mid on. |
| 21.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Around off. This is guided to point. |
| 21.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Around off. This one comes back in. Chandimal looks to defend but gets an inside edge onto the pads. |
| 21.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Around off. Blocked. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! England are in full control of this game and they know that they are in a great position to wrap things quickly up and force a follow-on. Sri Lanka will want to avoid that and this is their last recognised pair who can build a partnership and save them. A really exciting phase of cricket awaits us. |
| 22.1 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR! Nice start after the break! |
| 22.2 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Pitched up, on middle, angling in, Kamindu Mendis blocks it out down the pitch. |
| 22.3 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller in length again and on middle, Kamindu Mendis knocks it back to the bowler with a straight bat. |
| 22.4 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 22.5 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Matthew Potts continues with his fuller length, in line with the stumps, Kamindu Mendis watches it through and keeps it out to the leg side. |
| 22.6 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Good length but down the leg side, Kamindu Mendis fails to work it away and gets hit on the pads. |
| 23.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, OUT! TAKEN! Gus Atkinson joins the party now! It going from bad to worse for Sri Lanka here. |
| 23.2 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Overpitched and outside off, Milan Rathnayake drills it towards point. |
| 23.3 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! Great shot to get off the mark! |
| 23.4 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Four! |
| 23.5 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, 2 runs. |
| 23.6 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! This is just great batting! |
| 24.1 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 24.2 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR! Now, Kamindu Mendis gets into the act! |
| First sight of Ball Gauge! |
| 24.3 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, A huge shout for LBW, but the umpire says no! After a discussion with his players, Ollie Pope takes the review. |
| 24.4 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 24.5 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, 1 run. |
| 24.6 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 25.1 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, 1 run. |
| 25.2 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, 1 run. |
| 25.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Hard length and around middle, Kamindu Mendis gets behind the line of it and blocks it out. |
| 25.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Pitches it up now, just outside off, Kamindu Mendis steers it through point for another run. |
| 25.5 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Good length and on middle, Milan Rathnayake stays back in his crease and keeps it out on the pitch. |
| 25.6 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Overpitched and around middle, Milan Rathnayake drills it straight to mid off. |
| 26.1 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Goes fuller from around the wicket, but angles it down the leg side, Kamindu Mendis misses his flick. |
| 26.2 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Targets the stumps, full again, angles in too, Kamindu Mendis flicks it nicely but finds mid on. |
| 26.3 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Bit of movement! Pitched up and around middle, nips back in really sharply, Kamindu Mendis this time misses to work it away and gets hit on the pads. Probably did a bit too much on this occasion. |
| 26.4 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 26.5 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 26.6 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Overpitched and on off, Kamindu Mendis drives it just wide of mid off for a single. |
| 27.1 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Around off. Kept out. |
| 27.2 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller and on off. Mendis drives it wide of mid off for one. |
| 27.3 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Right on the helmet! Short and on middle. Milan does not pick it. He looks to evade it but is hit on the helmet. |
| 0.0 : Halt! Milan Rathnayake took a nasty blow on his helmet and looks a bit wary. The physio is in for the mandatory concussion check. |
| 27.4 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Goes short and on middle. Yet again, Milan isn't comfortable. He looks to duck out of the way but is hit on the body again. |
| 27.5 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Around off. Length. This is pushed to mid off. |
| 27.6 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! Not convincing but Rathnayake will take it. Length and around off. Milan looks to defend, this goes off the outer half and down to the third man fence. |
| 28.1 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Mendis shoulders arms to this one. |
| 28.2 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Around off. Defended. |
| 28.3 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Mendis waits and then guides it through point for two. |
| 28.4 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, On middle. Length. Blocked. |
| 28.5 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Angled into the pads. Mendis works it down to fine leg for one. |
| 28.6 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, OUT! c Jamie Smith b Chris Woakes. |
| 0.0 : Prabath Jayasuriya walks out to bat now. |
| 29.1 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Around off. Kept out. |
| 29.2 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Bangs it short and on middle. Ducked under. |
| 29.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Another one which is banged in short. Not played at. |
| 29.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, This time it is the rib-tickler. Mendis nudges it to mid-wicket. |
| 29.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Six! |
| 29.6 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 30.1 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 30.2 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 30.3 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Lovely stuff! This time gets the ball to come back in but the line is a little too straight. Jayasuriya looks to flick but misses to get hit on the pads. |
| 30.4 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 30.5 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 30.6 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, End of a testing over from Woakes! A harmless nut to end though. Outside off. Jayasuriya watches it go to the keeper. |
| 31.1 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 31.2 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, A bumper. Evaded. |
| 31.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller and on off. Mendis pushes it to cover. |
| 31.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Four! |
| 31.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Goes short again. Mendis lets it go over him again. |
| 31.6 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Outsidr off. Mendis plays it with the angle to point. |
| 32.1 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Full and on the pads. Jayasuriya looks to flick but misses. It hits the pad and rolls on the leg side. A run taken. |
| 32.2 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Angling away. Not played at. |
| 32.3 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Another one on a length. Not played at. |
| 32.4 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Beauty again! Length and around off. This lands and moves away. Mendis looks to defend but is beaten all ends up. |
| 32.5 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Around off. Good length. Defended. Last ball before Tea coming up... |
| 32.6 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Mendis survives! Outside off. Length. Left alone. That will be Tea! |
| 0.0 : TEA, DAY 2 - Session Summary - 23.5 overs, 97 runs, and 5 wickets. Things are going from bad to worse for Sri Lanka. Just after the Lunch break, Olly Stone didn't have to drop a sweat to get another breakthrough in the very same over where he got his first just before the Lunch. After the fall of the wicket Angelo Matthews and Dinesh Chandimal brought the composure back on the crease and were coordinating well. But as soon as they were two runs close to completing their 50-run-mark partnersh |
| After the event of back-to-back wickets, the trail of wickets started to fall for Sri Lanka. The English pacers were disciplined enough to maintain their lines and lengths and capitalized the situation perfectly. England still have their lone spinner, Shoaib Bashir, who is still fresh and hasn't bowled a single spell in this inning. However, the young Lankan prospect, Kamindu Mendis is still on the pitch, and the English bowling would love to push a bit more to take this one down cause they hav |
| ... DAY 3, SESSION 3 ... |
| We are back with the final session of the day! The players and umpires are all back and have taken their positions. |
| 33.1 : Olly Stone to Prabath Jayasuriya, Olly Stone starts the final session with a back-of-a-length delivery around off, Prabath Jayasuriya punches it through covers for a brace. |
| 33.2 : Olly Stone to Prabath Jayasuriya, Good length, on middle, shaping in, Prabath Jayasuriya pats it down to short leg. |
| 33.3 : Olly Stone to Prabath Jayasuriya, Hits the length hard and on off, Prabath Jayasuriya guides it just wide of point for a quick run. |
| 33.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Olly Stone comes around the wicket and serves this much fuller, on middle, angling in, Kamindu Mendis prods forward and blocks it out. |
| 33.6 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Pitched up, on middle, Kamindu Mendis is solid in his defense. |
| 33.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR LEG BYES! That's gone through! |
| 34.1 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Hard length and on off, shaping away, Prabath Jayasuriya stabs it down towards gully. |
| 34.2 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 34.4 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Fuller and angling into the pads, Prabath Jayasuriya clips it away nicely towards fine leg for a single. |
| 34.3 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Pitched up, on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya tucks it towards shoer mid-wicket. |
| 34.5 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 34.6 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR! Gets it through this time! Back of a length and outside off, Kamindu Mendis accepts the width on offer and cuts it away beautifully past point for a boundary. Sri Lanka needs 87 runs to avoid follow-on here. |
| 35.1 : Olly Stone to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 35.2 : Olly Stone to Prabath Jayasuriya, Good stop! Full and on middle, shaping in, Prabath Jayasuriya clips it away wide of mid on, Matthew Potts dives to his right to make a fine stop. They cross. |
| 35.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 35.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Back of a length and on off, Kamindu Mendis gets on top of it and dabs it down towards cover-point |
| 35.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, A bit fuller now, on middle, straightens a bit after hitting the deck, Kamindu Mendis stays back in his crease and keeps it out to the off side. |
| 35.6 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Pitched up again and on the fifths stump line, Kamindu Mendis steers it towards point. |
| 36.1 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 36.2 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, And again! Fuller this time, on off, not much movement, Prabath Jayasuriya goes for the drive on the up but misses as the ball zips past the outside edge again. |
| 36.3 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Matthew Potts bangs in a good bouncer now, on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya ducks under it. |
| 36.4 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 36.5 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Bangs this one into the pitch and a bit too outside off, nips away, Prabath Jayasuriya lets it go to the keeper. |
| 36.6 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, On a length and around middle, Prabath Jayasuriya guides it away through point for a single. |
| 0.0 : Change? Yes, at last Shoaib Bashir joins the attack to offer some turn on the pitch. |
| 37.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Shoaib Bashir begins with a floated, full and on middle, angles in, Prabath Jayasuriya turns it to short leg. |
| 37.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, 2 runs. |
| 37.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Flighted, full and on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya knocks it back to the bowler. |
| 37.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 37.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 37.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Short again, on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya stays back and pats it to short leg. |
| 38.1 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 38.2 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Full again, on middle and off, Kamindu Mendis pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 38.3 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR BYES! That beats everyone! |
| 38.4 : Matthew Potts to Kamindu Mendis, Back of a length and around off, Kamindu Mendis punches it through covers for a single. 150 up for Sri Lanka! |
| 38.5 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Hard length and well outside off, shapes away, Prabath Jayasuriya withdraws his bat from the line of it. |
| 38.6 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Short of a length and on off, Prabath Jayasuriya keeps it out to the off side. |
| 39.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Shorter in length, on off, Kamindu Mendis punches it straight covers. |
| 39.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Tossed up, full and on middle, Kamindu Mendis prods out and tucks it to short leg. |
| 39.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Flighted, full and on middle, hint of spin away, Kamindu Mendis strides out and blocks it out well. |
| 39.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Slows it up, full and on off, Kamindu Mendis stays on the back foot and pushes it towards covers. |
| 39.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 39.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Darts this one full, on leg, Kamindu Mendis clips it to short mid-wicket. A maiden over! |
| 40.1 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Matthew Potts comes from 'over the wicket and bowls fuller on off. Prabath Jayasuriya hangs back and dabs it outside off for no runs. |
| 40.2 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Pitched up, once again just outside off. Prabath Jayasuriya rocks back and rests it down. |
| 40.3 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Overpitched, on off. Prabath Jayasuriya with no footwork places his willow in the front and defends it under his eyesight. |
| 40.4 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Fuller, on off, shaping it in. Prabath Jayasuriya defends is back to the bowler. |
| 40.5 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, Full-length delivery on off, angling in. Prabath Jayasuriya stays back and punches it from the inner part of his willow towards mid on for no runs. |
| 40.6 : Matthew Potts to Prabath Jayasuriya, In the air... but drops much short! Fuller delivery outside off, on fifth stump. Prabath Jayasuriya opens the face of his willow to punch it away but ends up giving it an air. The ball goes flat and left towards point fielder but drops much short of him. |
| 41.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Short of a length on off. Kamindu Mendis comes down the track and eases it towards his off side. |
| 41.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Tossed up fuller on off. Kamindu Mendis lunges and blocks it down to the pitch. |
| 41.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Now that one kept low! |
| 41.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, 1 run. |
| 41.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 41.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Tossed up fuller on off. Prabath Jayasuriya strides out to defend it to his front. |
| 42.1 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Chris Woakes comes from 'round the wicket and bowls on a length outside off to the left hander. Kamindu Mendis punches it towards deep point and gets a comfortable single. |
| 42.2 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Fullish now, on off and middle. Prabath Jayasuriya with no footwork taps it from the inner part of his willow towards his leg side. |
| 42.3 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Pitches it up, on off. Prabath Jayasuriya stands tall and eases it towards mid off. |
| 42.4 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Hard-length delivery on off, angling in. Prabath Jayasuriya rocks back and brings out a solid defense down the pitch. |
| 42.5 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 42.6 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Swing and a miss! |
| 43.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Shoaib Bashir comes 'round the wicket and bowls fuller on off. Kamindu Mendis presses forward for a defense. |
| 43.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller and just outside off. Kamindu Mendis blocks it down. |
| 43.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, 1 run. |
| 43.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 43.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Full and on middle and leg. Prabath Jayasuriya clips it towards mid-wicket. |
| 43.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, OUT! b Shoaib Bashir. |
| 0.0 : Lahiru Kumara comes out to the middle now. |
| 44.1 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller and around off, Kamindu Mendis steers it towards point and denies the single. |
| 44.2 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Full again a but more outside off, shaping away as well, Kamindu Mendis leaves it alone. |
| 44.3 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, On a length now, on off, takes pace off, Kamindu Mendis strides out and pushes it towards covers. |
| 44.4 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Back of a length and on off again, Kamindu Mendis dabs it towards covers again. |
| 44.5 : Chris Woakes to Kamindu Mendis, Slower again, full and on off, Kamindu Mendis guides it towards point for a single. |
| 44.6 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Full-length delivery wide outside off. Kamindu Mendis stays in his stance and offers nothing to the delivery to leave it to the keeper. |
| 45.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 45.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Tad fuller on off. Kamindu Mendis hangs back and punches it towards cover for no runs. |
| 45.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Pitches it up, on off and middle. Kamindu Mendis comes forward and pushes it towards the right of the bowler. |
| 45.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Tossed up fuller, on middle. Kamindu Mendis prods and pushes it towards the vacant cover region and scoots for a single. |
| 45.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 45.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Lahiru Kumara, Touch fuller, wide outside off, on the seventh stump and spins it away from the batter. Lahiru Kumara goes deep in the crease and tries to push it away but gets beaten with a large gap. |
| Change. |
| 46.1 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller delivery just outside off. Kamindu Mendis defends it towards his off side. |
| 46.2 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 46.3 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Tossed up fuller just outside off. Kamindu Mendis lofts it up and over the cover region. The ball doesn't have enough legs to crawl towards the fence. A couple of runs taken in between. |
| 46.4 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 46.5 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Tossed up fuller just outside off. Kamindu Mendis drives it hard towards the cover region but Ollie Pope dives and makes a stop. |
| 46.6 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Short of a length, with some flight, outside off. Kamindu Mendis looks to loft it over the cover once again but gets beaten on thee outer edge. |
| Chris Woakes replaces Shoaib Bashir. |
| 47.1 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Chris Woakes comes 'over the wicket and pitches outside off. Lahiru Kumara opens the face of his willow and guides it towards backward point for no runs. |
| 47.2 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Wide! |
| Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, On a length, just outside off. Lahiru Kumara guides it towards backward point. |
| 47.3 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Chris Woakes comes 'round the wicket now and bowls on a good length, outside off and nipping it in toward the batter. Lahiru Kumara hangs back and dabs it down. |
| 47.4 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 47.5 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 47.6 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Short of a length, outside off. Lahiru Kumara makes another leave. |
| 48.1 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 48.2 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Flatter this time and outside off again. Not played at. |
| 48.3 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Slower through the air and outside off again. Mendis watches it go to the keeper. |
| 48.4 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Steps out now and eases it down to long off for one. |
| 48.5 : Joe Root to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 48.6 : Joe Root to Lahiru Kumara, Plays the last ball out! Around off. Blocked. |
| 0.0 : Shoaib Bashir rejoins the attack. |
| 49.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR! Short and on middle. Mendis rocks back and pulls it over mid-wicket and this races away. |
| 49.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, On middle. Kept out. |
| 49.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Two! Gives it a lot of air. Mendis sees that and steps out. He lofts it over cover and takes two. Does not time it and hence, it does not go for a boundary. |
| 49.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Flatter and on off. This is pushed through covers for one. |
| 49.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 49.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Lahiru Kumara, On off. This is pushed to mid off. |
| 50.1 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off again. Left alone again. |
| 50.2 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Fuller and on off. Mendis drives it to cover. |
| 50.3 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Mendis looks to cut but chops it to point. |
| 50.4 : Joe Root to Kamindu Mendis, Lands just ahead! Well wide outside off. Mendis looks to go over cover but it goes off the toe end. Lands ahead of cover for one. |
| 50.5 : Joe Root to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 50.6 : Joe Root to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 51.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 51.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 51.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR! A lovely shot to bring his fifty up! He's fought a lone battle here. Can he somehow get them past the score they need to get to avoid the follow-on? He steps out. It is on his pads. He whips it over mid-wicket for a boundary. |
| 51.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, FOUR MORE! Too easy! Off the back foot. Way too slow and short outside off. Mendis rocks back and hits it over cover. This one goes to the fence too. |
| 51.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Outside off. Mendis lofts it over cover. Takes the one. Only one ball to go in the over. |
| 51.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! A very important one for England as Kamindu Mendis is living up to his expectations. Ollie Pope and co. are trying everything to see the back of Mendis but Kamindu Mendis is up to a mission. Lahiru Kumara also has the important job of holding his wicket and giving proper support to his partner. |
| 52.1 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Short and on the body. This is pulled down to fine leg. No run taken. |
| 52.2 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, SIX! Gets hold of this one! Short and on the body. Mendis rocks back and hammers this over the square leg fence for a biggie. Top shot. |
| 52.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Good length and around off. Mendis pushes it to covers. |
| 0.0 : Ouch! Kamindu Mendis has a blow on the grill of his helmet. The physio is on the field to have the mandatory concussion check. He seems fine and is ready to continue now. |
| 52.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Ouch! That might have really hurt! Length and on middle. This jags back in. Mendis looks to defend but gets an inside edge which hits him near the crouch. |
| 52.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Around off. Length again. Kept out. |
| 52.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 52.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, On off. Mendis pushes it to covers. One ball to go in the over. |
| 53.1 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, Back of a length on off, shaping it away from the batter. Lahiru Kumara makes a leave. |
| 52.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, On off. Defended again. |
| 53.2 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 52.6 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Fails to get off strike! On middle. Length. This is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 53.3 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 53.4 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, Bangs a short one, and shapes it away from the batter. Lahiru Kumara drops his stance to leave it alone. |
| 53.5 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 53.6 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 54.1 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, In air... and dropped! My goodness, Joe Root drops the skier! |
| 54.2 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, 2 runs. |
| 54.3 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 54.4 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, Four! |
| 54.5 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, SIX! Streaky, but will work! |
| 54.6 : Olly Stone to Kamindu Mendis, OUT! RUN OUT! England skipper stood up and broke the partnership! |
| 0.0 : Asitha Fernando is the last man in. |
| 55.1 : Gus Atkinson to Asitha Fernando, 1 run. |
| 55.2 : Gus Atkinson to Kamindu Mendis, No run. |
| 55.3 : Gus Atkinson to Kamindu Mendis, OUT! c Chris Woakes b Gus Atkinson. |
| 0.0 : Sri Lanka have been wrapped up for 196 here! England have the option to force a follow-on here, but it does not look like they are going to as their openers briskly make their way to the dressing room. It was a brilliant all-round bowling effort from the hosts. Chris Woakes and Olly Stone set the tone for them, and then the other two pacers, Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts picked up the pace and all four of them shared 8 wickets equally while Shoaib Bashir chipped in with one. Ollie Pope |
| Not much to talk about the batting performance of Sri Lanka! Kamindu Mendis was the only shining light for them with another classy knock. He made 74 off 120 balls but just kept losing partners towards the end, and the top order have been ineffective in this series which is a big concern for them. They find themselves in a really difficult position here and if England comes out to bat, their bowlers will need to be on point to restrict them to as low as possible, or else they could be chasing |
| 0.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Asitha Fernando comes from 'over the wicket and bowls on a length just outside off and nips it back to the batter. Ben Duckett stands tall and dabs it towards his off side. |
| 0.2 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Brilliant running between the wickets! |
| 0.3 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, FOUR! TOP SHOT! |
| 0.4 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 0.5 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 0.6 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Full-length delivery outside off. Ben Duckett pushes it towards the front of mid off. |
| 1.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Outside off. Length. Left alone. |
| 0.0 : Lahiru Kumara to share the attack. |
| 1.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Takes one! Back of a length and around off. Lawrence pushes it towards cover. |
| 1.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Another run! On middle. This stays very low. Duckett looks to flick. It hits the bottom and rolls on the leg side for one. |
| 1.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Excellent running! On middle. This is worked through mid-wicket. One is taken quickly which makes the second possible. |
| 1.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Outside off. Length. Left alone. |
| 2.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Around off. Duckett pushes it to cover. |
| 1.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, FOUR! That is a poor ball and Lawrence puts it away. This is short and outside off. It is flayed over point. England have started quickly here. |
| 2.2 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, On middle. Back of a length. Kept out. |
| 2.3 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Flicks this one off the middle but finds mid-wicket for another dot. |
| 2.4 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Top effort! Shorter and outside off. This is slapped hard but the fielder at cover dives and stops it. |
| 2.5 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Another dot! On off. Length. Duckett defends it right under his eyes. |
| 2.6 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, A single to end! On the pads. Duckett works it fine on the leg side. Takes two. |
| 3.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, On middle. Duckett works it through mid-wicket and gets to the other end. |
| 3.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Just outside off again. Not played at. |
| 3.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Around off. Length. Lawrence pushes it to covers. |
| 3.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Length again but not on the stumps. Not played at again. |
| 3.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, Yet another harmless nut as this is again bowled wide outside off. Lawrence watches it go to the keeper. |
| 3.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, He put in some extra effort there! It lands on a length and then takes off after landing. DL takes his hands out of the way and lets it go to the keeper. |
| 4.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, FOUR! That is too easy for Duckett. Short and on middle. The length is picked early and it is hammered through mid-wicket. |
| 4.2 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Missed out! He went after one without any foot movement. Ends up chopping it to cover. |
| 4.3 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Well bowled! Yet again no feet movement! This lands around off and shapes away. Duckett just flashes at it and misses. |
| 4.4 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Gets it past point this time! There is a fielder in the deep so only one. |
| 4.5 : Asitha Fernando to Dan Lawrence, On the pads. Lawrence looks to flick but misses. It hits the pad and rolls on the leg side. A leg bye taken. |
| 4.6 : Asitha Fernando to Ben Duckett, Timed well but no runs! Shorter and outside off. Duckett pushes it but finds cover again. |
| 5.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Dan Lawrence, A loud shout but not given! It is for caught behind! The review is taken. OUT! There is an inside edge! Excellent review. Sri Lanka have an early wicket. Length and around off. This lands and jags back in. Lawrence looks to defend. It takes the inside edge, hits the pad and the keeper takes it with a dive to his right. |
| 0.0 : Ollie Pope comes out to the middle as first down for England. |
| 5.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Around off. Kept out. |
| 5.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Takes one! On middle. This is nudged around the corner for one. |
| 5.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 5.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Good length again and on off. Duckett pushes it to cover. |
| 5.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Beaten! Good use of the angle! Length and on off. This lands and moves away. Duckett is beaten as he tries to defend. |
| Milan Rathnayake joins the attack now. |
| 6.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Well bowled! Good start. This lands on middle and holds its line. Pope looks to defend but misses to get high on the pads. |
| 6.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Quick run! On middle. This is worked on the leg side. Pope gets to the other end. |
| 6.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On middle. Kept out. |
| 6.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On the pads. Duckett works it through square leg for one. |
| 6.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, On off. Good line and length. Making the batter play but Pope negotiates it. |
| 6.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Negotiates the last ball as well. This one stays low! On middle. Pope keeps it out. |
| 0.0 : England continue their dominance on Day 2! It began with a brilliant century from Gus Atkinson, and the bowlers followed suit by restricting Sri Lanka and securing a lead of over 200 runs. Sri Lanka now faces a daunting challenge if they want to preserve their decade-long unbeaten Test record against England at Lord's. |
| England entered Day 2 in a strong position and only strengthened their grip on the match. Gus Atkinson picked up right where he left off, playing some elegant shots. The crowd and his teammates were more nervous than he was as he approached the 90s, but he confidently struck two beautiful boundaries to reach his maiden Test century. Matthew Potts provided solid support before being dismissed, with the pair taking Englandâs total past the 400-run mark. Olly Stone added some valuable runs lower |
| The second session was dominated entirely by England. Their pacers maintained disciplined line and length, with Woakes in particularly fiery form. They prevented Sri Lanka from forming any partnerships, consistently taking wickets at regular intervals. Ollie Pope's strategic field placements and timely bowling changes paid off perfectly. England managed to take five wickets in the session, with Potts and Stone each taking two wickets in the same over. However, Kamindu Mendis emerged as a resilie |
| In the final session, Sri Lanka faced an uphill battle with just three wickets remaining and a significant gap to bridge to avoid the follow-on. Jayasuriya provided solid support to Mendis but made the costly decision to attack the spinner, resulting in his dismissal. Mendis, however, remained unfazed, continuing to score quickly. England turned to their spinners, but Mendis held firm, reaching his half-century. A brilliant piece of fielding from Ollie Pope resulted in Lahiru Kumara's run-out, o |
| Right then, that is it from an entertaining Day 2. England have a healthy lead going into the 'Moving Day' and looks set to post a massive target. Sri Lanka needs some kind of a miracle to save this Test. Day 3 will begin on 31st August, Saturday at 10 am GMT, but you can join us early for all the build-up. Cheers! |
| ... DAY 3, SESSION 1 ... |
| Hello and a warm welcome to Day 3 of this thrilling second Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Lord's Cricket Ground in London. As we head into what is often referred to as 'Moving Day', the stage is set for another exciting chapter in this encounter. England currently holds a commanding position, but there's still plenty of time for the visitors to stage a comeback. |
| The game has moved quickly, bringing us to the third inning with England holding a strong 256-run lead. Day 2 was dominated by the home team, with Gus Atkinson and Matthew Potts leading the charge to post 427 runs, aided by the tail-enders. England's bowlers then bowled Sri Lanka out for under 200, maintaining their grip on the game. In their second innings, England lost Dan Lawrence in the final overs of the day, though only after a successful review from Sri Lanka. With a solid lead, England |
| Sri Lanka will be disappointed with both their bowling and batting performances. After winning the toss and opting to bowl, their bowlers started strong but became expensive as the innings progressed, putting pressure on the batters to compensate. Unfortunately, the batting lineup collapsed under the weight of this pressure, with only Kamindu Mendis putting up a fight, adding crucial runs before falling while trying to accelerate the innings. As they head into 'Moving Day,' Sri Lanka's focus wil |
| In all readiness for the action on Day 3 to begin! The two umpires stride out to the middle, followed by the Lankans as they take their positions. Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope are on their way to the crease to resume their innings for England. Lahiru Kumara will get the job to start the proceeding for Sri Lanka. Let's play... |
| 7.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Length and on off. Duckett defends. |
| 7.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, First run for today! Around off. On a length. This is pushed wide of cover for one. |
| 7.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Angling into middle. Pope stays back and blocks. |
| 7.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, A little bit of shape into the batter. This starts from well wide outside off. Pope looks to defend but gets an inside edge onto the pads. |
| 7.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Is there an inside edge? There is a loud appeal but not given and not reviewed too! Length and around off. This lands jags back in again. Pope looks to defend but it seems to have flicked the flap of the pad and the keeper takes it. Good decision not to review. |
| 0.0 : Milan Rathnayake to bowl from the other end. |
| 7.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, A very good shot for no runs! Steps out. Looks to negotiate the movement and makes it into a half volley. This is whipped to mid on. |
| 8.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On middle. Length. Duckett flicks it to mid-wicket. |
| 8.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Back of a length and around off. This is punched to cover. |
| 8.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Two! Shorter and outside off. Duckett pushes it past cover. Takes two more. |
| 8.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Outside off again. Duckett guides it to short third man. |
| 8.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, No run. |
| 8.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Around off. This is guided through point for one. |
| 9.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, On middle. Duckett is solid in defense. |
| 9.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Two! Angled into the pads. This is clipped through mid-wicket. A couple taken in between the wickets. |
| 9.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ben Duckett, Three now! Good timing! Just a push! Around off. On a length. Duckett stands tall and pushes it past cover. Three taken. |
| 9.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Around off. Good length. Kept out. |
| 9.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, On middle. Blocked. |
| 9.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Pope now leans into a delivery, fuller and around off, he caresses it through covers. Another two. |
| 10.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, On middle. Duckett works it to mid-wicket. |
| 10.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, Outside off. Duckett slashes but misses. |
| 10.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ben Duckett, OUT! c Angelo Mathews b Milan Rathnayake. |
| 0.0 : Joe Root walks up to the middle. |
| 10.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Outside off. On a length. Left alone. |
| 10.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, On middle. Root walks across and works it through square leg. Two taken. He is off the mark. |
| 10.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, A bumper now on middle. Root evades it. |
| 11.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, On the off pole. Pope pushes it to cover. |
| 11.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Around off. Pope keeps it out. |
| 11.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 11.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, 2 runs. |
| 11.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, 1 run. |
| 11.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, FOUR! Now a boundary! Runs coming quickly! Shorter and outside off. Root hangs back and pushes it past cover. This races away. |
| 12.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 12.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, No run. |
| 12.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, On middle. Pope gets right behind the line and pushes it to cover. |
| 12.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, On off. Pope defends. |
| 12.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Another one on a length and around off. Blocked. |
| 12.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Length and on off. This one jags back in too. Pope looks to push at it but gets an inside edge onto the pads. |
| 13.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length and just outside off, Joe Root leaves it alone as the ball dies down to the keeper. |
| 13.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Tocuh fuller and around off, Joe Root strides out and pushes it towards covers for a single. |
| 13.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Ouch! Lahiru Kumara bangs in a good short ball, on middle, Ollie Pope goes for the pull shot but is a bit early through his shot, gets hit on his forearm. That will sting for a bit! |
| 13.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Good stuff! Lahiru Kumara sees the batter giving the charge and bowls another shape bouncer, on middle and leg, Ollie Pope is in no position to play at that is it goes to the keeper. |
| 13.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Ollie Pope, Short of a length and on off, Ollie Pope gets on top of this one and pulls it towards deep square leg for a run. |
| 13.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Hard length but angling down the leg side, Joe Root lifts his bat as the ball brushes against his pads and goes to the keeper. |
| 14.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Fuller and around off, Ollie Pope plays the off drive, but not with much timing as the ball rolls towards mid off. |
| 14.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, FOUR! That will give him a bit more confidence! Milan Rathnayake serves this full and angles it into the pads, Ollie Pope takes his head above the lien of the ball and flicks it away beautifully through mid-wicket for a boundary. |
| 14.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, That is a peach of a delivery! Not sure how he didn't get a wicket there, very unlucky. |
| 14.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, On a length and on middle, Ollie Pope blocks it out well this time. |
| 14.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Pitches it up but down the leg side, Ollie Pope fails to glance it away. |
| 14.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Ollie Pope, Strays in his line again, bowls this full and down the leg, Ollie Pope tries to work it away but misses. |
| 15.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on middle and leg, Joe Root strides out and turns it to the leg side. |
| 15.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter, shortish and just outside off, keeps a bit low as well, Joe Root stays back and cuts it but straight to point. |
| 15.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, A loopy low full toss, on off, Joe Root gets forward and drives it towards sweeper covers for a single. |
| 15.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Ollie Pope, Pushed through quicker, full and around off, Ollie Pope waits for it and guides it, but fails to beat backward point. |
| 15.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Ollie Pope, Another full toss, on off, Ollie Pope drills it wide of mid off where the fielder slides to his left to make the stop. They cross. |
| 15.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Risky! A bit quicker, full and on middle, keeps low again, Joe Root adjusts well and clips it wide of mid-wicket, he sets off for the run, but Pope is a bit late to react. However, he makes his ground with a desperate dive in the end. |
| 16.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Good length and around off, Joe Root dabs it down towards point. |
| 16.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Back of a length and on off, Joe Root steers it towards point again. |
| 16.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, BEATEN! Asitha Fernando goes fuller this time, in that channel outside off with a wobble seam, it moves a bit in the air, Joe Root looks to drive it away but gets beaten on the outside edge. |
| 16.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, On a length and on middle, Joe Root steps across and nudges it towards short mid-wicket. |
| 16.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 16.6 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Pulls is length back and around off, Joe Root pushes it through cover-point for a single. |
| 17.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 17.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 17.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Ollie Pope, 3 runs. |
| 17.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 17.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up fuller, outside off. Joe Root crouches and sweeps it across the line towards deep mid-wicket for a single. |
| 17.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Ollie Pope, 1 run. |
| 18.1 : Asitha Fernando to Ollie Pope, OUT! c Prabath Jayasuriya b Asitha Fernando. |
| 0.0 : Harry Brook walks up to the middle. |
| 18.2 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Short of a length and on middle, Harry Brook stands tall and slaps it towards long on for a single. |
| 18.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Back of a length and on middle, Joe Root swats it straight to short mid-wicket. |
| 18.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Another bumper around the chest height, on middle, Joe Root swivels and pulls it towards deep square leg for one. |
| 18.5 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 18.6 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 19.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Tossed up fuller on middle. Harry Brook comes down the track and looks to drive it towards his off side but closes the willow early and jams it towards mid on. |
| 19.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 19.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Four! |
| 19.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 19.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 19.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 20.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 20.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 20.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, No run. |
| 20.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Fires another bouncer, challenging the batter to take on it. Joe Root goes for pull, not for the first time in this over, and pulls it a bit late towards the right of deep fine leg for a single. |
| 20.5 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Back of length, but sprays it down the leg. Harry Brook makes a leave. |
| 20.6 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 21.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Flatter and fuller, on middle. Harry Brook lunges and eases it towards long on for a comfortable single. |
| 21.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fullish and angling it in. Joe Root goes deep into the crease and nudges it towards vacant square leg for a single. |
| 21.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 21.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, 2 runs. |
| 21.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Six! |
| 21.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 22.1 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Four! |
| 22.2 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 22.3 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 22.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 22.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 22.6 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, 100 up for England! Bumper and just outside off. Harry Brook guides it easily towards the left of deep backward point and gets three runs in the middle. |
| 23.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 23.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Tossed up fuller on middle. Harry Brook lunges and blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 23.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, 1 run. |
| 23.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flight to offer, and pitches it fuller on middle and leg. Joe Root sweeps it towards fine leg to get one run. |
| 23.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 23.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, A bit flatter, but fuller on off and middle. Harry Brook strides out and pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 24.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Asitha Fernando comes from 'over the wicket and starts with his same short deliver. The ball sails just over the helmet of the batter. Joe Root makes a leave. |
| 24.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Dugs another short delivery, wanting the batter to go for a full-fledged pull. Joe Root does bring out the pull shot but it's low and gently done towards fine leg for a single. |
| 24.3 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, No run. |
| 24.4 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Bouncer yet again, on leg and middle. Harry Brook makes a bit room and leaves it alone to the keeper. |
| 24.5 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Short-length delivery, but sprays it down the leg. Harry Brook offers nothing to it. |
| 24.6 : Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, NO BALL! A tentative appeal from the keeper but umpire signal it a No Ball! |
| Asitha Fernando to Harry Brook, Four! |
| 25.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, FOUR! Runs are flowing thick and fast for England! Tossed up fuller on middle. Joe Root comes down the track and slogs it uppishly to clear the traffic of mid-wicket and gets another boundary. |
| 25.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Shortish, just outside off. Joe Root chops it towards point. |
| 25.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 25.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 25.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 25.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 26.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, FOUR! Up and over! England have well and truly changed gears now! |
| 26.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Pulls his length back a bit, on middle, angling in, Harry Brook blocks it out from his crease. |
| 26.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Back of a length and around off, Harry Brook uses his feet and looks to punch it away, but has to reach for it and ends up bunting it on the off side. |
| 26.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Good work in the deep! A bouncer now, on middle, Harry Brook pulls it away nicely wide of deep square leg, Kusal Mendis runs to his left, dives in and works it tandem with Dimuth Karunaratne to save a couple of runs. |
| 26.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Pitches this one up, in line with the stumps, Harry Brook keeps it out on the pitch. |
| 26.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Harry Brook, Short of a length and on off this time, Harry Brook pats it back towards the bowler. |
| 27.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on off, Joe Root prods out and taps it to short covers. |
| 27.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Floated, full and around middle, Joe Root goes down and paddles it away through backward square leg for a single. |
| 27.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, Slows it up, full and on off, Harry Brook uses his feet and drives it firmly, but the fielder at short covers makes a good diving stop. |
| 27.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Harry Brook, OUT! TAKEN IN THE DEEP! Prabath Jayasuriya opens his account now! Not the best of deliveries, but he gets the reward. |
| 0.0 : Jamie Smith comes out to the middle as number 6 for England. 20 mins to go for Lunch! |
| 27.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, 1 run. |
| 27.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 28.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Back of a length and around off, Jamie Smith punches it straight to mid off. |
| 28.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Goes fuller now, on middle, angling in, Jamie Smith blocks it out with a straight bat. |
| 28.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Hard length and on the fifth stump line, Jamie Smith stays back and stabs it towards short covers. |
| 28.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, FOUR! Nicely tucked away! Lahiru Kumara lands this back of a length and on middle, angles in sharply into the leg side, Jamie Smith adjusts well and helps it on its way, fine leg puts in a dive to his right but the ball goes past him for a boundary. |
| 28.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Pitched up and around middle, Jamie Smith just chips this one, it goes uppishly but well wide of mid on. Two runs taken. |
| 28.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Pulls his length back a bit, on off, Jamie Smith drives it on the up but finds short covers. England lead by 365 runs! |
| 29.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on middle, Joe Root tucks it towards mid-wicket for a single. |
| 29.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Floated, short and around middle, Jamie Smith backs away nd punches it wide of short covers, Pathum Nissanka dives to his left to stop the single. |
| 29.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Short again, a bit slower too, Jamie Smith stays back and pats it towards short mid-wicket. |
| 29.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, 1 run. |
| 29.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 29.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Drags his length back, on off, Jamie Smith stabs it down just to the right of short covers. |
| 30.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length and on off, Joe Root gets behind the line of it and blocks it out. |
| 30.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Good length now, on off again, Joe Root steps across and fends it down towards short covers. |
| 30.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Goes a bit fuller now, on off, this one nips back, Joe Root strides out to play at it but gets an inside edge as the ball rolls towards shore mid-wicket. |
| 30.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Full again and on the pads, Joe Root nudges it towards deep mid-wicket for a single. |
| 30.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Pitched up, on off, shaping in, Jamie Smith drives it on the up, it goes aerially but through covers for a brace. |
| 30.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Short of a length and on off, Jamie Smith dabs it towards point. |
| 31.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter, full and on leg, Joe Root moves back and nudges it wide of mid-wicket for a single. |
| 31.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Quicker, short and around middle, Jamie Smith swats it away wide of long on for a run. |
| 31.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Shortish and on the pads, Joe Root flicks it away wide of deep square leg for another run, thinks about the second but decides against it. |
| 31.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, FOUR! The fast hands come into play now! |
| 31.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Slows it up now, full and on leg, Jamie Smith works it through square leg for one. |
| 31.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flighted, full and around off, Joe Root pushes it through covers for one more. 9 runs off the over without breaking a sweat. |
| 32.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Back of a length and around off, Joe Root punches it trough covers for a single. |
| 32.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Fuller one and on off, Jamie Smith drives it firmly but straight to mid off. |
| 32.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, FOUR! Put away! Lahiru Kumara bangs this one short, on middle, but this sits up nicely for the batter, Jamie Smith gets on top of the bounce and pulls it away towards the vacant deep mid-wicket region for a boundary. |
| 32.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Pitched up and around off, Jamie Smith drills it straight to short covers. |
| 32.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, On a length and on middle, Jamie Smith stays in his crease and blocks it down the pitch. |
| 32.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Jamie Smith, Hits the length hard, on off, Jamie Smith pats it towards short covers. |
| 33.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Tossed up, full and on middle, Joe Root clips it to short mid-wicket. |
| 33.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Floated, full and on off, Joe Root pushes it through covers for a single. |
| 33.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Quicker, short and on off, does not bounce at all, Jamie Smith adjusts well to the length and steers it through point for a run. |
| 33.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flighted, full and on middle, Joe Root knocks it to the right of the bowler. |
| 33.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter, short and on leg, Joe Root nudges it through square leg for one. |
| 33.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Gives this one some more air, full and on off, Jamie Smith uses his feet and drills it wide of long on for a brace. THAT WILL BE LUNCH ON DAY 3! |
| England continue to pile the misery on the Lankans! Their lead is now close to 400 and we feel, theyâll continue to bat for longer. They lost a couple early but Brook and Root put up a good stand and they scored at a decent rate. Brook fell but Smith has continued the good work with Root who seems in fine touch. More of the same is what England will be hoping for. |
| 0.0 : Sri Lanka were good with the new ball and they also got the rewards but as the ball got old, they just conceded a lot of runs. For now, they can just be patient by hitting the right lines and lengths. Probably stem the run flow a touch and try and pick wickets. Can they show some fight after the break? Join us at 12.40 pm GMT. |
| ... DAY 3, SESSION 2 ... |
| We are back for the post-Lunch session on Day 1! The umpires are out in the middle and so are the players of Sri Lanka. Joe Root is all set to resume his stay on the crease alongside Jamie Smith. Milan Rathnayake be bowling the first over after the Lunch break. Let's play... |
| 34.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 34.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, On a length just outside off. Joe Root defends it towards the front of the gully fielder for no runs. |
| 34.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Good-length delivery, spraying it down the leg. Joe Root attempts a flick but misses. |
| 34.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length delivery outside off. Joe Root lunges and drives it towards sweeper cover to get two runs. |
| 34.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Pitched up, just outside off. Joe Root leans on the delivery and drives it gently towards sweeper cover for another double. |
| 34.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fuller, just outside off. Joe Root prods halfway and opens the face of the willow to guide it towards gully. |
| Prabath Jayasuriya will be bowling from the other end. |
| 35.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Tossed up, fuller, just outside off. Jamie Smith lunges, leans on the delivery and pushes it through the cover region. SIngle taken! |
| 35.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 35.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Short and on stump. Jamie Smith blocks it out. |
| 35.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, Tossed up, on off. Jamie Smith defends it outside off. |
| 35.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 35.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, 1 run. |
| 36.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, On a length on off. Jamie Smith defends it towards mid on. |
| 36.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Back of a length just outside off, on the fifth stump. Jamie Smith looks to cut it away but gets the inner edge. The ball bounces off the pitch and towards the leg. |
| 36.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, No run. |
| 36.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Fuller on off. Jamie Smith comes forward and drives it towards mid on. |
| 36.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Jamie Smith, Hard-length delivery on off. Jamie Smith guides it towards right of the gully fielder for a single. |
| 36.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, FOUR! That was smooth from Joe Root! Touch fuller, wide outside off, around seventh stump. Joe Root stays in his stance and opens the face of his willow to guide the delivery from the right of the point fielder for four more runs. |
| 37.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Jamie Smith, OUT! LBW! A huge shout for appeal and umpire raises his finger this time! Jamie Smith opts for a review now! Prabath Jayasuriya comes from 'over the wicket and pitches it just outside off, angling it in towards the stump. Jamie Smith gets down on his knee to sweep it away but misses on the inner edge and thumps his lower pad. The review shows that there's no involvement with the bat and the Ball Tracking pops up three reds. |
| 0.0 : Chris Woakes walks out to the middle. |
| 37.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Tossed up fuller on off. Chris Woakes prods and eases it back to the bowler. |
| 37.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Pitched up, on off. Chris Woakes strides out and blocks it down. |
| 37.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Fullish, on off. Chris Woakes rests it outside off. |
| 37.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Tossed up, fuller on off. Chris Woakes defends it down right under his eyesight. |
| 37.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Chris Woakes, Pitches it up, on off. Chris Woakes punches it but straight to the short cover fielder. |
| 38.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Full-length delivery on middle and leg. Joe Root flicks it from the inner part of his willow towards deep backward square leg for a single. |
| 38.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Chris Woakes, Good-length delivery on off and middle, shapes it in. Chris Woakes hangs back to nudge it towards his leg side but misses and thumps his lower thigh pad. |
| 38.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Chris Woakes, Full-length delivery just outside off. Chris Woakes lunges and pushes it towards cover for no runs. |
| 38.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Chris Woakes, Chris Woakes is off the mark! Bumper delivery outside off. Chris Woakes cuts it towards deep backward point and gets a single. |
| 38.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Fullish on middle and leg. Joe Root flicks it from his pads towards square leg and gets a single. |
| 38.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Chris Woakes, Four! |
| 39.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 39.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 39.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 39.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Four! |
| 39.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 39.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fullish outside off. Joe Root sweeps it towards deep mid-wicekt for a single. |
| 40.1 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 40.2 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, Four! |
| 40.3 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, No run. |
| 40.4 : Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 40.5 : Milan Rathnayake to Chris Woakes, OUT! TAKEN! Milan Rathnayake at last got the result he had been seeking for so long! |
| 0.0 : Gus Atkinson walks up to the middle. |
| 40.6 : Milan Rathnayake to Gus Atkinson, Four! |
| 41.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, On off. Root drives it through covers for one. |
| 41.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, No run. |
| 41.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Tossed up on off. This is hit down to long off for one. |
| 41.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fuller and on middle. Root hits it down to long on for one. |
| 41.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, Flatter and on the pads. This is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 41.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, A single to end! Around off. This is eased through covers for one. |
| 42.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Too easy! Short and it comes quite slow off the surface. This is pulled through square leg for one. |
| 42.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Goes short again but down the leg side. Left alone. |
| 42.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Another short one. Not a lot of bounce. Root pulls it through square leg and takes one. |
| 42.4 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Another one on the shorter side. This is hit through square leg. A run taken again. |
| 42.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, On the pads. Root works it down to fine leg for one. |
| 42.6 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Goes short again but down the leg side. Atkinson misses the pull. |
| 43.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, On middle. This lands and then holds its line. Root looks to defend but it goes off the outside edge towards short third man. |
| 43.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Fires this into the pads. Root works it through square leg for one. |
| 43.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Gus Atkinson, 1 run. |
| 43.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Big swing and a miss! Outside off. Root looks to play the slog sweep. This lands and turns away. It goes past the outside edge. |
| 43.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 43.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Had to get bat on that! On middle. Root plays the paddle sweep. It goes fine on the leg side. Two taken. |
| 44.1 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Four! |
| 44.2 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, WIDE! Way too short. Wided. |
| Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, Angled into the pads now. This is worked through square leg. Another run. |
| 44.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, A run at least coming off every ball. On middle. Shorter. This is pulled through square leg. |
| 44.4 : Asitha Fernando to Gus Atkinson, OUT! c Lahiru Kumara b Asitha Fernando. |
| 0.0 : Matthew Potts come out to the middle. |
| 44.5 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Outside off. Left. Left alone. |
| 44.6 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Length again and around off. Kept out. |
| 45.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Two! On middle. This is swept through mid-wicket. Pathum does well in the deep to keep it down to two. |
| 45.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 45.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Root sweeps again. This is hit through square leg for one. |
| 45.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, No run. |
| 45.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Matthew Potts, 1 run. |
| 45.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Around off. This is pushed to cover. |
| 46.1 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, On middle. This is worked to mid-wicket. |
| 46.2 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Around off. Blocked. |
| 46.3 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, Short again. This is pulled again through square leg for one. |
| 46.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Root yet again hits this straight to deep square leg. Only one again. |
| 46.5 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, A small enquiry for caught behind but not given! It is reviewed! |
| 46.6 : Asitha Fernando to Matthew Potts, OUT! c Dinesh Chandimal b Asitha Fernando. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! Sri Lanka have fought really hard and their aim will be to keep the target under 500 here. Once again, Joe Root is standing in their way and chasing a big record as well, but he is running out of partners now and needs to manage this situation to get the most out of it. The lead is already 458 runs and Olly Stone comes out to the middle now. |
| 47.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter, full and on leg, Joe Root clips it away towards fine leg for a couple of runs. He moves into the 90s now. |
| 47.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 47.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 47.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Fires this one full and outside off, Olly Stone digs it out nicely wide of sweeper covers for a brace. |
| 47.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, A bit short this time, on off, Olly Stone stays back and fends it away. |
| 47.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, More flight, full and on middle, Olly Stone strides out and pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 48.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Asitha Fernando bangs in a bouncer around leg, but this one is too high for the batter, Joe Root leaves it alone. Wided. |
| Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Short of a length and down the leg side, Joe Root goes after that and has a wide swipe at it but fails to connect. |
| 48.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Short and at the body of the batter now, Joe Root swivels and pulls it straight towards deep square leg. He denies the single. |
| 48.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Back of a length and around leg again, Joe Root heaves it away through square leg, but again does not take the run. |
| 48.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, HIts the length hard and on off now, Joe Root swipes it away towards deep square leg and this time takes the single. Stone has two balls to survive the over! |
| 48.5 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 48.6 : Asitha Fernando to Olly Stone, Short of a length and on middle, Olly Stone rides the bounce well and pats it down on the pitch. |
| 49.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, That is brilliant running! |
| 49.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Quicker, full and on middle, Joe Root flicks it through square leg for a run. |
| 49.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Darts this one full and on middle, Olly Stone drills it towards mid on for a quick single. |
| 49.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, 1 run. |
| 49.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Floated, full and on middle, Olly Stone tucks it to mid-wicket. |
| 49.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Flatter, short but down the leg side, Olly Stone fails to flick it away. |
| 50.1 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, 2 runs. |
| 50.2 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Short of a length and around middle, Joe Root heaves it towards deep mid-wicket, but denies the run. Anxious moments for the Lord's crowd! |
| 50.3 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Back of a length but way, way down the leg side, Joe Root looks a bit disappointed about that and lets it go to the keeper. |
| 50.4 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Short and around middle now, on middle, Joe Root swipes it away towards deep square leg. No run taken. Still at 98! |
| 50.5 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Fiery stuff! Asitha Fernando bangs in a sharp bouncer now, on middle, takes off a bit, Joe Root sways away at the very last moment. |
| 50.6 : Asitha Fernando to Joe Root, Goes fuller now around leg, Joe Root tries to flick it away but misses. He was really close to being stranded down the leg side. |
| 51.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 51.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Oh..close! |
| 51.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, Four! |
| 51.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 51.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 51.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Olly Stone, No run. |
| 52.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 52.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Four! |
| 52.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 52.4 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, No run. |
| 52.5 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, Fuller and on middle, Joe Root clips it away through backward square leg for a single. |
| 52.6 : Lahiru Kumara to Olly Stone, OUT! TAKEN! Is that it? No, It looks like Joe Root is staying and England have not declared yet. |
| It's none other than Shoaib Bashir who walks out to the middle for England. |
| 53.1 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, Flatter and on off.  Blocked. |
| 53.2 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, On middle. The sweep is out. It is hit through square leg for one. |
| 53.3 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 53.4 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 53.5 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, No run. |
| 53.6 : Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, He fails to retain strike! On middle. Root flicks but to mid-wicket. |
| 54.1 : Lahiru Kumara to Shoaib Bashir, On the pads. Bashir looks to flick but misses. It hits the pad and goes to the keeper. |
| 54.2 : Lahiru Kumara to Shoaib Bashir, On the pads. Bashir works it down to fine leg and takes one. |
| 54.3 : Lahiru Kumara to Joe Root, OUT! Another Joe Root's masterclass comes to an end! Top knock. This is banged in short and on middle. Root pulls but not a lot of distance on it. The fielder at deep square leg, runs to his right and takes it. |
| 0.0 : England set up a mammoth target of 483 runs! With that, the umpires have taken early Tea on Day 3. Undoubtedly, the hosts have a clear advantage and also have around 2 and a half days to bowl the visitors out to take an unassailable lead in the series. Once again, it was a master class from arguably the best batter the country has ever produced. Yes, we are talking about Joe Root who broke records for fun in this innings. |
| Sri Lanka, on the other hand, bowled a lot better and their pacers were much more disciplined. The fielding and catching was on point as well, but the problem for them was they conceded a big first innings lead. Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets each while Milan Rathnayake got a couple. The lone spinner, Prabath Jayasuriya chipped in with two as well, but just like in the first innings, they had no answers to the batting masterclass of Joe Root |
| 0.1 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, 1 run. |
| 0.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 0.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, 1 run. |
| 0.2 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, 1 run. |
| 0.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 0.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, 1 run. |
| 0.5 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 0.6 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, 1 run. |
| 1.1 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Four! |
| 1.2 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 1.3 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 1.4 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Good-length delivery wide outside off. Nishan Madushka punches it from the inner part of his willow towards cover for no runs. |
| 1.5 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Pitches it up now, on off and middle. Nishan Madushka plants his front foot and blocks it down, right under his eyesight. |
| 1.6 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Full-length delivery, pitching in on middle and shaping it in. Nishan Madushka flicks it towards deep square leg and gets a couple of runs. |
| 2.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Chris Woakes comes from 'over the wicket and bowls fuller on leg and middle. Dimuth Karunaratne tucks it short square leg for no runs. |
| 2.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne,  Who else? It is Chris Woakes once again who gets the breakthrough, or does he? No, Dimuth Karunaratne takes a good review here. |
| 2.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 2.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 2.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 2.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 3.1 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, On a length, wide outside off. Nishan Madushka punches it but straight to the fielder at short cover. |
| 3.2 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Fuller one and on middle, shaping in, Nishan Madushka takes a half stride out and knocks it towards mid on. |
| 3.3 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, Back of a length and angling into leg, Nishan Madushka tucks it a bit uppishly but well wide of leg slip for a single. |
| 3.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Four! |
| 3.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Hard length and around middle, Dimuth Karunaratne stays back and pats it down the pitch. |
| 3.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Touch fuller and outside off, angling away, Dimuth Karunaratne leaves it alone. |
| 4.1 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, BEAUTY! |
| 4.2 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, 1 run. |
| 4.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Good length and on off, angles away, Dimuth Karunaratne stabs it back towards the bowler. |
| 4.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Excellent bowling! Chris Woakes keep hitting the good length, this one is around off, nips away after hitting the deck, Dimuth Karunaratne gets drawn into his shot as the ball zips past the outside edge. |
| 4.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 4.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne punches it straight to short covers. |
| 5.1 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 5.2 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 5.3 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, BEATEN! Gus Atkinson goes wide of the crease and serves this full, on off, holds its line, Nishan Madushka expects the inward movement and has a poke at it but gets beaten on the outside edge. |
| 5.4 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, A huge shout for LBW, but turned down this time! |
| 5.5 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, 2 runs. |
| 5.6 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, BEAUTY! On a length and on off, angles in, Nishan Madushka looks to play it on the front foot but gets beaten on the outside edge again. |
| 6.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Chris Woakes scoots from 'over the wicket and bowls a fuller on middle. Dimuth Karunaratne hangs back and nudges it through the square leg region for a single.  |
| 6.2 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, Edged... but didn't carry! |
| 6.3 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, No run. |
| 6.4 : Chris Woakes to Nishan Madushka, 1 run. |
| 6.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 6.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, On a length on off. Dimuth Karunaratne blocks it back to the bowler for no runs. |
| 7.1 : Gus Atkinson to Nishan Madushka, OUT! TAKEN! Gus Atkinson was asking the right questions and he has opened his account for this inning! |
| 0.0 : Who will walk out now? |
| 7.2 : Gus Atkinson to Pathum Nissanka, Back of a length on off. Pathum Nissanka gets on his toes and dabs it down to the pitch. |
| 7.3 : Gus Atkinson to Pathum Nissanka, Good-length delivery on off, nipping it in. Pathum Nissanka goes for a front defense but the ball catches the inner edge and the ball rolls towards square leg for a single. |
| 7.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 7.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Hard-length delivery just outside off. Dimuth Karunaratne punches it towards point. |
| 7.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, RISKY RUN! |
| 8.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 8.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 runs. |
| 8.3 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 8.4 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 8.5 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 8.6 : Chris Woakes to Pathum Nissanka, Bouncer now, just outside off. Nishan Madushka gets behind the line and defends it towards the front of the gully fielder. |
| 0.0 : The light meter is out now and the umpires are taking a reading at the moment. Also, it is time for some spin now as Shoaib Bashir comes into the attack. |
| 9.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 9.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Touch fuller outside off, spinning it away. Dimuth Karunaratne rocks back and cuts it towards deep point for a single. |
| 9.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Pathum Nissanka, Appeal for catch but that's all pad! |
| 9.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 9.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 9.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Pathum Nissanka, Tossed up, fuller on off. Nishan Madushka flicks it towards deep square leg for a single. |
| . |
| 10.1 : Joe Root to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 10.2 : Joe Root to Pathum Nissanka, Tossed up, on off. Pathum Nissanka shimmies down the track and defends it down. |
| 10.3 : Joe Root to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 10.4 : Joe Root to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 10.5 : Joe Root to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! A bit aggressiveness from Pathum Nissanka! |
| 10.6 : Joe Root to Pathum Nissanka, Shortish on off. Pathum Nissanka punches it towards mid on for no runs. |
| 11.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Full-length delivery on leg. Dimuth Karunaratne tickles it toward deep fine leg and gets a couple of runs. |
| 11.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Drags his length back on middle and leg. Dimuth Karunaratne goes deep into his crease and nudges it towards mid-wicket to get a comfortable single. |
| 11.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 11.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 11.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Tad fuller on middle and leg. Dimuth Karunaratne with no footwork pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 11.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Tossed up, fuller on middle and leg. Dimuth Karunaratne presses forward and defends it down. |
| 0.0 : The light meter is out again. Ollie Pope does not look happy with the umpires because if the spinner bowls a lot of overs, the shine will be gone and the pacers will not be able to use it. The reading is good for England and Matthew Potts comes into the attack straightaway. |
| 12.1 : Matthew Potts to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 12.2 : Matthew Potts to Pathum Nissanka, Full-length delivery just outside off. Pathum Nissanka prods and rests it towards his leg side. |
| 12.3 : Matthew Potts to Pathum Nissanka, Pitched up, on middle, not much movement on the delivery. Pathum Nissanka plants his front foot and blocks it down. |
| 12.4 : Matthew Potts to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! Streaky, but it will work for Sri Lanka! |
| 12.5 : Matthew Potts to Pathum Nissanka, No run. |
| 12.6 : Matthew Potts to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! This one is classic! Full-length delivery outside off. Pathum Nissanka plants his front foot, leans on the delivery and drives it from the toe end of his willow towards wide right of the short cover fielder to get another boundary in the same over.  |
| 13.1 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and around middle, Dimuth Karunaratne hops up and pats it down to the leg side. |
| 13.2 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Fuller one and on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne clips it towards square leg. |
| 13.3 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Good-length delivery around off, angling away, Dimuth Karunaratne leaves it alone. |
| 13.4 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne stays back and dabs it in front of point for a single. |
| 13.5 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, Hits the length hard, on middle, Pathum Nissanka gets behind the line of it and blocks it out. |
| 13.6 : Olly Stone to Pathum Nissanka, OUT! EDGED AND GONE! Olly Stone gets Pathum Nissanka for the second time in this Test! |
| 0.0 : Drinks! |
| 14.1 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, Tossed up, full and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne prods out and taps it to short covers. |
| 14.2 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 14.3 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, Fires this one full and outside off, Dimuth Karunaratne leaves it alone. |
| 14.4 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, Quicker, full and outside off again, Dimuth Karunaratne reaches for it and drills it towards sweeper covers for a single. |
| 14.5 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Flighted, full and on off, Prabath Jayasuriya eases it towards mid off. |
| 14.6 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Slows it up, full and on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya defends it on the front foot. |
| 15.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Tossed up, full and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne taps it into the covers region for a single |
| 15.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Flatter, short and on middle, turns into the leg side, Prabath Jayasuriya looks to flick it away but misses. |
| 15.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 15.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 15.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 15.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Just short! Quicker, short and on middle, turns in sharply with extra bounce, Prabath Jayasuriya looks to defend but it goes off the inner half of his bat and lands in front of short leg. |
| 16.1 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 16.2 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, An arm-ball now, full and on off, goes in with the arm, Dimuth Karunaratne stays back in his crease and pushes it towards covers. |
| 16.3 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, FOUR! A bit streaky! Floated, full and on middle, turns away a bit, Dimuth Karunaratne prods out to block but gets an outside edge, the ball zips through the ground and past Harry Brook at first slip who should have done better. It rolls away to the fence for a boundary. |
| 16.4 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 16.5 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 16.6 : Joe Root to Dimuth Karunaratne, Flatter, short and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne leaves it alone. |
| 17.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Floated, full and on off, turns in, Prabath Jayasuriya stays back and blocks it out. |
| 17.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Tossed up, full and on off, Prabath Jayasuriya strides out and knocks it to the right of the bowler. |
| 17.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 17.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Goes short and on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya pats it down, Ollie Pope at leg slip dives to his left to make a good stop. |
| 17.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, A bit quicker, full and around off, Prabath Jayasuriya steers it through point for a single. |
| 17.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Pushed through quicker again, full and on middle, turns away and skids through as well, Dimuth Karunaratne stays in his crease and just about manages to keep it out. |
| 18.1 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Tossed up, full and around off, Prabath Jayasuriya knocks it towards mid off. |
| 18.2 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Floated, full and on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya turns it to short leg. |
| 18.3 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 18.4 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Short again and around off, Prabath Jayasuriya moves back and pats it down wide of gully. |
| 18.5 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Another short delivery, on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya flicks it off the back foot towards mid-wicket. |
| 18.6 : Joe Root to Prabath Jayasuriya, Maiden over! Flighted, full and on middle, Prabath Jayasuriya tucks it to the leg side. |
| 19.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, 1 run. |
| 19.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Tossed up on off. Kept out. |
| 19.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Two! Short and outside off. Jayasuriya waits and then cuts it past point. Two taken. |
| 19.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, Flatter and on off. Blocked. |
| 19.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, On middle. This is nudged to mid-wicket. |
| 19.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Prabath Jayasuriya, On middle. Jayasuriya works it to mid-wicket. |
| 0.0 : More discussions...Oh wow, Ollie Pope is not happy that he is not able to bowl his seamers, and the light is still not good for that to happen. The umpires have no options other than suspending play due to bad light. The players are slowly making their way out of the field, but the coaching staff Sri Lanka does not look impressed with this decision, but they can do nothing about it here. Still, 22 overs left on Day 3, and if it brightens up, we will have some more action, but if we are not bac |
| Day 3 has come to an unexpected halt due to bad light! England remains in a commanding position with a hefty 430-run lead and just 8 wickets away from victory. Joe Root stole the show once again, breaking numerous records. Sri Lanka faces an uphill battle and will need something truly extraordinary to save this Test. But, as the saying goes, in this sport, anything is possible. |
| Sri Lanka began Day 3 on a positive note by dismissing Ben Duckett early, while Ollie Pope also failed to make a significant impact yet again. However, it was Joe Root who provided the much-needed stability for England. With a sizable lead already in hand, Root, along with Harry Brook, further extended it at a brisk pace. Brook contributed a valuable 37 before getting out. Although Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, and Prabath Jayasuriya each managed to claim a wicket, they couldn't do much t |
| The second session was all about one man breaking records - Joe Root. After surpassing the 2000-run mark at Lord's, he now holds the record for the most Test runs at this iconic venue. Root then reached his 34th Test century, surpassing Alastair Cook for the most centuries by an English batter in this format. He also joined the elite group of players who have scored hundreds in both innings of a Test match. Despite limited support from the other end, Root didnât need much help. Sri Lanka even |
| In the final session, Sri Lanka began their daunting run chase with a cautious approach by the openers, but that didn't last long. Dimuth Karunaratne successfully overturned a decision using a review, but Gus Atkinson soon made the breakthrough for England, dismissing Nishan Madushka. As the light began to fade, the umpires judged it too dangerous for the seamers to continue. During a brief period when the light improved, the pacers returned, and Olly Stone took advantage by removing Pathum |
| Okay. So to whom does the day belong? Wrong question. To whom does the Test belong? Of course, it is Roooooooooooooooooooooot! On a record-breaking Saturday, Root lit up Lord's, first surpassing the 2000-run mark at this venue and then leading the list for the most Test runs at this iconic area. By notching twin Test tons for the first time in his career, Joe Root surpassed Sir Alastair Cook for registering the most centuries by an English batter in this format, with his 34th ton. Despite limite |
| To say that it was a tough outing for the Lankan bowlers would be a massive understatement. Ironically, this is a pitch which would support Asian sides more, as Stuart Broad comically mentioned at the start of the day that he was actually searching for grass on this pitch. Might not have found any even with a microscope. However, there was bounce, which was exploited by the English seamers but not so much by the Lankans. Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara bowled their hearts out, but they are mis |
| You need wickets in hand to try and salvage some respect in the final innings but sadly for Sri Lanka, they are just struggling to set the tone at the top. It is not like England have done too well either in this series - but their opening partnership average of 29.75 looks a lot decent as compared to 10.75 of the visitors. Dimuth Karunaratne managed to overturn an LBW decision with a review but he lost two partners at the other end. There was a time when Karunaratne used to hang like a rock, es |
| At 53/2, needing 430 more to win, the writing is clearly on the wall for the Lankans. However, none better than the Islanders to grind out the opposition. The Asian giants have oodles of time, with 6 mathematical sessions and roughly say, 185-190 overs to bat. The pitch has bounce and little bit of seam movement but once you get in, you can actually bed in. The visitors need to take it hour by hour and session by session, to force England into making errors. Runs will come at a premium but for t |
| From an English perspective, they will be looking to kill this Test in the first session on Sunday. Get 3-4 wickets in that morning session and you can get the job done by Tea. They have looked excellent through this summer and will want to maintain that form, before they head into a possible rough winter season coming up, away from home. It does look like Sunday will be the last day of this Test, unless there is some miraculous resistance from the Lankans or some interference from the weather. |
| ... DAY 4, SESSION 1 ... |
| Hello and a warm welcome to all the cricket fans tuning in! We're all set for Day 4, which might just be the final day of this thrilling second Test. After three days of intense play, England firmly holds the upper hand and will be eager to finish things off today. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka still has a glimmer of hope, but it will require a tremendous effort to wrest control from their opponents. |
| England had a memorable performance on 'Moving Day,' with Joe Root stealing the show with another record-breaking century, his second consecutive one in the series, guiding England to a huge total of 482 runs. After that, Englandâs pace attack struck early, claiming a couple of quick wickets. However, bad light forced the introduction of spin, which unfortunately disrupted their momentum and was also the reason the umpires had to call stumps early. |
| For Sri Lanka, it was a familiar story. They started well by dismissing England's top order, but once again struggled to contain the middle order and leaked runs throughout their spells. After Lunch on Day 3, they managed to pick up wickets as England's batters began playing more aggressively. Set with a daunting target, Sri Lanka's openers padded up, but two of their top-order batters were dismissed early. Dimuth Karunaratne remains at the crease alongside night-watchman Prabath Jayasuriya, who |
| 20.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Runs straightaway! On the pads. Karunaratne works it through square leg and takes two. |
| 0.0 : In all readiness to start the day's play! The umpires and players are now making their way back onto the field, ready to resume play. England players have taken their position in the field. Dimuth Karunaratne and Prabath Jayasuriya will continue their inning. Chris Woakes will get the ball to start on Day 4. Away we go... |
| 20.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, A loud appeal but turned down! Woakes likes it and it does look close! Is it going over? No bat! NOT OUT! It pitches marginally outside leg! On the pads. Karunaratne looks to flick but misses, this hits the pad. It did come back in but the ball pitched outside leg. |
| 20.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 20.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 20.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Good length and on off. This is blocked. |
| 20.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, A good first over by Woakes comes to an end! On middle. He gets this one to shape back in. This is worked to mid-wicket. |
| Gus Atkinson will be bowling on the other end. |
| 21.1 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Right on the money to begin with by him too! Length and around off. Blocked. |
| 21.2 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Goes very full this time and on middle. This is flicked but to mid-wicket. |
| 21.3 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 21.4 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Well played! Short and on the body. Jayasuriya arches, drops his hands and lets it go to the keeper. |
| 21.5 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 21.6 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Beaten! Length and outside off. This one swings away. Jayasuriya looks to drive but is beaten. |
| 22.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, On middle. This lands and moves away. Defended nicely. |
| 22.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 22.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Good length again and outside off. Easy leave. |
| 22.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Well watched and left! Around off. This one moves away. Not played at. |
| 22.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, On middle. Dimuth works it to mid-wicket. |
| 22.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, That one takes off! Shorter and around off. This lands and takes off. Karunaratne looks to pull but misses. |
| 23.1 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Angled into middle. Jayasuriya works it to mid-wicket. |
| 23.2 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Bangs this one short. Jayasuriya lets it go over him. |
| 23.3 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, Some movement there! Length and around off. Jayasuriya looks to push at it but is beaten. |
| 23.4 : Gus Atkinson to Prabath Jayasuriya, On middle. Jayasuriya just manages to get bat on it. This is worked through square leg for one. |
| 23.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Four! |
| 23.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, On middle. On a length. Kept out. |
| 24.1 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 24.2 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, That is a lovely nut! This starts around off. It shapes away late. Jayasuriya is beaten as he looks to defend. |
| 24.3 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Angled into middle. Jayasuriya pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 24.4 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Length again and on off. Jayasuriya guides it to point. |
| 24.5 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, No run. |
| 24.6 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, Good length again and around off. Jayasuriya defends. |
| 25.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Around off. Length. Karunaratne pushes it to cover. |
| 25.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Goes shorter and around off. Karunaratne chops it to point. |
| 25.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, On middle. This one swings back in. Karunaratne works it to mid-wicket. |
| 25.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Did not carry! On the pads. Karunaratne flicks it right off the middle. Lawrence at short leg, stops it well. |
| 25.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, A loud appeal for caught behind this time but not given. Reviewed again. Seems like it is off the pad. NOT OUT! It is not off the bat! England lose another review! On middle. Karunaratne looks to pull but it goes off the pad and then the keeper takes it. Good decision by the umpire. |
| 25.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and on off. This is pushed to cover. |
| 26.1 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, On middle. Kept out. |
| 26.2 : Chris Woakes to Prabath Jayasuriya, OUT! Edged and taken! Brook takes a fine catch there and the night watchman is the first one to fall this morning! Well deserved wicket for Woakes. This is fuller and around off. It shapes away. Jayasuriya looks to drive but this goes off the outside edge and Brook at second slip, takes a really good catch. |
| 0.0 : Angelo Mathews comes out to the middle. |
| 26.3 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Length and on off. Mathews guides it to point. |
| 26.4 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Lands and moves away from the off pole. Angelo looks to defend but is beaten. |
| 26.5 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Now brings the ball back in. Mathews works it to mid-wicket. |
| 26.6 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, A single to end then! Angled into the pads. This is clipped through square leg. A run taken. He is off the mark. |
| 27.1 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 27.2 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, Back of a length and around off, shapes away a bit, Angelo Mathews opens the face of his bat slightly and steers it towards gully. |
| 27.3 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 27.4 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 27.5 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 27.6 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 28.1 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 28.2 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, Almost a run out there! |
| 28.3 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 28.4 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 28.5 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 28.6 : Chris Woakes to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 29.1 : Gus Atkinson to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 29.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, FOUR! Fine shot! |
| 29.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries now! Getting his touch back it seems! |
| 29.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 29.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, Four! |
| 29.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dimuth Karunaratne, 1 run. |
| Change. |
| 30.1 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Fuller one and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne strides out a bit and blocks it out. |
| 30.2 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, 1 run. |
| 30.3 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 30.4 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, On length and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne keeps it out to the off side. |
| 30.5 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 30.6 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 31.1 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 31.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 31.3 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Touch fuller now, on off, nips away, Angelo Mathews looks to work it away, but closes the bat face early, gets a leading edge that goes safely past backward point for a brace. |
| 31.4 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Full again and around middle, Angelo Mathews turns it to the leg side. |
| 31.5 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 31.6 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Short again, on off, Angelo Mathews keeps it out on the pitch. |
| 32.1 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 32.2 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Full and outside off again, this one keeps low and angles away, Dimuth Karunaratne looks to cut it away but fails to do so. |
| 32.3 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Pitched up and on off, holds its line, Dimuth Karunaratne gets behind it and blocks it out. |
| 32.4 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and on the sixth stump line, Dimuth Karunaratne stabs it out towards covers. |
| 32.5 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Goes back to his fuller length, on off, Dimuth Karunaratne strides out and taps it wide of covers, a bit of hesitation between the batters but they takes the single quite comfortably in the end. |
| 32.6 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Overpitched, on middle, keeps very low again, Angelo Mathews adjusts well and gets his bat down in time to turn it to the leg side. |
| 33.1 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, On a length and around leg, Dimuth Karunaratne nudges it through square leg for a single. |
| 33.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Hard length and just around off, shapes away, Angelo Mathews gets squared up again trying to play at that,gets an outside edge along the ground through point for a run. |
| 33.3 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and on off, angling in, Dimuth Karunaratne stays back and pats it to the leg side. |
| 33.4 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, The field is set for this and England going for the short-ball stuff now! Olly Stone bangs in a quick bouncer, on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne ducks under it. |
| 33.5 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne hops up, hangs his bat away and dabs it towards backward point. He needs to be more decisive than that. |
| 33.6 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Fine bowling! Olly Stone bangs this one into the pitch hard, the ball shoos up off the surface, Dimuth Karunaratne tries to ride the bounce to keep it out, but gets beaten on the outside edge. That was unplayable. |
| 34.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Matthew Potts scoots from 'over the wicket and bowls fuller on off and middle. Angelo Mathews covers the stump and clips it away from his pads towards deep fine leg for a single. |
| 34.2 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Matthew Potts comes 'round the wicket now for the left hander. Bowls it fuller on off, shaping it in. Dimuth Karunaratne prods halfway and nudges it towards his leg side. |
| 34.3 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, On a length, around off. Dimuth Karunaratne hangs back and pushes it away towards his off side. |
| 34.4 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, FOUR! Edged and four! Dimuth Karunaratne is getting some lucky runs! |
| 34.5 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, 1 run. |
| 34.6 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, That one was close! |
| 35.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 35.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Short of a length on stump. Angelo Mathews rocks back and nudges it towards sqaure leg. |
| 35.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 35.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Four! |
| 35.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 35.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 36.1 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, LEG BYE! Matthew Potts comes 'round the wicket and bowls fuller, on middle and leg, shaping it in. Dimuth Karunaratne looks to flick it but misses and thumps to the right of his pad. The ball rolls towards fine leg and the batters takes a single. A loud appeal for LBW but that is surely spraying down the leg! |
| 36.2 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! England have been good with their line and lengths asking the right questions, but they have only managed to get rid of the nightwatchman. A couple of chances also went begging, but there is still movement on the surface and the spinner is getting some turn as well. Sri Lanka have to build a couple of big partnerships to save this game, and Dimuth Karunaratne has notched up his fifty with Angelo Mathews supporting him well. Matthew Potts to continue after the break. |
| 36.3 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 36.4 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, A direct hit would be a goner! Sri Lanka need to do better with their communication in between the wickets! |
| 36.5 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 36.6 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 37.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 37.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Tossed up, fuller on leg. Angelo Mathews comes down the leg and drives it towards mid on. |
| 37.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Short of a length down the leg. Angelo Mathews clips it towards square leg and gets a single just in time, as the fielder has a shy towards the non-striker's end and it is a direct hit. |
| 37.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 37.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 37.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 0.0 : . |
| 38.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, On a length just outside off. Angelo Mathews defends it down to the pitch. |
| 38.2 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Bangs in a short delivery on middle and leg, shapes it in. Angelo Mathews detects the bouncer and ducks immediately under the delivery. |
| 38.3 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 38.4 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Hard-length delivery outside off. Angelo Mathews lifts his willow up and makes a leave. |
| 38.5 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Good-length delivery outside off. Angelo Mathews is happy to let it through to the keeper. |
| 38.6 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, On a length, just outside off. Angelo Mathews presses forward and blocks it towards his off side. |
| 39.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Tossed up, fuller outside off. Dimuth Karunaratne strides out and taps it towards the vacant cover region and gets a comfortable single. |
| 39.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Appeal goes round once again for England but the umpire nods his head! |
| 39.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 39.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 39.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 39.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 40.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 40.2 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 40.3 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 40.4 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 40.5 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, On a length around off. Dimuth Karunaratne rocks back and blocks it towards his off side. |
| 40.6 : Matthew Potts to Dimuth Karunaratne, Hard-length delivery on off. Dimuth Karunaratne rests it down. |
| 41.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Tossed up, fuller on middle. Angelo Mathews comes forward and nudges it towards short leg. |
| 41.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, A bit quicker and fuller on off. Angelo Mathews pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 41.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 41.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 41.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 41.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Flatter and fuller on middle. Dimuth Karunaratne goes deep into the crease and defends it down to the pitch. |
| 42.1 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Olly Stone comes 'over the wicket and bangs in a bouncer on off. Angelo Mathews arches back to leave it alone. |
| 42.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 42.3 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 42.4 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Short-length delivery on leg. Angelo Mathews ducks under the bouncer. |
| 42.5 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Back of a length on middle and leg, around the ribs of the batter. Angelo Mathews hops and closes his willow to dab it towards square leg to get a single. |
| 42.6 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, On a length on leg and middle. Dimuth Karunaratne rocks back and nudges it towards his leg side for no runs. |
| 43.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, A shout for LBW, but turned down! |
| 43.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 43.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Flighted, full and on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne drills it down the pitch beating the dive of the bowler, mid on mops it up. A single is taken. |
| 43.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Quicker, short and on middle, Angelo Mathews looks to pull it away, but gets hurried and miscues his shot along the ground towards mid-wicket. |
| 43.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 43.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, FOUR! Great shot! Shoaib Bashir gives this one some more flight, on middle, Angelo Mathews goes down on one knee again, and this time nails his sweep shot towards the deep square leg fence for a boundary. |
| 44.1 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, A bouncer but around leg, Dimuth Karunaratne ducks under it easily. |
| 44.2 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Another bumper, on middle and leg, Dimuth Karunaratne ducks underneath it again. |
| 44.3 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Short of a length and on the body of the batter, Dimuth Karunaratne hooks it away towards fine leg for a single. |
| 44.4 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, BEAUTY! |
| 44.5 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, 1 run. |
| 44.6 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, Back of a length and on off, Dimuth Karunaratne pats it down towards covers. |
| 45.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Floated, short and on leg, keeps low, Angelo Mathews moves back, adjusts well and flicks it towards deep mid-wicket for a run. |
| 45.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Tossed up, full and on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne prods out and blocks it out nicely. |
| 45.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Goes a bit short, outside off, Dimuth Karunaratne stays back and cuts it away past point, Matthew Potts from sweeper covers runs to his right and dives to make a fine stop. He saves a couple of runs there. |
| 45.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, No run. |
| 45.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Flighted, full and around off, Dimuth Karunaratne steers it towards point. |
| 45.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dimuth Karunaratne, Some more flight, full and on middle, Dimuth Karunaratne strides out and dead-bats it. |
| 46.1 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Once again Olly Stone starts his over with a bouncer, on middle, Angelo Mathews duck under it. |
| 46.2 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Back of a length and on middle, Angelo Mathews pats it towards mid-wicket. |
| 46.3 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Hard length and angling into leg, Angelo Mathews clips it towards fine leg for a single. |
| 46.4 : Olly Stone to Dimuth Karunaratne, OUT! c Jamie Smith b Olly Stone. |
| 0.0 : Dinesh Chandimal comes out to the middle. |
| 46.5 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, Oh..streaky! |
| 46.6 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, FOUR! Just wide! |
| Matthew Potts replaces Shoaib Bashir. |
| 47.1 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Fuller and on off, Dinesh Chandimal drives it away towards covers. |
| 47.2 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Good shot! |
| 47.3 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 47.4 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 47.5 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, On a length now, on off, angles in, Dinesh Chandimal stays back to block but gets an inside edge as the ball goes nowhere. He is looking a bit rusty here! |
| 47.6 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Pitched up, on middle, shaping in, Dinesh Chandimal clips it away with his bat hitting his pad as well. They cross. |
| 48.1 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, Sharp bouncer, on middle, Dinesh Chandimal crouches low and sways away from it. |
| 48.2 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, Back of a length, on middle, Dinesh Chandimal gets behind the line of it and blocks it out. |
| 48.3 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, Hard length and around off, Dinesh Chandimal stabs it cleverly in the vacant extra covers region for a couple of runs. |
| 48.4 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 48.5 : Olly Stone to Dinesh Chandimal, On a length and on off, Dinesh Chandimal pushes it towards wide of covers, Angelo Mathews wants the run but he is sent back, the fielder hits the stumps at the bowler's end and it deflects away. The batters get the single now. Buzzers! |
| 48.6 : Olly Stone to Angelo Mathews, Short of a length and on middle, Angelo Mathews pulls it away towards deep square leg for a run. |
| 49.1 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Fuller and on middle, shaping in, Angelo Mathews blocks it out down the pitch. |
| 49.2 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Pitched up, on middle, Angelo Mathews tucks it away towards mid-wicket. |
| 49.3 : Matthew Potts to Angelo Mathews, Good length and on off, Angelo Mathews stays back in his crease and works it through mid-wicket for a single. |
| 49.4 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, 2 runs. |
| 49.5 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, BEATEN! Matthew Potts goes fuller and outside off, tempts the batter, Dinesh Chandimal obliges and goes for the big drive but gets beaten on the outside edge. |
| 49.6 : Matthew Potts to Dinesh Chandimal, Pitched up and on off, Dinesh Chandimal pushes it towards covers. THAT WILL BE LUNCH ON DAY 4! |
| A hard fought session there! Credit to Lanka for the fight they have shown. They lost the night watchman early but Karunaratne and Mathews showed a lot of grit. They added over 50 with the former scoring a half ton. Just as it seemed, Jayasuriya would be the only wicket to fall, Karunaratne fell a few overs before Lunch. Chandimal and Mathews though continue the fightback, Lanka will really hope the two can bat for long as there is still a long way to go for them in this game. |
| 0.0 : England were good with the ball. They bowled testing lines and lengths but did not have luck on their side. Chris Woakes got a wicket early but they had to wait for a long while for the second wicket which was taken by Olly Stone. They tried the short-ball plan which ultimately got them the reward, but the wicket still looks good for batting. The hosts will hope that it offers more help to the spinners in the next couple of sessions and they can get the remaining six wickets as quickly as pos |
| Just a reminder - the session timings for Sunday have been tweaked a little. As we all know, Day 3 ended early due to bad light. In the earlier days, whenever such things used to happen, the next day used to start early. Albeit in England, we never really start before 10 am GMT but overall now, throughout the globe, it has become a trend - to extend the first two sessions by 15 minutes each. So accordingly, here are the revised timings -Â The second session will be from 12.55 pm GMT to 3.10 pm G |
| OUT! Edged and taken! Huh? Wasn't play supposed to resume at 12.55 pm GMT? Ha ha, relax. This is not from Lord's. Right-o. What's happening elsewhere? Nothing much, a cricket fan would say. In Rawalpindi, there is a seesaw battle going on between two Asian teams as Pakistan and Bangladesh strive hard to keep Test cricket alive and kicking. Today is Day 3 in that Test and when the first day was washed out, it seemed like this is going to be a dull draw. But then, Khurram Shehzad burst onto the s |
| For those following cricket from Down Under, there's plenty of talk going on, with the rcently completed WBBL and BBL drafts. Let's try and simplify them for you. |
| Adelaide Strikers Women draft picks - Laura Wolvaardt, Smriti Mandhana and Orla Prendergast. |
| Brisbane Heat draft picks - Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey and Nadine de Klerk. |
| Hobart Hurricanes Women draft picks - Danni Wyatt, Chloe Tryon and Lizelle Lee. |
| Melbourne Renegades Women draft picks - Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews and Alice Capsey. |
| Melbourne Stars Women draft picks - Deepti Sharma, Marizanne Kapp and Yastika Bhatia. |
| Perth Scorchers Women draft picks - Sophie Devine, Amy Jones and Hemalatha Dayalan. |
| Sydney Sixers Women draft picks - Sophie Ecclestone, Amelia Kerr and Hollie Armitage. |
| Sydney Thunder Women draft picks - Heather Knight, Shabnim Ismail, Chamari Athapaththu and Georgia Adams. |
| It is a new concept being tried out by the Australian Cricket Board, keeping in mind the overseas players' availability. We shall discuss about the BBL draft picks as well, but time to get back to the present. We are all in readiness for the start of the second session. It is a long haul for the Lankans but at least, they can grab onto SOME positives. As we mentioned yesterday, it is not always about winning. It is also about showing a fight. Forget 483, but even if this match extends into Monda |
| ... DAY 4, SESSION 2 ... |
| All ready? Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews are amidst a 21-run stand and a quickfire one at that - in just 20 balls. They still have Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis to follow, so it is not like there is not much batting left. If this had been like the Ashes, where there are nominations for Player Of The Series from both camps, Kamindu's name would have been on Brendon McCullum's list for sure. Ohh... just an FYI - the coaches nominate their opposition teams' Player Of The Series. He |
| 50.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Shoaib Bashir starts from 'over the wicket and tossed it up, fuller on off. Angelo Mathews lunges and defends it down. |
| 50.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Full-length delivery on off. Angelo Mathews works it across the line towards his leg side. |
| 50.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Drags his length back, just outside off, turning it in towards the batter. Angelo Mathews hangs back and nudges it towards mid-wicket for no runs. |
| 50.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Pitched up, on off and middle. Angelo Mathews strides out and eases it towards the right of the bowler. |
| 50.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Touch fuller, and spinning it down the leg. Angelo Mathews tickles it a bit late towards the left of the diving leg slip and immediately calls for two. |
| 50.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Fuller on middle and leg. Angelo Mathews flicks it towards square leg for no runs. |
| 51.1 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Not from the middle of the bat but it will work for Dinesh Chandimal! |
| Moving onto the BBL draft picks now, this is how they look like. |
| 51.2 : Melbourne Stars draft pick - Ben Duckett, Tom Curran (pre-signed) and Usama Mir. |
| Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 0.0 : Melbourne Renegades draft pick - Laurie Evans, Jacob Bethell and Tim Seifert (pre-signed). |
| Sydney Thunder draft pick - Lockie Ferguson, Sam Billings (pre-signed) and Sherfane Rutherford. |
| 51.3 : Hobart Hurricanes draft pick - Shai Hope, Chris Jordan (pre-signed) and Rishad Hossain. |
| Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| Adelaide Strikers draft pick - Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope (pre-signed) and Fabian Allen. |
| Brisbane Heat draft pick - Colin Munro (pre-signed) and Paul Walter. |
| 0.0 : Perth Scorchers draft pick - Finn Allen (pre-signed), Matthew Hurst and Keaton Jennings. |
| 51.4 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, 1 run. |
| 0.0 : Sydney Sixers: James Vince (retained), Akeal Hosein (pre-signed) and Jafer Chohan. |
| That wraps up the BBL and WBBL draft signings and we get back to the game at present. |
| 51.5 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 51.6 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 52.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 52.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 52.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 52.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 52.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 52.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 53.1 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Full and on leg. Angelo Mathews nudges it towards mid-wicket. |
| 53.2 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 53.3 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 53.4 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 53.5 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, BEATEN! |
| 53.6 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Fuller, on middle. Angelo Mathews blocks it down solidly. |
| 54.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Another sweep and another boundary from Dinesh Chandimal! |
| 54.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 54.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 54.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 54.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries! Dinesh Chandimal is up to something! |
| 54.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 55.1 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 55.2 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 55.3 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 55.4 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 55.5 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Oh..that could have gone anywhere! Chris Woakes lands this on a good length and on off, nips back in sharply, Angelo Mathews tries to defend but gets an inside edge onto his pads, the ball pops up and lands safely because there is no short leg in place. |
| 55.6 : Chris Woakes to Angelo Mathews, Short of a length and just outside off, Angelo Mathews lifts his bat and lets it go to the keeper. |
| 56.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Tossed up fuller, on off, turning it in. Dinesh Chandimal prods halfway and defends it down. |
| 56.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 56.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Tossed up, fuller on middle. Dinesh Chandimal blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 56.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Fullish on off. Dinesh Chandimal prods, and blocks it out. |
| 56.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Fuller, on leg. Dinesh Chandimal clips it towards square leg. |
| 56.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, Tossed up, fuller, angling away from the batter. Dinesh Chandimal with no footwork looks to defend it down but gets the connection on the outer edge. The ball rolls towards deep third man. The fielder in gully back tracks and the batters take three runs to complete there fifty runs partnership. |
| 57.1 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Full-length delivery on off and middle. Dinesh Chandimal blocks it back to the bowler. |
| 57.2 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 57.3 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 57.4 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 57.5 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Four! |
| 57.6 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 58.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 58.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, No run. |
| 58.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Flighted and on middle, Angelo Mathews uses his feet and clips it towards mid-wicket. |
| 58.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, Quicker, short and on middle, skids through, Angelo Mathews moves back and keeps it out. |
| 58.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Angelo Mathews, OUT! TAKEN! Shoaib Bashir strikes now! |
| 0.0 : Who walks out now? |
| 58.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Fires this one full, on middle, Dhananjaya de Silva fends it on the front foot. |
| 59.1 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Length and around off. Kept out. |
| 59.2 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Fuller and on middle. Chandimal drives but Woakes dives to his right and stops it. |
| 59.3 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, FOUR! Uppish but in the gap! Fuller and outside off. The drive comes out and this races away to the fence. |
| 59.4 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Good length again, on the off pole. Chandimal pushes it to covers. |
| 59.5 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Angled into the pads. Chandimal flicks but to mid-wicket. |
| 59.6 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, OUT! A loud appeal and given! Chandimal reviews. Is the impact outside off? NOT OUT! There is a spike on Ultra Edge as it passes the bat and the on-field decision has to be overturned. Don't think Chandimal himself felt an inside edge there. Length and around off. This lands and jags back in. Chandimal looks to defend but gets an inside edge onto the pads. |
| 60.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 60.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Just over the head! Tossed up on off. Dhananjaya steps out and looks to go down the ground. It goes off the inner half but over mid on for a boundary. |
| 60.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Looks to go again. Steps out and hits it hard but to mid on this time. |
| 60.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Shorter in length this time. Kept out. |
| 60.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Outside off. Shortish. This is cut to point. |
| 60.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Quicker and on middle. Dhananjaya goes back and works it to mid-wicket. |
| 61.1 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 61.2 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 61.3 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Back of a length and around off. This is punched but to covers. |
| 61.4 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Goes short now and on middle. Chandimal ducks under it. |
| 61.5 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, Another one on a length. On the off pole. This is pushed to cover. |
| 61.6 : Chris Woakes to Dinesh Chandimal, On the stumps. A little bit of extra bounce. Chandimal takes a hand off the handle and defends. |
| 62.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 62.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, On middle. Dhananjaya works it to mid-wicket. |
| 62.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 62.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Flatter and outside off. Dhananjaya guides it to point and takes one. |
| 62.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, No run. |
| 62.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, On the pads yet again. Chandimal flicks it to square leg. |
| 63.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Angled into the body. This is worked down to fine leg. A single taken. |
| 0.0 : Chris Woakes has been given a rest now. Gus Atkinson replaces him. England would like to pick up at least a couple of more wickets if not more before this session ends. |
| 63.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Length again and on middle. Chandimal is solid in defense. |
| 63.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Around off. This is guided through point for one. |
| 63.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Fuller and on middle. Dhananjaya drives it but Atkinson dives to his right and stops it. |
| 63.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Around off. Dhananjaya guides it past point and takes one. |
| 63.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, Around off. This is pushed through covers for one. |
| 64.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dinesh Chandimal, 1 run. |
| 64.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Four! |
| 64.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 64.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 64.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 64.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, On middle. Kept out again. |
| 65.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dinesh Chandimal, OUT! TAKEN! Chandimal falls. He played well but his team needed him to go on for longer. This is on a length and around off. It lands and jags back in with the slope. Chandimal looks to defend but this hits the inside edge, then the pads and lobs to short leg. The plan works. England just the four wickets away now. |
| Kamindu Mendis, the young prodigy from Sri Lanka walks out to bat now. Can he bring out his best again? |
| 65.2 : Gus Atkinson to Kamindu Mendis, Mendis is off the mark with a lovely stroke! He's the man in form! Fuller and on middle. This is driven past mid on who runs back and keeps it down to three. |
| 65.3 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Angled into the pads. Dhananjaya works it to mid-wicket. |
| 65.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Short and down the leg side. Dhananjaya looks to pull but misses. |
| 65.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Around off. Good length again. Kept out. |
| 65.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Outside off. Left alone. |
| 66.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, On off. Mendis pushes it to covers. |
| 66.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Kamindu Mendis, Slighlty shorter and around off. Mendis stands tall and pushes it to cover. |
| 66.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Around off. Good length again. This is pushed to cover. |
| 66.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Put away! Steps out. Gets to the pitch of it and just lifts it over mid on. This one races away to the fence. |
| 66.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Around off. Kept out. |
| 66.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, On off. Length again. Defended. |
| 67.1 : Gus Atkinson to Kamindu Mendis, Back of a length and around off, Kamindu Mendis punches it towards covers. |
| 0.0 : Drinks! England are doing pretty fine to stay right on the track. The bowlers were a bit unlucky since the morning session but lately, they are getting the wickets they wanted. They only need four more scalps to win this match today itself. However, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis would be aiming to bring the composure back to the track. |
| 67.2 : Gus Atkinson to Kamindu Mendis, OUT! c Ben Duckett b Gus Atkinson. |
| 0.0 : Milan Rathnayake walks up to the middle. |
| 67.3 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 67.4 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 67.5 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 67.6 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, A slower one now, full and on middle, Milan Rathnayake turns it to the leg side. |
| Olly Stone rejoins the attack from the other end. |
| 68.1 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Close! Short of a length and around off, angles in, Dhananjaya de Silva hops up to slap it away but gets a bottom edge onto the ground and past the keeper for a single. |
| 68.2 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Bangs in a bouncer now, on middle, angles in, Milan Rathnayake gets a bit hurried but manages to sway away from it. |
| 68.3 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Another bumper, on middle, Milan Rathnayake this time keeps his eyes well on the ball and ducks under it. |
| 68.4 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Goes a bit fuller now, on middle, angling in, Milan Rathnayake stays in his crease and blocks it out. |
| 68.5 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Back of a length and around off, Milan Rathnayake punches it away nicely through covers for a couple of runs. Gets off the mark! |
| 68.6 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, OUCH! That is a nasty blow! |
| 0.0 : Halt! Milan Rathnayake gets a blow on his helmet and the physio is out to go through a mandatory concussion checkup. He is looking a bit shaky but it shouldn't be much of a problem for the batter. New helmet is on, and he is ready to continue! |
| 69.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Good length and on middle, angles in, Dhananjaya de Silva fails to lay a bit on it and gets hit on the pads. A stifled appeal for LBW, but turned down. |
| 69.2 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Short of a length and on middle, Dhananjaya de Silva pulls it away towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 69.3 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Short again and on middle, Milan Rathnayake has enough of ducking and leaving, takes it on and heaves it towards deep mid-wicket for a run. |
| 69.4 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Back of a length and around off, Dhananjaya de Silva stays back and pats it down towards covers. |
| 69.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Pitches it up now, on middle, shaping in, Dhananjaya de Silva knocks it with a straight bat towards mid on. |
| 69.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Goes fuller but down the leg side, Dhananjaya de Silva looks to flick it away but misses. |
| 70.1 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Back of a length and around middle, Milan Rathnayake swipes it away towards deep square leg for a single. |
| 70.2 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Takes a risk, gets the reward! |
| 70.3 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Short again and into the body of the batter, Dhananjaya de Silva hooks it away towards fine leg for a run. |
| 70.4 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, 1 run. |
| 70.5 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Good length, on middle, a bit slower as well, Dhananjaya de Silva stays back and blocks it out. |
| 70.6 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Back of a length and on leg, Dhananjaya de Silva swivels and swipes it towards fine leg for one more. |
| 0.0 : Matthew Potts joins the attack once again. |
| 71.1 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 71.2 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, Good length and on middle, angles in, Dhananjaya de Silva flicks it away nicely, Ollie Pope at leg gully dives to his left to make a fine stop. |
| 71.3 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, Massive appeal for caught behind, but turned down! |
| 71.4 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 71.5 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 71.6 : Matthew Potts to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Stand and deliver! |
| 72.1 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! Just over! Olly Stone goes short and at the body of the batter, Milan Rathnayake goes for the pull but gets a top edge, Ben Duckett is standing in a position between square leg and deep square leg, and the ball just goes over his head for a boundary. Stone cannot do anything but smile here. |
| 72.2 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Four! |
| 72.3 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 72.4 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! Gets it through again! Short again, on middle, angles in, Milan Rathnayake heaves it away hard, and beats Ben Duckett to his right at deep square leg for four more runs. |
| 72.5 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 72.6 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Back of a length and on leg, Milan Rathnayake nudges it away through square leg for a run. 13 off the over! |
| 73.1 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 73.2 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 73.3 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 73.4 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 73.5 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, On the fuller side. Milan drives but to cover. |
| 73.6 : Matthew Potts to Milan Rathnayake, Solid! Plays the over out! Length and around off. Milan lunges and defends. |
| 74.1 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 74.2 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 74.3 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Goes short and on middle. Dhananjaya pulls it through square leg. The fielder in the deep, runs to his left, dives and keeps it down to one. |
| 74.4 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, That stays low! Outside off. Not a lot of bounce. Rathnayake fails to put bat on ball. Lucky that wasn't on the stumps. |
| 74.5 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 74.6 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Another bumper! On the body. Rathnayake ducks under it. |
| 0.0 : Shoaib Bashir rejoins the attack. |
| 75.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Flatter and on off. Dhananjaya goes back and defends. |
| 75.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! He tosses it up. Very slow. Dhananjaya goes down on one knee and sweeps it through square leg. This races away to the fence. |
| 75.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Deft! Outside off. Shortish. This is guided past point. Two taken. |
| 75.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 75.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Three more! Flatter and outside off. Dhananjaya waits and then plays it past point. He played that quite late. Doesn't go all the way but three taken. |
| 75.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, Flatter and on middle. Milan stays back and keeps it out. |
| 76.1 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Length again and around off. Dhananjaya gets right behind the line and defends. |
| 76.2 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 76.3 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, FOUR! Pulled away! This is short and it is asking to be hit. It is pulled through mid-wicket. Another boundary. |
| 76.4 : Olly Stone to Dhananjaya de Silva, Takes one now! On middle. This is pulled through square leg. A run easy. |
| 76.5 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! Rathnayake joins the act now! Takes on the challenge of pulling this short one. Does it well and the ball races away to the fence. |
| 76.6 : Olly Stone to Milan Rathnayake, Goes short again. This is pulled again but to mid-wicket. |
| 77.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, 1 run. |
| 77.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, On middle. Kept out. |
| 77.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, Around off. This is pushed down the ground towards long off. Easy two again. |
| 77.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 77.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, A loud appeal but turned down! Is that going down? Yea, it is! Angled into the pads. Milan looks to defend but misses. This hits the pad. A loud shout but turned down. Another review gone for England. All their reviews are gone in fact. |
| 77.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, Around off. Milan stands tall and keeps it out. |
| 78.1 : Dan Lawrence to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 78.2 : Dan Lawrence to Dhananjaya de Silva, On middle. Dhananjaya works it to mid-wicket. |
| 78.3 : Dan Lawrence to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 78.4 : Dan Lawrence to Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Byes. |
| 78.5 : Dan Lawrence to Dhananjaya de Silva, Outside off. Dhananjaya guides it past point and takes one. |
| 78.6 : Dan Lawrence to Milan Rathnayake, Around off. This is pushed through covers. Another run taken. |
| 79.1 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 79.2 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 79.3 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, Around off again. Rathnayake punches it past cover and takes one. |
| 79.4 : Shoaib Bashir to Dhananjaya de Silva, Fuller and on middle. This is hit down to long on for one. |
| 79.5 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, Flatter and on middle. Milan lunges and keeps it out. |
| 79.6 : Shoaib Bashir to Milan Rathnayake, On off. This is pushed to covers. THAT WILL BE TEA ON DAY 4! |
| 0.0 : TEA, DAY 4Â - Session Summary - 124 runs, 30 overs, and 3 wickets. Despite losing wickets, the Lankans are trying hard to find some stability on the pitch. After the lunch break, Dinesh Chandimal started opening his arms and blew some lusty boundaries to form a spike to the scoreboard. He was a bit nervy throughout the inning, and after getting multiple lifelines he completed his 28th Test half-century. But as soon as he got his fifty, the other veteran, Angelo Mathews lost his wicket and the st |
| England once again capitalized on the situation and picked up the Chandimal and the lone warrior from their first inning, Kamindu Mendis as well. However, Lankan skipper, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Milan Rathnayake are trying their best to run their sturdy partnership and return to their pavilion after the stumps with no more wickets lost. But the question is, will DDS be able to replicate the standout performance of the first inning of the first Test? Also, 80 overs have been bowled, and the ho |
| ... DAY 4, SESSION 3 ... |
| 80.1 : Chris Woakes to Dhananjaya de Silva, Chris Woakes starts his spell with the new ball! Back of a length and on middle, Dhananjaya de Silva stays back and nudges it towards mid-wicket. |
| 0.0 : We are back with the final session of the day! The players and umpires are all back and have taken their positions. England has opted for the second new ball and Chris Woakes will get the job to start with it. |
| 80.2 : Chris Woakes to Dhananjaya de Silva, Good length and around off, shapes away, Dhananjaya de Silva looks to play at it but gets an outside edge along the ground through point for a single. |
| 80.3 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, Nicely played! Overpitched from Chris Woakes in search of swing, on off, Milan Rathnayake drives it away firmly through the vacant mid off region for a three comfortable runs. |
| 80.4 : Chris Woakes to Dhananjaya de Silva, Back of a length and on off, Dhananjaya de Silva dabs it down, but the fielder at slip cordon dives to his right to stop it. |
| 80.5 : Chris Woakes to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 80.6 : Chris Woakes to Dhananjaya de Silva, Touch fuller, on middle, Dhananjaya de Silva clips it through mid-wicket for a run. |
| 81.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, FIFTY FOR DDS! A gritty knock from the Lankan skipper! They needed this badly, but he knows it is still a tough ask for them. |
| 81.2 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 81.3 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, FOUR! Gets it through now! |
| 81.4 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, 1 run. |
| 81.5 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, No run. |
| 81.6 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, Short of a length and on middle, keeps a bit low, Dhananjaya de Silva goes for the pull but misses and gets hit just above the box. |
| 82.1 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 82.2 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 82.3 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 82.4 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, No run. |
| 82.5 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, Short of a length but down the leg side, Milan Rathnayake leaves it alone. |
| 82.6 : Chris Woakes to Milan Rathnayake, Maiden over then! Pitched up and on off, Milan Rathnayake taps it towards covers. |
| 83.1 : Gus Atkinson to Dhananjaya de Silva, OUT! b Gus Atkinson. |
| 0.0 : Lahiru Kumara comes out to the middle. |
| 83.2 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 83.3 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, 1 run. |
| 83.4 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Short of a length and on middle, nips back in , Milan Rathnayake keeps it out to the off side. |
| 83.5 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Hits the length hard now, on off, Milan Rathnayake steers it towards point for a run. |
| 83.6 : Gus Atkinson to Lahiru Kumara, On a length and on off, Lahiru Kumara punches it wide of short covers where a fumble allows the run. |
| 84.1 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 84.2 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Back of a length and on middle, Lahiru Kumara stays back and pats it down on the pitch. |
| 84.3 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, No run. |
| 84.4 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Close! Good length and around middle, hits the deck and nips away, Lahiru Kumara looks to block but misses it as the ball just goes past the off pole. |
| 84.5 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Short of a length and on off, Lahiru Kumara stabs it down towards covers. |
| 84.6 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, FOUR! Nice shot! Hard length and around middle, Lahiru Kumara stays back and swipes it away through mid-wicket, Olly Stone chases after it, dives in but as he picks up the ball, his foot touches the ropes. A boundary is given. |
| 85.1 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Four! |
| 85.2 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, Four! |
| 85.3 : Gus Atkinson to Milan Rathnayake, OUT! c Jamie Smith b Gus Atkinson. |
| 85.4 : Gus Atkinson to Asitha Fernando, Bangs in a short one, on off and middle, shaping it in. Asitha Fernando detects the bouncer and ducks under it. |
| 85.5 : Gus Atkinson to Asitha Fernando, Back of a length, on off. Asitha Fernando guides it towards the right of the gully fielder. The fielder dives to his right and makes a stop. |
| 0.0 : Asitha Fernando is the last man in. |
| 85.6 : Gus Atkinson to Asitha Fernando, Good-length delivery on middle and leg, shaping in. Asitha Fernando makes room and looks to slog but inner edges the delivery towards his leg side. |
| 86.1 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, FOUR! Lashed it away! |
| 86.2 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Fires in a bouncer, on middle. Lahiru Kumara looks to pull it away but misses on the outer edge. |
| 86.3 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, Slower now, fuller and on off. Lahiru Kumara does well to detect the slower and pushes it back to the bowler. |
| 86.4 : Chris Woakes to Lahiru Kumara, OUT! IN AIR... AND TAKEN! Chris Woakes gets the job done for England! |
| 0.0 : Well, that's it then! The result was quite inevitable, but Sri Lanka made it difficult for the hosts and only delayed the outcome of this game. England takes an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and also defeats the Lankans for the first time in over a decade at Lord's. It was a great team performance from the home side, but the spotlight will definitely be on Joe Root's masterclass in both innings while Gus Atkinson marks another memorable performance at Lord's with his maiden ton and a |
| Sri Lanka came into Day 4 with the daunting task of needing 430 runs with 8 wickets in hand. In the first session, the batters did show good determination especially, Dimuth Karunaratne who notched up a well-made half-century as well. However, they did lose Prabath Jayasuriya, the nightwatchman early, and just as when Angelo Mathews and the opener were building up a good partnership, the latter also was dismissed just before Lunch. The pitch was still quite good for batting, and that was visi |
| Credit to England bowlers who stuck to the correct line and lengths and kept asking the right questions. Dhananjaya de Silva was proving to be a tough nut to crack, but the hosts took the second new ball right after Tea, and that helped them get rid of the Lankan skipper who became the third batter for the visitors to be dismissed in the 50s. After that, it was really about when and not if. Gus Atkinson finished with a nice five-wicket haul, while Olly Stone picked up a couple and Shoaib Bas |
| After being put into bat, England faced early challenges with batters struggling to convert their starts into significant scores. Despite this, the scoreboard kept ticking, largely thanks to Joe Root's brilliant form. Root stood out with a superb innings, reaching his 33rd Test century and scoring 143 runs, equaling Alastair Cook's record for the most centuries by an English batter in Tests. Sri Lanka started strong with the ball, with Lahiru Kumara and Asitha Fernando securing early breakthroug |
| England continued their dominance on Day 2, with Gus Atkinson scoring his maiden Test century and helping push England's total past 400. Asitha Fernando was the standout bowler for Sri Lanka, taking a five-wicket haul. In response, Sri Lanka struggled against disciplined English bowling, losing wickets regularly and failing to form partnerships. Kamindu Mendis fought back with a resilient 74, but Sri Lanka was bowled out, conceding a 231-run lead. England decided not to enforce the follow-on, ex |
| This Test at Lord's belongs to Joe Root, who stole the show by becoming the leading run-scorer at the venue, reaching 2000 runs, and surpassing Sir Alastair Cook with his 34th Test century. Root notched twin Test tons for the first time in his career, setting a daunting 483-run target for Sri Lanka. Despite the lack of substantial support from his teammates and England's overall subpar batting efforts, Rootâs brilliance has been the highlight. Sri Lanka's bowlers, particularly Asitha Fernando |
| Presentation Time... |
| Gus Atkinson is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his brilliant ton and a five-wicket haul. He says that he is more than happy to get the honor of scoring a century and picking five wickets in the same match. He also says that batting alongside Joe Root was special for him. He says his dad will be proud of him. He tells that he enjoys bowling at this ground and ends up saying he felt great to attack without worrying about the runs. |
| Dhananjaya de Silva, the captain of Sri Lanka says that the plan was to keep things simple and bat long. Adds that England always put the pressure back on them and says they did pull things back, but it was not good enough. Says that they could have batted first, but their top order has struggled so he wanted to give them a breather. Mentions that Kamindu Mendis has been excellent since his debut which is a positive thing. Ends up saying that they need to be at their absolute best to get a wi |
| Ollie Pope, the victorious skipper of England says that he is really happy for getting 2-0 up with some special performances and important contributions. He reckons that this week was a bit different than the last week as they lost wickets at regular intervals. He reckons that the inning from Joe Root helped them to get the humongous lead. He also mentioned how the reviews were not being used properly by them. He is also thankful for getting the important contributions from Gus Atkinson and M |
| Right then, that brings us to the end of this entertaining 2nd Test. England are 2-0 up and will go for the clean sweep while Sri Lanka will hope to end it on a good note. The final Test will begin on 6th September, Friday, but as you know, you can join us early for all the build-up to the game. Until then, cheers and goodbye! |
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