Sri Lanka v England 2021.

[sussexpob]

Barstow run out . What the hell is going on

[sussexpob]

Actually it's root. Clown cricket

[sussexpob]

Another wicket here and this gets very very interesting

[sussexpob]

Could have been another run out.

Have the England team put a sizeable bet on a home win? This is suicidal play atm. Need someone to take ownership and stop the rot, show a cool.head. England turning the easiest of chances into a potential disaster here

[Arthur Crabtree]

Can't lose this. But a wake up call.

[sussexpob]

Can't lose this. But a wake up call.

Indeed. Plenty of options to score with men all around the bat. No need to whack it or what not, low risk singles are all over. Just bleed them to death slowly.

[sussexpob]

Say that just a Lawrence attempts a lofted sweep and misses it. Just tap it into space, no need for the whack.

Barstow then goes for the big cut and is so close to an edge.

This is moronic

[Durhamfootman]

who the hell gets run out chasing a target of 74 to win a test match, with all the time in the world to do it in?

beggars belief

[Durhamfootman]

Can't lose this. But a wake up call.

with England, I always feel that a shambles is just around the corner. It's been the thick end of 8 or 9 years since I didn't feel like that

[sussexpob]

Lawrence getting worked over now. Twice this over he's got the run of the green, but he looks uncomfortable. Hopefully he stays concentrated and doesn't try another big lofted sweep

[sussexpob]

Bad light. Probably enough for today. England's partnership here has settled the match, but maybe a few more wickets could fall before the runs are knocked off

[Arthur Crabtree]

24 added so I suppose they've turned the collapse around in the context of a small chase.

[alfie]

I spotted a stat earlier that said that 8 of the 12 wickets taken fell to attacking shots

More execution than approach created the downfalls.

Thirimanne got out from a buffet ball on the leg stump not making any attempt to keep it down with a fielder placed for the shot. Mendis got a ball that wobbled and cut from the surface, but the conviction in his forward press was non-existent, which I guess you can expect from a player with 5 ducks in a row. Perera just didnt get over the bounce with a sweep, Matthews just slashed at a ball that looked to me wide enough to punch through the off side for me but he went at it wildly and no control in his techniquee. Chandimal slashed a very wide ball with static feet and no balance; he was lucky to survive a carbon copy of his wicket not long before. Dickwella got out to a rank long hop somehow. Perera tried to take on Bess and missed the ball. The comic run out just added to the clownish atmosphere.

You will here this a lot this series, but we cant really rationalize these scores in another other way; SL are an atrocious test team. England really didnt need to do much, even when the top two SL bats got a start and conditions looked fairly tame, both tried their best to get out.

And while Sibley (who has massive question marks on his ability to play spin, which his dismissal wont help) and Crawley (only really he knows what that shot he got out to was) failed, SL really havent bowled anything that has tested England.

Any half decent bat who maintains concentration for long enough can get a score against this line up. I counted probably 2 maybe 3 balls where the bowler gets it right and the batsman is challenged. Other than that its tame going through the motions stuff mixed with far, far too many balls that go awry.

The pitch isnt dead, there is something there, but nothing to over-ride the gulf in ability between teams. England should target 500 plus and to be back in the hotel by th end of day 3 having won the test.

If Sri Lanka bowl them out for 67 tomorrow I'm blaming you , SP

Never a dull moment watching England in a Test...

[sussexpob]

If Sri Lanka bowl them out for 67 tomorrow I'm blaming you , SP

Never a dull moment watching England in a Test...

I sometimes under-estimate the self-destructive nature of this line up. England had the opportunity to completely trampled SL into the ground, but some careless play at the end of their innings threw a massive score out the window. The dumb run out of Bess for instance, or Mark Wood trying to slog sweep when his Captain is not out in 225 at the other end, smack of the sort of silly errors that can cost you.

More than anything, the lasting problem of this test is the openers have looked terrible facing up to spin, and our own spinners spent long spells looking toothless on a deck that the SL's this evening made look like a total bunsen. If Leach and Bess cant trouble a bat like Thirimanne on a pitch providing them with all kinds of help, then what India will do to them is barely worth thinking about.

[Red Devil]

I have to agree - SL have looked dreadful at times. Unbelievably though, if Bairstow had been either caught or run-out (which were both not far off) the ball after Root there would have been a real panic and SL would really ahve fancied their chances - as it is it all looks pretty straightforward