***Official*** England in Sri Lanka

[Francis]

lol thats such a crock of ****

What a useless post. On any other pitch in the world no umpire would give that out. They'd naturally assume the ball would bounce over the stumps. Pietersen has the biggest stride in world cricket and it wasn't enough.

Get a better spinner yourself, or learn to play Murali like Lara did.

Lara did the same thing Pietersen did. Fortunately for Lara he didn't get a delivery that kept so low that I recall.

The slow, low pitches on the subcontinent are fine, as are the bouncy fast pitches in South Africa.

I'm not criticising the pitches as much as I'm saying it's unfortunate Pietersen did everything right and still went out. Although I was partly disappointed that the pitch gave Murali such an advantage - mainly because I get enjoyment from watching Murali vs. Pietersen. I think most cricket fans want a pitch which offers something to both batsman and bowler. Of course in Test cricket you get pitches which suit bowlers more than batsmen and vice versa. As you say, that's Test cricket. But I think any batsman in the world would feel secure in the way Pietersen played that shot. Including Lara. That was my point, the batsman doesn't stand much chance when the pitch does that.

 

[Lostman]

What a useless post. On any other pitch in the world no umpire would give that out. They'd naturally assume the ball would bounce over the stumps. Pietersen has the biggest stride in world cricket and it wasn't enough.

How exactly is planting you front foot in front of the stumps and then getting your bat stuck behind your pad good batting?

 

[Francis]

How exactly is planting you front foot in front of the stumps and then getting your bat stuck behind your pad good batting?

The longer the stride the harder it is for batsmen to be given out. In Pietersen's case he couldn't have been more forward than he was. I've seen it a million times from players like Lara. Batsmen try to get forward knowing 1) the ball will likely bounce over the stumps 99% of the time, 2) there's never any guarentee the ball will maintain it's line. In Pietersen's case, not only did he have a massive stride, but the ball bounced in front of him enough to show where the ball was heading.

Very unlucky. It was out, however.

 

[Dasa]

It wasn't unlucky because he played with the bat behind the pad. A clear error from him, thus he lost his wicket.

 

[Francis]

I'm telling you, for as long as I've watched cricket, what Pietersen did was a safe shot. I've seen batsmen play shots like that thousands of times.

 

[pup11]

What Pietersen did yesterday is called defensive batting and luck had nothing do with that.

 

[Laurrz]

Sangakkara another ton maybe here

2/181 effectively

Sangakkara 83*

 

[social]

It wasn't unlucky because he played with the bat behind the pad. A clear error from him, thus he lost his wicket.

That sort of thing gets given not out all the time

50/50 call IMO as he was miles down the track

 

[JBH001]

I'm telling you, for as long as I've watched cricket, what Pietersen did was a safe shot. I've seen batsmen play shots like that thousands of times.

In that case maybe its time they stopped playing with their pads and started playing with their bats?

 

[wpdavid]

Anyway, England are looking done & dusted here. You'd have to be disappointed with the bowling in this test, apart from Hoggard's spell in the first hour on Day 1. If they can't produce better than this at Kandy, then heaven help us at Galle. And Sangakkara has produced a couple of absolute lessons in test batsmanship, tbf.

SL by at least 150, afaics.

 

[Laurrz]

Anyway, England are looking done & dusted here. You'd have to be disappointed with the bowling in this test, apart from Hoggard's spell in the first hour on Day 1. .

was always gonna struggle with 3 swing bowlers IMO... had hope for Monty but i guess he's been dealt with by some erally good batsmen

 

[wpdavid]

was always gonna struggle with 3 swing bowlers IMO... had hope for Monty but i guess he's been dealt with by some erally good batsmen

Yup. If they didn't think the slow wickets in SL suited Broad, I can't really see why they took him there at all. He may not have changed the result, but he woud have asked some different questions of their keeper during the crucial first innings stand. That being said, Sidebottom's been a big disappointment, even though he's been fairly economical in this innings.

I gather that Panesar hasn't bowled brilliantly, but, as you say, he's spent much of the game bowling at very good players of spin. A sad reminder for England fans that we just don't produce world class batsmen as good as KS. Haven't done for ages, actually.

 

[wpdavid]

And that is completely unforgivable from Bell. I can forgive them struggling to bowl sides out in these conditions, but professionals should not drop sitters. Lazy git.

 

[JASON]

Well deserved Century for Sangakkara !!

 

[pasag]

Sangas, what a champ.

 

[JBH001]

Well done Sanga, what a champ!

 

[JASON]

This pitch is looking really flat ATM . I think England will fancy chasing 350 the way its playing and given Monty is wicketless, Murali may struggle too.

I expect SL to declare at or just after Tea with a lead of 350-375 or at most 400.

 

[Dissector]

Yes this pitch has really belied expectations. It's hard for Sri Lanka to figure out the right total to declare. Although I have a feeling that it won't look quite so benign when Murali is bowling.

 

[social]

Yup. If they didn't think the slow wickets in SL suited Broad, I can't really see why they took him there at all. He may not have changed the result, but he woud have asked some different questions of their keeper during the crucial first innings stand. That being said, Sidebottom's been a big disappointment, even though he's been fairly economical in this innings.

I gather that Panesar hasn't bowled brilliantly, but, as you say, he's spent much of the game bowling at very good players of spin. A sad reminder for England fans that we just don't produce world class batsmen as good as KS. Haven't done for ages, actually.

Sidebottom has improved considerably as a bowler but, WI series aside (which was played in great bowling conditions and against a largely sub-standard opposition), he's averaging 50 in tests.

Bottom line is that he's not good enough yet to lead the attack.

Panesar is young and learning and these guys are great players of spin. However, at the end of the day he's just a finger spinner and they generally arent match-winners

 

[Laurrz]

i aint watching so dont know if its flat.. but i can almost guarantee when Murali has a bowl it will look like a minefield again