**Official** Sri Lanka in England / Scotland - 2011

[Jayzamann]

Nicely done Swanneh

And again!

Finns wickets coming at 26 runs apiece...

 

[Woodster]

Top hands from Swanny, good bowling from Finn, on the verge of a five-for now.

The angle he's delivering the ball from and the seam he's getting to straighten the ball makes that delivery a difficult one to negotiate.

 

[Uppercut]

Finn bowls a lot of dross but you definitely wouldn't say he doesn't deserve his wickets, he's been beating the bat and taking edges all innings in between all the pies.

 

[Spark]

Finn bowls a lot of dross but you definitely wouldn't say he doesn't deserve his wickets, he's been beating the bat and taking edges all innings in between all the pies.

I'm willing to bet that of the three he has the most full balls.

EDIT: Hmm Welegedara must have a severe case of rabbit syndrome if he's coming behind Fernando and Lakmal...

 

[Uppercut]

I'm willing to bet that of the three he has the most full balls.

You can check. Cricinfo hawkeye.

He's also particularly dangerous when he does drift full because his natural length keeps the batsman on the back foot. Subcontinent batsmen especially. I wonder how India will play him.

 

[Jacknife]

Ohhhh! Straight through the helmet, good bouncer.

 

[Spark]

Wow, that's a catch and a half.

 

[Jacknife]

Another good catch by Strauss this time, purely instinctive.

 

[Woodster]

Excellent snaffle from Strauss and good bowling again from Swann.

 

[Jayzamann]

Wouldn't revolutions per second be more appropriate to measure than revolutions per minute? It might be spinning quickly but it doesn't spin for all that long...

 

[wpdavid]

Yes said he hoped so if England have real aspirations of becoming the number one side in the world, and after what happened at Cardiff. Fair comment really.

Dunno about that, unless he thinks England can rattle up 350 by lunchtime tomorrow.

 

[Spark]

Finn sledging is lol (just ask Swann)

 

[Uppercut]

Not a big fan of bowling short to tail-enders. Batsmen this poor just probably won't get a bat on it.

 

[Spark]

Not a big fan of bowling short to tail-enders. Batsmen this poor just probably won't get a bat on it.

I call it the Mitchell Johnson school of thought on bowling to the tail.

Suffice to say the name suggests it may not be the most effective method.

 

[hazsa19]

Not a big fan of bowling short to tail-enders. Batsmen this poor just probably won't get a bat on it.

If top order batsmen get out to line ad length bowling why wouldn't tail enders?

Should have tried half an hour of short stuff when Dilshan was 150 n.o.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Finn once more gets wickets, doesn't seem to matter how badly he bowls he bowls enough wicket taking deliveries to make his figures look respectable unlike Broad who never seems to get wickets.

Bat sensibly for the rest of today and they should be 150-200 in front by the close and they can have a thrash to get 300+ in front before lunch then see if Sri Lanka fancy it on day 5 again.

Unlikely to have a result but we said that in Cardiff.

 

[Woodster]

Dunno about that, unless he thinks England can rattle up 350 by lunchtime tomorrow.

Pretty sure 350 is not the kind of figure they'd have in mind, depends how many overs they leave. It might just be 40 overs to have a go at them, in which case 350 would be far too many to keep SL interested and going for it. The best sides sometimes risk a defeat in order to win the game, now I don't think that's necessarily the Flower/Strauss mindset, especially with us being 1-0 up, but a tempting declaration is a possibility surely.

 

[Jacknife]

Didn't overtake England's score, good fight back from England.

 

[Spark]

So despite how terribly they have bowled and all, England still have a first innings lead, somehow.

 

[Athlai]

Not surprised at all by this collapse. Sri Lanka is incredibly top heavy.