***Official*** Sri Lanka in England and Ireland 2014

[viriya]

Upul Tharanga should be opening in Eng - I think he has displeased the powers that be in SL because his record in Eng and vs Eng is very good, the selectors have just dumped him for no good reason.

 

[91Jmay]

Great comeback from Jordan. Top start this, I hope they give Anderson another over.

 

[viriya]

With Sanga gone, I suspect this game won't last that long.

 

[91Jmay]

3 slips and a short leg. BUT COOK IS REALLY NEGATIVE.

 

[viriya]

SL would have to do well to get to 220 from here..Pitch is supposed to take up spin and Sena + Herath could make things interesting if they do..

 

[King Pietersen]

That was such a bad shot. With that field it just wasn't on. Pretty bad delivery, rank wide half volley, but an even worse shot.

 

[91Jmay]

That's a bonus, bit of a wide pie from Jordan. Need to keep them under 200 because whilst its coming on to the bat this is a helpful pitch for the bowlers. England have bowled superbly so far though.

 

[viriya]

Chandimal gives it away unsurprisingly.. That 50+ average will ensure that he wastes a place in the Test matches too..

 

[viriya]

4/over till the 40th over then 6/over will get SL to 201.. looks to be too much of an ask now though.

 

[wpdavid]

That was such a bad shot. With that field it just wasn't on. Pretty bad delivery, rank wide half volley, but an even worse shot.

There is a theory doing the rounds that Jordan's got into their heads a bit, especially judging by the reaction the SL fielders gave him on Sunday.

Either that or they're trying to be really clever and kid everyone that they don't fancy his pace so that he plays in the tests ahead of someone better.

Not that I'm entirely sure who our better option for 3rd quick would be right now.

 

[wpdavid]

4/over till the 40th over then 6/over will get SL to 201.. looks to be too much of an ask now though.

These two are good enough to set up a respectable total.

And both sides know that England won't fancy chasing anything much over 200 if Kulasekara gets among the top order again.

 

[91Jmay]

Good take from Jossington. Think he is a pretty reliable keeper to the quicks now, but against spin he needs to develop.

 

[theegyptian]

With the lineup England select it's always going to be hard to capitalise on these starts and roll over the opposition for really low scores. Tredwell and Bopara as 4th and 5th bowlers are containing bowlers and can be milked fairly easily and with low risk. More often than not the opposition will get to a below average but competitive total from this kind of scenario.

Dunno why if counts as one bouncer for the over when it's called a wide. Surely that shouldn't count towards the 2 permissible bouncers an over.

I notice the commentators are keen on Jordan doing something with his runup. Whilst there can definitely be improvement I think the England setup are going to be reticent to do anything with Jordan for a while given the problems they've had with trying to remodel Finn's action and runup. Rightly so given the amount of cricket coming up, the lack of alternatives and the difficulty in changing someones ingrained runup in a short period.

 

[91Jmay]

Tricky Tredders strikes again. That looked plumb.

 

[King Pietersen]

With the lineup England select it's always going to be hard to capitalise on these starts and roll over the opposition for really low scores. Tredwell and Bopara as 4th and 5th bowlers are containing bowlers and can be milked fairly easily and with low risk. More often than not the opposition will get to a below average but competitive total from this kind of scenario.

Nice anti-jinx. Tredders first ball, and he picks up Mahela.

 

[Cabinet96]

Stuck with Tredwell

 

[viriya]

There goes any hope of a respectable total.. Careless from Mahela.

 

[Cabinet96]

With the lineup England select it's always going to be hard to capitalise on these starts and roll over the opposition for really low scores. Tredwell and Bopara as 4th and 5th bowlers are containing bowlers and can be milked fairly easily and with low risk. More often than not the opposition will get to a below average but competitive total from this kind of scenario.

Yep, biggest cost of moving from five bowlers to four.

 

[viriya]

The question now is, will SL beat Eng's 99?

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Good start, need to kill them off though now.