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

[marc71178]

Root/Ballance innings today were worse than useless. Dog**** slow 40s when you are chasing are worst then getting out cheaply/quickly.

Oh yes, clearly the best way to win when 2 down in the first 4 overs is to lose another 2 quick wickets.

 

[Maximas]

It depends on the team combination,Herath hasn't been a very effective ODI bowler so far. But like I said, if SL are looking for someone to keep things tight in the middle overs and bowl steadily then he is the man for it.

Hmm, I'd query this - he took 26 wickets from 17 matches at under 20 striking at just under 30 last year, and who could forget his spell of 5/3 against NZ in the world t20, he's more than a tie-up-an-end bowler these days, even in ODIs. While Mendis showed his value to the attack today by breaking the two big partnerships (although as you say seems he has more of a knack for taking wickets than an ability) he showed his limitations too, he doesn't have weapons to limit scoring when batsmen are picking him comfortably and conditions aren't assisting him.

 

[viriya]

I agree Mendis depends a lot on the novelty factor - if the conditions don't assist him batsmen pick him off and play him as a medium pace bowler and get away with it. In this match Herath would've done better considering someone like Buttler would prefer pace on the ball - they struggled to get Sena away late in the game but had an easier time with Mendis. He broke the crucial partnership but it wasn't really due to the bowling.

I think SL pick Mendis/Herath/Thisara depending on the conditions - and I think that's a fair strategy. Herath is not as used to the limited over formats but he has the experience to do well especially if the conditions suit him.

 

[Watson33]

Buttler will be to England's test team what Gilchrist was to Australia's. Mark my wards, screenshot this post if you have to. Unbelievable batting, but why he is in so late? Get him up the order where he doesn't have to come in and dig us out the dirt all the time! Well played to SL, Malinga and Kumar were too much. Really good ODI series so far and looking forward to the 5th!

 

[YorksLanka]

Well done to Sri Lanka on a deserved victory.great to see us performing to our potential again and the perfect response to our last match. Fantastic innings from Sanga..also huge well done to England for getting so close.awesome from butler and again.thoroughly deserved ton for him. Series decider Tuesday then. Lets hope the weather behaves. Goodluck to both teams but hoping for a win for Sri Lanka

 

[superkingdave]

Buttler will be to England's test team what Gilchrist was to Australia's. Mark my wards, screenshot this post if you have to. Unbelievable batting, but why he is in so late? Get him up the order where he doesn't have to come in and dig us out the dirt all the time! Well played to SL, Malinga and Kumar were too much. Really good ODI series so far and looking forward to the 5th!

See this is what i don't get, we are crying out for someone to be able score quickly at the end of the innings and when they do the call is to move them up the order. By all means be flexible on the match situation but we finally have a guy who can be effective down the order/at the end - don't change that, the answer is to find better players 1-5

 

[91Jmay]

Oh yes, clearly the best way to win when 2 down in the first 4 overs is to lose another 2 quick wickets.

You're right. 20 overs with no boundaries against decent but by no means great bowling was absolutely what we required chasing 300 with 6 overs of Malinga left

 

[Adders]

Jesus, didn't expect to see that scorecard when I woke up!!

I've come to realise that I'm a curse to English cricket and for Queen and Country I need to just stop watching us play. I struggled to stay awake last night and was dozing/half watching right up to Roots wicket before I finally turned the TV off........it's like the boys said, righto he's gone now lets start having a crack at this.

Watched most of Durham and this Lords game and missed all of the Oval and Old Trafford..........why does England hate me

Anyway, well done Jos. I honestly haven't seen that much of him but what I have he's been tidy behind the stumps. Obviously there must be some question marks over his keeping but if Prior isn't fit for the test series then I'd much rather see him in than Bairstow or any of the other candidates.

Malinga was just a class above in his first spell last night.

 

[Migara]

Why wouldn't Herath be a good option for ODIs? He doesn't have the fancy tricks but he's very accurate and his subtle variations make him difficult to get away, his ability to bowl to plans allows him to take wickets too

Nah, Mendis is not accurate at all. That is why he is getting pasted, and what ever wickets he take are not top order wickets. Herath is much more accurate, and takes pitch in to his account, which Senanayake fails to do. The best bet was Randiv, who had variations in addition to giving it a good tweak. Unfortunately getting on the wrong end of selectors and the Sehwag-gate has curtailed his chances. I would still invest on Randiv and Kaushal, because the flat, bouncy tracks in Australia will be difficult for Mendis and Herath, who depend on sliding balls and spin respectively to take wickets. Randiv and Senanayake are well known to produce disconcerting bounce so they will be less affected. PHT Kaushal in more Murali-esque, with plenty of mystery and spin with him, and once again will be better suited for unresponsive tracks.

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Randiv is crap

 

[Maximas]

No he's not, he was dropped after a decent year of test cricket and his ODI record is ok as well, given his ability to impart significant overspin on the ball while also being quite accurate he would've been a good choice with the WC in mind given the bounce he gets. Since being dropped he's had a good domestic season in both formats.

 

[YorksLanka]

I agree , randhiv was a decent bowler and was only dropped imho due to the incident with sehwag..personally i didnt get what Prasad did wrong to be dropped as i thought he bowled reallywell at Durham and also at a lively pace..not sure about ajantha, yes he can be dangerousbut he also has a tendancy to go for a lot easily...Priyanjan seemed to bowl ok or there is always Prasanna(although i am not sure if he is in the odi squad of the top of my head)..I like the idea of Thirri going back into the middle order. KP is still learning his game as the opener but he needs to given more chances and yes he will fail , but thats in the way he plays the game- similar to Sanath but he just doesnt have Sanath's consistency yet..

 

[Maximas]

The idea that the Sehwag incident led Randiv being dropped is extremely erroneous tbh, he was playing ODIs until a year later and was playing test matches as late as November 2012.

 

[Migara]

Randiv is crap

Last time when a commentator said that he took 5/42 in an ODI.

 

[Migara]

The idea that the Sehwag incident led Randiv being dropped is extremely erroneous tbh, he was playing ODIs until a year later and was playing test matches as late as November 2012.

Nothing explains why he is being dropped consistently while Ajantha Mendis, who is even carted around by Bangladeshis gets a regular look in.

 

[Maximas]

You can say that (unfairly discarded/ignored) for a bunch of players from a bunch of countries - ever heard of Steve O'Keefe?

 

[ohnoitsyou]

Last time when a commentator said that he took 5/42 in an ODI.

Was average against NZ and sure that was a while back but he surely can't be Sri Lankas second best spinner

 

[Maximas]

He'd done well against England and Pakistan before that though, Sri Lankan spin stocks apart from Herath aren't actually that great atm, Randiv is certainly better than Dilruwan Perera and Ajantha Mendis, and in fact may well be our second best spinner

 

[Furball]

He'd done well against England and Pakistan before that though, Sri Lankan spin stocks apart from Herath aren't actually that great atm, Randiv is certainly better than Dilruwan Perera and Ajantha Mendis, and in fact may well be our second best spinner

When?

 

[Maximas]

earlyish 2012 on that 2 test tour England made to Sri Lanka, he took 6 wickets at Galle, although he did struggle in the next test now that I look back on the scorecards.