Root Leads England Revival
By Three Lions
January 23 2021
Sri Lanka 381 England 98/2
Captain Joe Root led the England revival ending the day on 67 not out with Jonny Bairstow alongside him 24 not out. That took England to 98/2 at close having been 5/2 after losing both openers cheaply again after Sri Lanka opted to open with spin.
All ten Sri Lanka wickets fell to pace as Curran took the tenth as Wood took 3 but the absolute pick of the England bowling was 38 year old Jimmy Anderson who finished with remarkable figures of 6 wickets for 40 runs from 29 overs.
England will be hopeful of matching Sri Lanka’s first innings score as the pitch is likely to deteriorate and become more spin friendly as the game goes on. Batting last to save the game on day five could be a tricky task but if England get a good first innings total then a draw seems inevitable.
If the openers continue to fail then there could be a shock recall for Keaton Jennings for the second half of the India trip. We all know that ‘Jennings cannot play’ but in his defence he actually plays spin well and has done well in this part of the world.
Seeing the continued struggles of Sibley and Crawley, England could already be ruing the decision to rest Bairstow for the first two games against India especially with how little cricket Burns will have played. However the return of Stokes will deepen the batting order.
Stats:
|
BOWLING |
O |
M |
R |
W |
ECON |
WD |
NB |
|
29 |
13 |
40 |
6 |
1.38 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
18.3 |
3 |
60 |
1 |
3.24 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
38 |
5 |
119 |
0 |
3.13 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
28 |
4 |
84 |
3 |
3.00 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
26 |
2 |
76 |
0 |
2.92 |
0 |
0 |
England 1st INNINGS
|
BATSMEN |
|
R |
B |
4s |
6s |
SR |
|
c Thirimanne b Embuldeniya |
5 |
24 |
1 |
0 |
20.83 |
|
|
lbw b Embuldeniya |
0 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
0.00 |
|
|
not out |
24 |
65 |
4 |
0 |
36.92 |
|
|
not out |
67 |
77 |
10 |
0 |
87.01 |
|
|
Extras |
(b 2) |
2 |
||||
|
TOTAL |
(30 Ov, RR: 3.26) |
98/2 |
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