Before play started...: Sri Lanka started well after winning the toss and sticking England in, but the hosts fought back as honours were even after Day 1
Where did it all go wrong for Sri Lanka?: Bowled (and fielded) very poorly as England raced along to lunch, probably adding 50-70 more runs then they should have been allowed to.
Where did it all go right for Sri Lanka?: The big partnership keeping them well in this match
Where did it all go wrong for England?: The bowling was erratic and not particularly threatening.
Where did it all go right for England?: The late order runs (at a great pace) in the morning meant realistically England shouldn't lose.
Who won each session?: Morning - England. Afternoon and Evening - Sri Lanka.
Who's winning the game?: Always favour runs on the board, but with Dilshan in and Sri Lanka only 200-odd behind, they could get a handy first innings lead.
Shot of the day: Paranavitana creaming Finn through the covers for an exquisite four. Punishing.
Ball of the day: One of the ones from Broad's first over, or Tremlett's to Dilshan which lifted sharply and hit the thumb. But not a great day for the bowlers otherwise...
Man of the day: Tillakaratne Dilshan - a glorious hundred which was just what his team needed after a collapse at Cardiff and conceding plenty in the first innings. (Props too to Matt Prior for completing the hundred)
Mug(s) of the day: The bowlers. It wasn't a great day to turn your arm over.
Short Midwicket Name Drops of the Day: Monty Panesar. Weirdly, not at the cricket, but outside Lush at Victoria Station. He looked surprised to be recognised on a day out in London with wifey.
Showing posts with label Tharanga Paranavitana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tharanga Paranavitana. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Day Two at Cardiff
Before play started...: A lot of rain yesterday. Runs for Dilshan and Paranavitana, before a couple of English wickets to keep them interested at the end.
Where did it all go wrong for Sri Lanka?: Didn't look great with the ball at the end of the day.
Where did it all go right for Sri Lanka?: A lot of their guys made runs, and they made 400. Very good effort. And nipped Strauss out at the end.
Where did it all go wrong for England?: Anderson aside didn't look too threatening, and didn't apply enough pressure in the field thanks to some sloppy bowling. Broad especially.
Where did it all go right for England?: Got Sri Lanka out (eventually), and 400 on this pitch is no huge disaster, as proved by Strauss and Cook looking very assured at the end. Apart from, well, Strauss getting out with about a minute to go.
Who won each session?: Morning - Evens. Afternoon - Sri Lanka. Evening - Probably England.
Who's winning the game?: You can't argue with runs on the board, and Sri Lanka will be happy to have them. But with England still looking more than likely to knock them down, plus the overs lost to the rain, the draw is still favourite.
Shot of the day: Perera lofting Broad back over his head. Not bad for a test debutant. Honourable mention to Cook hoicking Lakmal for four with the now copyrighted "Alastair Cook Slog-Sweep".
Ball of the day: Anderson to Mahela - softened him up with 5 on-the-money away-swingers before an in-nipper that he couldn't help but edge.
Man of the day: For making a nicely paced hundred, Prassana Jayawardene. The only Sri Lankan of the 4 to pass 50 to go on and convert, which took the Sri Lankans to a very useful 400.
Mug of the day: Broad. A frustrating day where he couldn't hit his lengths and didn't look all too threatening. Looked very undercooked and hardly a day to remember.
Where did it all go wrong for Sri Lanka?: Didn't look great with the ball at the end of the day.
Where did it all go right for Sri Lanka?: A lot of their guys made runs, and they made 400. Very good effort. And nipped Strauss out at the end.
Where did it all go wrong for England?: Anderson aside didn't look too threatening, and didn't apply enough pressure in the field thanks to some sloppy bowling. Broad especially.
Where did it all go right for England?: Got Sri Lanka out (eventually), and 400 on this pitch is no huge disaster, as proved by Strauss and Cook looking very assured at the end. Apart from, well, Strauss getting out with about a minute to go.
Who won each session?: Morning - Evens. Afternoon - Sri Lanka. Evening - Probably England.
Who's winning the game?: You can't argue with runs on the board, and Sri Lanka will be happy to have them. But with England still looking more than likely to knock them down, plus the overs lost to the rain, the draw is still favourite.
Shot of the day: Perera lofting Broad back over his head. Not bad for a test debutant. Honourable mention to Cook hoicking Lakmal for four with the now copyrighted "Alastair Cook Slog-Sweep".
Ball of the day: Anderson to Mahela - softened him up with 5 on-the-money away-swingers before an in-nipper that he couldn't help but edge.
Man of the day: For making a nicely paced hundred, Prassana Jayawardene. The only Sri Lankan of the 4 to pass 50 to go on and convert, which took the Sri Lankans to a very useful 400.
Mug of the day: Broad. A frustrating day where he couldn't hit his lengths and didn't look all too threatening. Looked very undercooked and hardly a day to remember.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Day One At Cardiff
Before play started...: England, on the back of winning the Ashes and generally being half decent at tests were favourites, but wary of a Sri Lankan side that are a lot better than some are making out...
Where did it all go wrong for Sri Lanka?: Probably before the game started, with Pradeep and Fernando being ruled out. Big losses to a fairly weak bowling attack.
Where did it all go right for Sri Lanka?: Paranavitana looking very assured in a very good opening partnership with Dilshan.
Where did it all go wrong for England?: The bowlers (Broad especially) failed to hit the right areas consistently and generally looked a tad undercooked.
Where did it all go right for England?: Getting two of the "big three" in Dilshan and Sangakkara out.
Who won each session?: Afternoon - Sri Lanka. Evening - honours even. (The morning session, of course, being won by rain).
Who's winning the game?: After so much rain, and with both sides fielding very strong batting line ups, the draw is certainly the favourite. Sri Lanka probably in the more comfortable positions of the teams.
Shot of the day: Dilshan smacking a wide one from Broad for four. Punished.
Ball of the day: The ball that Anderson got Sangakkara with. It may not have been a wicket, but it was a beauty.
Man of the day: The wonderfully named Tharanga Paranavitana, who looked very assured and controlled. Props too to Chris Tremlett, who was the proverbial pick of the bowlers.
Where did it all go wrong for Sri Lanka?: Probably before the game started, with Pradeep and Fernando being ruled out. Big losses to a fairly weak bowling attack.
Where did it all go right for Sri Lanka?: Paranavitana looking very assured in a very good opening partnership with Dilshan.
Where did it all go wrong for England?: The bowlers (Broad especially) failed to hit the right areas consistently and generally looked a tad undercooked.
Where did it all go right for England?: Getting two of the "big three" in Dilshan and Sangakkara out.
Who won each session?: Afternoon - Sri Lanka. Evening - honours even. (The morning session, of course, being won by rain).
Who's winning the game?: After so much rain, and with both sides fielding very strong batting line ups, the draw is certainly the favourite. Sri Lanka probably in the more comfortable positions of the teams.
Shot of the day: Dilshan smacking a wide one from Broad for four. Punished.
Ball of the day: The ball that Anderson got Sangakkara with. It may not have been a wicket, but it was a beauty.
Man of the day: The wonderfully named Tharanga Paranavitana, who looked very assured and controlled. Props too to Chris Tremlett, who was the proverbial pick of the bowlers.
England v Sri Lanka Series Preview
OK, I may have left the series preview a little late, as everything that could have been written about this series has already been said. However, it's not like me to miss out on anything England related, so I'm throwing my hat into the ring with this effort.
From what's been written already, a lot of people are assuming England just need to turn up and the series win will be sorted. A lot of people are seriously underestimating this Sri Lankan side. Yes, there may be no Murali or Malinga, but there is an awful lot of strength there. Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene would walk straight into most people's World XI, and are a rather frightening prospect for England at 2, 3 and 4. Opening the innings with Dilshan will be the superbly named Tharanga Paranavitana, who may have a modest test record but already boasts two hundreds in two games this tour. Thilan Samaraweera is oft forgotten, but he averages 54 in tests. And new boy Dinesh Chandimal is scarily talented and could really announce himself this series. If all goes as expected, there are a lot of runs in this Sri Lankan side.
The bowling, however, may be a different story. The loss of Muralitheran and Malinga is well documented, and with a very inexperienced bowling line up playing in very foreign English conditions, taking 20 wickets could be a rather large challenge.
There's been a lot of hyping about England this series, with much of it probably undeserved. Yes, England have performed well over the past two years, but that should be tempered by remembering that England were taking on sides who were certainly not at their peak. Much of the Ashes success was due to keeping the "big players" quiet with carefully thought out plans, but with so many "big players" in that Sri Lankan top order, it could be a tall order. While England's attack does look strong, on the roads that Cardiff and the Rose Bowl have likely prepared in order to maximise revenue, taking enough wickets could too be a struggle.
In his two warm-up games as captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan certainly proved to be a bold and adventerous captain, and by leading his team to a win after following on agains the Lions, appears to have fostered a never-say-die attitude. Objectively, Sri Lanka have the stronger batting, but England have a better all-round team. My only concern would be that neither side will have enough to fire the others out twice, which will probably lead to some very high scoring draws. I would guess that only if a couple of people had blinders with the ball we would see results, and as England have the better bowlers (and because I'm biased) if I had to stick my neck out I'd go for an England win. But, my overall series preview in a nutshell would be that it will be much closer than people are expecting...
Random Match Predictions
1st Test: Cardiff - England by 73 runs (MOM Strauss)
2nd Test: Lord's - England by 3 wickets (MOM Bell)
3rd Test: Rose Bowl - Draw (MOM Sangakkara)
From what's been written already, a lot of people are assuming England just need to turn up and the series win will be sorted. A lot of people are seriously underestimating this Sri Lankan side. Yes, there may be no Murali or Malinga, but there is an awful lot of strength there. Dilshan, Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene would walk straight into most people's World XI, and are a rather frightening prospect for England at 2, 3 and 4. Opening the innings with Dilshan will be the superbly named Tharanga Paranavitana, who may have a modest test record but already boasts two hundreds in two games this tour. Thilan Samaraweera is oft forgotten, but he averages 54 in tests. And new boy Dinesh Chandimal is scarily talented and could really announce himself this series. If all goes as expected, there are a lot of runs in this Sri Lankan side.
The bowling, however, may be a different story. The loss of Muralitheran and Malinga is well documented, and with a very inexperienced bowling line up playing in very foreign English conditions, taking 20 wickets could be a rather large challenge.
There's been a lot of hyping about England this series, with much of it probably undeserved. Yes, England have performed well over the past two years, but that should be tempered by remembering that England were taking on sides who were certainly not at their peak. Much of the Ashes success was due to keeping the "big players" quiet with carefully thought out plans, but with so many "big players" in that Sri Lankan top order, it could be a tall order. While England's attack does look strong, on the roads that Cardiff and the Rose Bowl have likely prepared in order to maximise revenue, taking enough wickets could too be a struggle.
In his two warm-up games as captain, Tillakaratne Dilshan certainly proved to be a bold and adventerous captain, and by leading his team to a win after following on agains the Lions, appears to have fostered a never-say-die attitude. Objectively, Sri Lanka have the stronger batting, but England have a better all-round team. My only concern would be that neither side will have enough to fire the others out twice, which will probably lead to some very high scoring draws. I would guess that only if a couple of people had blinders with the ball we would see results, and as England have the better bowlers (and because I'm biased) if I had to stick my neck out I'd go for an England win. But, my overall series preview in a nutshell would be that it will be much closer than people are expecting...
Random Match Predictions
1st Test: Cardiff - England by 73 runs (MOM Strauss)
2nd Test: Lord's - England by 3 wickets (MOM Bell)
3rd Test: Rose Bowl - Draw (MOM Sangakkara)
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