Sri Lanka 238-6 stumps
You don’t have to be Columbo to work out that Colombo test matches are usually uphill struggles for English teams. It doesn’t help when you lose the toss on a pitch that is already going through the top.
When I turned my TV on at 7.30 this morning, I was praying that we’d be batting. When I saw Jimmy Anderson running into bowl my heart sank. My pessimistic side told me that we were bound to lose already – even though only one session had been completed.
As always, the bowlers tried their heart out in the stifling heat. In normal conditions 238-6 would be a decent day for the fielding team. But we have to look at things in perspective – in other words, in the context of everything that’s happened to England this winter.
If Sri Lanka make anything close to 300 in their first innings, recent history suggests they’ll win by a country mile. England’s batsmen have all the confidence and authority of an Iraqi infantry unit at the moment. Can you see us getting much more than 200 tops in reply?
And what do you think we can realistically chase in the fourth innings? This pitch isn’t as good as the one in Galle. It’s already dying and breaking up. Heaven help the team that’s batting last.
After losing the toss, England’s best chance was to bowl Sri Lanka out cheaply and then score enough runs to ensure that we’d only have to bat once in the game.
When we reduced Sri Lanka to 30-3, it was game on. However, once again Mahela bloody Jayawardene closed the door in our faces. He’s a brilliant batsmen – and he’s singlehandedly carrying his limited team to a two nil series victory.
Sometimes there’s nothing you can do except applaud an opponent. His 105 was another elegant masterpiece – and it has left our batsmen staring down the barrel.
The bloke I feel really sorry for is Jimmy Anderson. Once again he bowled like a true champion. His control was exemplary and he extracted enough movement from the dead surface to trouble all the batsmen.
Jimmy picked up three wickets but he deserved more. He beat Mathews outside off stump a number of times, and he should have had Jayawardene caught at second slip too; it seemed apt that the man who dropped the catch was the beleaguered Strauss.
The batsmen have let Jimmy down throughout this winter. Ok, so they’ve got two more chances to redeem themselves in this match, but can you see anything being different 9th and 10th time around?
Jimmy and the other bowlers will have to face facts: the weather is hot, the pitch is turning, there isn’t a lot of bounce (so DRS will probably be a huge factor), nobody except Trott and Prior is in any kind of form, and England are batting last. In the word of Agent Smith, “it’s inevitable, Mr Anderson”.
James Morgan
