Sri Lanka v England

[An Tarbh]

Test series under way in Kandi today with England very much in charge. Excellent performance with the ball from England, even better considering they lost the toss, quality effort from Hoggard early in the day and backed up well by Panesar. Sangakara again proving what a class act he is with his innings.

Methinks though that Murali will have plenty to say tomorrow.

 

[An Tarbh]

Poor enough decision for Vaughan when being given out, you don't usually get those mistakes from the likes of Dar, who's up there with the best umpires.

Murali on the prowl now, 2 wickets and he's definitely sensing that record.

Decent effort from Bell as well and it certainly took a great catch from Silva to deny him from going on and making a century.

England 145-3 at lunch.

 

[dobrien7]

Well Murali's tied for the record now...

 

[An Tarbh]

Shouldn't take him long to get the record for himself given the condition of the pitch, assuming Jayawardene actually gives him the ball at the start of play unlike today.

 

[leicester fox]

Got Coly for the record, boring first session, wasn't worth getting up for.

 

[BokMagic]

Pretty tense stuff thus far- Sri Lanka 70-odd ahead, with 8 wickets standing. Anybody`s game really, although batting 4th on this wicket, facing Murali, could be interesting, to say the least. So probably advantage SL right now, if they bat properly on day 4. But a pivotal day it`ll be regardless, whoever gets the honours tomorrow will probably take the 1st test.

Congrats to Murali on the record too. He`s still got a good 3-5 years left in him, might even end up with 1,000+ once he finishes. Can`t see too many bowlers getting anywhere close to that over the next 10-15 years.

 

[BokMagic]

And what a fecking brilliant match it was! After some early panick by England on the final day, Bell, Prior and to a lesser extent Bopara got them right back in it. At the start of the final hour, England needed 100-odd runs, Sri Lanka needed 4 wickets. So any one of 3 results very much still on the cards.

In the end, the previously wicketless (in the 4th innings) Murali just proved too much, picking up 3 wickets, including both Bell and Prior, to win the match with less than 20 minutes to go. Knife-edge stuff.

 

[An Tarbh]

Hard to say who has the edge after day 1 with England 258-5, Cook and Vaughan both failing to go and get their centuries, day also marred by some dodgy decisions by Daryl Harper in Cook's lbw and Pietersen's dismissal.

 

[BokMagic]

Still pretty much even stevens after day 2, England dismissed for 351, and Sri Lanka 102/2 in reply. Sangakkara`s gone for 1 though, big wicket for Sidebottom. So once again day 3 seems to be the pivotal one for this test.