To be fair to Monty Jatawardene had scored most of his runs at that point, but hopefully we can knock over the last two wickets cheaply tomorrow and get batting. England will need a decent first innings score as that wicket tends to deteriorate rapidly.
A good 50 or more than we would have hoped at 128-5.
All is not lost if we finish them off for under 300.
But for Jayawardene we would already be batting, he always bats well at Galle and it does have a reputation for being batsman friendly, Gayle scored a triple hundred there a couple of years ago and getting Sangakarra first ball was a plus.
Sri Lanka 318 all out. Anderson took 5 to take him to 5th place in Englands all time Test wicket taking list. Just Underwood, Trueman, Willis and Botham ahead of him now.
We are not making a great fist of it. 43/3, Cook, Strauss and Trott all out.
92/6. A sense of deja vu beckons. What is it with England which means that we can't bat in Asia? It's not as if Sri Lankan bowling is something to be feared
Strange innings. The batsman couldn't bat (apart from Bell). Yet Broad, Swann, Anderson & Monty were hitting plenty of 4's & didn't look in much trouble. I know new ball etc. However, at this stage the pitch looks perfectly decent.
Yeah, knew that would happen. Every time I make a comment that we're doing ok, a wicket falls. Just like if I walk out the room a wicket falls or I miss a goal if the footie's on. It really is uncanny.
48/4, Swanny finding some turn. Maybe it's all to play for? This won't last five days, that's for sure. I reckonwe need to be positive against spin but not reckless. Bell showed what can be done.
SL 214 all out. England need 340 to win, the highest ever by England to win a test match. It could have been 293 to win as Broad made a c&b, but batsman was recalled as Broad had no balled.
Comments
All is not lost if we finish them off for under 300.
But for Jayawardene we would already be batting, he always bats well at Galle and it does have a reputation for being batsman friendly, Gayle scored a triple hundred there a couple of years ago and getting Sangakarra first ball was a plus.
We are not making a great fist of it. 43/3, Cook, Strauss and Trott all out.
It's harder to stay at No.1 than to get there..
Monty is on his way in. I'll say God help us (so hopefully that way he will get some runs)
191-9. Tea delayed as Anderson 22 Panesar 12.
http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1970S/1977/ENG_LOCAL/CC/GLAM_WORCS_CC_29JUN-01JUL1977.html
even if we do get them out for around 50 more runs, our batting looks woeful.
That's a great scorecard Chirpy!
Countdowns on