ENG vs SL | Twitter reacts to chase master Root eclipse Lankan grit to gain series lead

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal’s gritty knocks were overshadowed by Joe Root and Jamie Smith’s impactful knocks coupled with England’s first innings lead. They chased down a 205-run target with five wickets in hand, leading the three-match series by 1-0 before heading to London.

The overnight batters, Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal started from where they left the previous day. The pair kept the scorecard ticking with minimum assistance on offer for the home-side bowlers. Eventually, Chandimal got off to a fifty by the first hour of play with the eight-wicket stand surpassing the fifty-mark. As Kamindu touched the 90-run mark, the partnership grew to 85 and rain intervened in the session, causing a stoppage of play. Following a brief pause in play, the session resumed with England getting the second new ball to play with but Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson failed to make any difference. Kamindu scored his third test ton eventually and the score reflecting 291/6 at the stroke of Lunch.

The pair resumed proceedings by punishing the looseners from the English bowlers and trying to negate the hardness of the second new cherry. However, sticking to a disciplined line paved the way for Gus Atkinson as Kamindu (113) nicked the outside edge to the keeper, concluding a 117-run seventh wicket stand. The tailenders followed suit in quick succession as Sri Lanka got folded for 326 with a lead of 204 runs. 

England openers, Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence failed to get off to a stable start as the former was outdone by Asitha Fernando in the sixth over despite a survival in the second over. Ollie Pope failed with the bat but Lawrence’s 34 kept England in the hunt before Milan Ratnayake got the better of him in the 16th over. Subsequently, Joe Root and Harry Brook negated the Lankan spinners until Tea with the score reading 82/3.

The hosts opted for an anti-bazball approach in the third session with Root and Brook dead-batting the ball frequently. With a steady approach, the home side surpassed the 100-run mark after the 28th over with the pair stitching a 49-run stand. A slight grip off the surface helped Prabath Jayasuriya to gift himself a caught and bowled wicket by removing Brook for 32 in the 35th over. Jamie Smith entered the fray and kept milking along with Root with the score 139/4 in 44 overs at the stroke of Drinks. With time, the scoring rate increased as Jamie switched gears to attack the opposition. With the deficit coming under 25, Jamie rushed for scoring strokes and eventually got cleaned up by Asitha Fernando in the 51st over. This did slow down the innings with the Lankans setting up for an aggressive field. However, Root knit a fifty and ensured that his side go past the finishing line with five wickets in hand and go one-up in the series.

One of the great

Hilarious

Only mistake

Good craft

Breakthrough

Good catch

Might work

Rescued

Great knock

Guture stars

 

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