Grievous fielding, followed by a deplorable display of batting left Sri Lanka in dire straits in their second Test against England at Chester-le-Street in Durham.
In response to England’s 498/9, the visitors were wobbling on 91/8 at the close of day 2.
Resuming from their overnight score of 310/6, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes spearheaded the operation, adding 79 runs before their 92 run was broken by Suranga Lakmal when Woakes departed for 39.
A sitter by Dinesh Chandimal behind stumps led Woakes have a lifeline earlier in the day, while Kusal Mendis took gloves as it seemed that Chandimal was clearly struggling with a finger injury.
Ali, who was dropped on 36 by Dimuth Karunaratne, capitalized on the woeful fielding as he throttled towards his second Test century against Sri Lanka. A complete contrast to day 1, the dismal fielding continued to haunt Sri Lanka as Ali was dropped again on 103, this time by Milinda Siriwardana at deep-square leg.
Ali cemented one end, as England annexed a further 109 for the next two wickets amassing 498/9 at declaration. Gifted with two lives and oozing with credence, Moeen Ali projected his trademark stroke play with sheer precision maneuvering his inning to a sturdy 155 while Rangana Herath claimed his 300th Test wicket with a return catch removing Steven Finn. Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors, with 4 for 107.
With a daunting task ahead of them, openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva commenced the innings for Sri Lanka. James Anderson struck in the 3rd over, rattling Dimuth Karunaratne around his legs for 9 while Kusal Mendis joined Kaushal Silva to revive the cheerless foundation.
However, the 34-run partnership was cut short as Jonny Bairstow took a brilliant low catch to dismiss Kaushal Silva for 1. Silva was followed by Dinseh Chandimal who perished for 4 with a simple catch to Alistair Cook at first slip.
Chris Woakes came in and bowled a superb 7-over spell claiming 3 wickets for just 9 runs; skipper Angelo Mathews was caught-behind for 4, even the DRS could not save him while Mendis who was gripping the innings together was subdued at 35 and Siriwardana returned without bothering the scorers.
At 67/6, Lahiru Thirimanne and Rangana Herath took the responsibility of giving a ray of hope to the crumbling innings. Later, Broad’s double in the 39th over saw the end of the 21-run stand that came in 98 balls, Sri Lanka’s longest stand in the series.
England’s excellent teamwork narrated its own tale three deliveries later, when a fast flying chance to James Vince was secured by Joe Root on the rebound at slips to remove Shaminda Eranga.
With over 200 runs more required to save themselves from a follow on, it is highly unlikely that Sri Lanka would be able to come back into this game.
Did Angelo Mathews’ field placing’s helped England’s cause? State your opinion below.
