England turn tables

When Sri Lanka won the opening ODI in this series in progress, their performance was so convincing, it seemed almost certain that they would sweep the board in the five match series. England seemed to lack the players with ability to beat the seasoned Sr Lankans in their own den.

In terms of experience England are very raw. Without Andrew Flintoff they are weakened even further. The one difference from most England teams of recent times, is that this lot don’t give in without a fight. They have sufficient mental strength to get-up when they’re knocked down and come back fighting.

Sri Lanka were punched in the second game and have not been able to bounce back. Since beating England 5-0 in England last year, they have not had spells where they have been down and out for long. Even they have looked in the game and are capable of coming back any time.

England got the opportunity to bounce back in the second game as there was a different advantage in batting first, that day in Dambulla. Sri Lanka lost by a margin of 65 runs, the batsmen played poorly and have not been able to recover.

The third game in Dambulla was a crucial one. The theory was that batting first meant it was almost good enough to win the match. That did not happen. The Sri LAnkans who thrived on patient batting in the first game, this time could not get two players to graft and get big fifties and two or three others to play supporting roles. They could not construct partnerships. Only T.M. Dilshan with seventy runs played purposefully. It was one of his batters innings in the many ODI’s that he has played.
It was a difficult pitch to bat on, no doubt. Not one that was best for one day cricket. If it looked like Sri Lanka had not got enough then, that certainly did not look the case and when the seventh English wicket fell they still seemed in with a chance. All the top order batsmen were back in the hut. How well Sidebottom and Broad batted. Son of former opening batsmen and son of match referee Chris Broad, the youngster who is in his early twenties, could well turn out to being a quality bowling allrounder. Although both players lack in experience, they played with a lot of maturity. They paced their innings and slowly but steadily got close to the target. The total was not big enough and so it was a second win for England.

It was felt that conditions were more what the Sri Lankans preferred. The ideal pace and not much bounce, permitting for their type of stroke lay. The start was not the ideal with both openers jayasuriya and Tharanga, failing to mark it to double figures. The openers being separated early has been one of Sri Lanka’s woe’s in recent times. Either both or one has got out early and has made the task for Sangakkara and Jayasuriya tougher.

Sangakkara played a fighting innings. He has not been making big runs, in the World Cup and thereafter. He had to toil for runs. This again was slow. Perhaps too slow. He and Chamara Silva repaired the innings for the home team, but had to work really hard to get runs. Both got out at crucial times. One of them had to stay to the end to get Sri Lanka close to 250 runs. In the end they were 30 runs or fifty short.

Again, England paced their innings well. During this series a number of their players have made valuable contributions towards the team’s cause. This time it was Kevin Pieterson. He stayed to the end and helped England win the match and the series.For Sri Lanka a good spell has ended. They are a team with good players, Now it is time to introduce some fresh blood. Look at new options, before its too late!