And here’s some post-close of play reading. Mike Selvey’s day three report:
And Vic Marks on Steven Finn’s travails:
Thanks for joining us today for a spirited effort from Sri Lanka with the bat. The Test spills over into Bank Holiday Monday. Tune in tomorrow!
Updated
STUMPS
84th over: Sri Lanka 309-5 (Chandimal 54, Siriwardana 35)
A bit of an all-over-the-place Broad over ends with four byes and then a yorker that is dug out well by Siriwardana. The match moves into a fourth day, which is good going. England’s lead is 88.
Robin Halzehurst has a dream: “Wouldn’t it be delicious if Sri Lanka were all out with scores tied leaving England needing just one run. Cook could only get the Ten-K by walloping a six, nothing else would work. Would he go for it or just leave it to next time? Yeah, I think I know the answer too.”
83rd over: Sri Lanka 304-5 (Chandimal 53, Siriwardana 35)
Siriwardana has some fine leaves up his sleeve: there’s “the retract inside the line”, “the statue” and “the classic forward press and raising of the bat right above the head” all three get an outing in that maiden.
John Starbuck fancies a flutter: “If Cook does get his 10k in this match, what are the odds it will be with a first-ball six? As we can so readily say these days - Remember Leicester City.”
Updated
82nd over: Sri Lanka 304-5 (Chandimal 53, Siriwardana 35)
Despite the new ball being taken, Chandimal isn’t taking a backward step. In fact, he’s continue to take a sideways one that gets him outside the ball and allows him to work Broad to fine leg for a single. Siriwardana gets his first taste of the new ball: an attempted leave, as Broad comes around the wicket to the leftie, canons off the bat and just past the stumps! A gorgeous cover drive from Chandimal gives him fifty – his 12th in Tests. It’s come from 95 balls and featuring five boundaries.
Updated
81st over: Sri Lanka 296-5 (Chandimal 48, Siriwardana 24)
Bit short of a length from Anderson, armed with the new nut/rock/seed/pill. Chandimal looks at ease, even nabbing a single into the leg side. Stuart Broad at the other end.
80th over: Sri Lanka 295-5 (Chandimal 47, Siriwardana 34)
Root comes in to bowl his first ball and it’s... ah it doesn’t matter. The new ball is available now. Off to pop, Rooteh.
79th over: Sri Lanka 292-5 (Chandimal 45, Siriwardana 33)
Looks like we’ll sneak in three overs with the new ball. I’d be inclined to give it to Woakes: extra pace, wicket-to-wicket, good hair. Just one from this Moeen over. Robert Darby emails in to say he senses a cunning plan...
“England are letting Sri Lanka avoid the follow on and so ensuring that England will have to bat again. This will allow Cook to score the five runs needed to achieve his milestone in this match instead of having to wait for the third test.”
78th over: Sri Lanka 291-5 (Chandimal 44, Siriwardana 33)
Joe Root is on to bowl concedes two boundaries in his opening three balls, as Siriwardana cuts then drives to the cover fence. Alastair Cook goes back to one of his old classics – a deep point – which is found immediately as Siriwardana takes the easy single on offer.
77th over: Sri Lanka 281-5 (Chandimal 43, Siriwardana 24)
Four from the over, through a sweep, a jab and a bunt. *orders new thesaurus*
76th over: Sri Lanka 277-5 (Chandimal 40, Siriwardana 23)
It’s all a bit bitty for the first few balls of the over from Finn to Chandimal. Then Siriwardana gets on strike and times one through cover point with all the melty smoothness of butter on toast. It was in the air but no fielder was within spitting distance of it.
75th over: Sri Lanka 270-5 (Chandimal 37, Siriwardana 19)
Somehow, despite having a run-up that can be repeated with a cigar in one hand and a brandy in the other, Moeen has overstepped. There’s a four in the over, too, as Chandimal again swipes clear of the fielders to midwicket. An edge, too, but with no pace off the pitch, the ball falls well short of Anderson.
Updated
74th over: Sri Lanka 260-5 (Chandimal 30, Siriwardana 17)
There are some valuable runs out here for Siriwardana. The pitch has dulled and Steven Finn’s bouncers – he’s replaced Broad – are not coming on as quickly, allowing the leftie to hit across the line for four.
Eight out of eight after today's dismissal. https://t.co/gJErjKeJgM
— Phil Oliver (@Phil__Oliver) May 29, 2016
73rd over: Sri Lanka 256-6 (Chandimal 30, Siriwardana 13)
There’s half an appeal as Chandimal presses forward and the ball pops up to Nick Compton at foolish cover. Not out and, with no reviews left, that’s how it stays. The over finishes with Chandimal getting down on one knee and slapping Ali over the top for a couple of fours.
72nd over: Sri Lanka 247-5 (Siriwardana 12, Chandimal 22)
Broad bowls another no ball and looks like he might hurt someone. Not in a particularly vicious way. I don’t think he’d want to do anyone actual harm, maybe hit them with a foam mallet. Just two from the over again, as Chandimal flays through backward point.
71st over: Sri Lanka 244-5 (Chandimal 20, Siriwardana 12)
Moeen Ali bowls one of those overs – quick, flat, straight – that reminds you the new ball is around the corner. Siriwardana manages to get inside one, though, and plays it to third man for a couple.
70th over: Sri Lanka 242-5 (Chandimal 20, Siriwardana 10)
Some #wrists from Chandimal, as Broad angles one into him and the Sri Lankan flicks him over midwicket for a couple. He’s started to move across his stumps and, third ball, is hit in front. Aleem Dar says not out. You know the rest. But just as I was singing his praises, he calls “over” after just five balls! Broad has to take his jumper and hat off, which he does in the almightiest of huffs, bowls one ball and puts them back on again.
NOT OUT
Of course. Don’t question the Dar.
Review
Chandimal steps across his stumps to Stuart Broad and is hit, perhaps in front of off stump. Aleem Dar says not out, and he’s not got one wrong yet...
69th over: Sri Lanka 235-5 (Chandimal 14, Siriwardana 10)
Chris Woakes is now around the wicket to the left-handed Siriwardana, who looks like he’s about to be squared up with every defence. A maiden for Woakes. Meanwhile, in associate and affiliate cricket...
Next Stop LA for Jersey and Oman after promotion to Division 4 https://t.co/asfBS2jPbO pic.twitter.com/GblXNVpIOa
— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) May 29, 2016
68th over: Sri Lanka 235-5 (Chandimal 14, Siriwardana 10)
Stuart Broad has a catching cover, which is Moeen Ali. Stuart Broad bowls a leg stump half volley.
67th over: Sri Lanka 233-5 (Chandimal 12, Siriwardana 10)
Milinda Siriwardana is an interesting cat. He’s a classy batsman who hasn’t quite been entrusted to just bat: his left arm spin, while modest, is the reason he gets into XIs ahead of one-dimensional batsmen. However, he reeled off 1,144 runs in Sri Lanka’s most recent first-class competitio. A bit of finesse into the leg side and that’s four, as Woakes strays a bit too straight. Add him to the classy leftie pile.
66th over: Sri Lanka 227-5 (Chandimal 14, Siriwardana 4)
Thanks Tim. That has to be one of the best OBO debuts in recent memory. Certainly post-war. A comfortable maiden is played out by Chandimal, who is very charming and LOVES his pool...
And that’s drinks. A promising revival snuffed out by the enduring excellence of Anderson. Here’s Vish to take you through to the close, and maybe even the end of the match. Thanks for reading.
Updated
65th over: Sri Lanka 227-5 (Chandimal 12, Siriwardana 4)
Siriwardana gets off the mark with a thickish edge to the third-man boundary, understandably unattended. Those are the first runs from Sri Lanka’s number sevens in this series. England’s have 295 for once out.
64th over: Sri Lanka 222-5 (Chandimal 11, Siriwardana 0)
Anderson gives Cook what he wanted, and needed: the head of Angelo Mathews. First Anderson gets one to keep low, which perhaps rattles Mathews as nothing else has. Then he delivers a peach of an out-seamer and gives Jonny Bairstow yet another catch. Magnificent.
WICKET!
Mathews c Bairstow b Anderson 80
Anderson does his job, beautifully. End of a superb counter-attack.
Updated
63rd over: Sri Lanka 221-4 (Mathews 80, Chandimal 10)
Cook sees that they’re finding Moeen a bit too comfy now, and brings back Woakes. He tries a yorker but Mathews clips it through midwicket for four. This is the innings he was half-way to playing last weekend, when he made that baffling decision not to review a bad LBW.
Updated
62nd over: Sri Lanka 217-4 (Mathews 76, Chandimal 10)
Mathews whips Anderson for three. Next ball, Chandimal is rapped on the pads and Anderson thinks he’s goddim, but he hasn’t – outside the line of off.
61st over: Sri Lanka 214-4 (Mathews 73, Chandimal 10)
The Sri Lankans, well used to facing spinners on slow pitches, are milking Moeen now. Five off the over.
Tom van der Gucht is back with a good spot. “It’s a good day for spinners with Batty in the wickets, Rashid in the runs and Borthwick (my personal favourite possible replacement for Compton) in the wickets and the runs!”
60th over: Sri Lanka 209-4 (Mathews 72, Chandimal 6)
Anderson doesn’t manage any instant enforcing, but he only concedes a single.
John Starbuck has a beef. “For those of us who follow the match via OBO and TMS, the Channel 5 highlights are very welcome. But I was expecting an update on those tedious sponsor Toyota idiocies of second-rate club stunts, which have been going for several seasons I think. To take one example, the real world has overtaken the over-the-boundary catches now. Why do advertisers have to be so clumsy and tin-eared when it comes to cricket?” Interesting question. I suspect it freaks them out a bit. Plus, they seem to be told in ad school that cricket is primarily a way of tackling male-pattern baldness.
Updated
59th over: Sri Lanka 203-4 (Mathews 71, Chandimal 6)
Moeen and Mathews are still duelling away. Mo gets one to turn and bounce, and Mathews, riding his luck, plays a Harrow cut for two. Cook, tiring of all this resistance, sends for his enforcer, Jimmy Anderson.
Updated
58th over: Sri Lanka 203-4 (Mathews 68, Chandimal 4)
Chandimal pulls Finn for two, tries again and Bairstow thinks he’s caught him, but Finn shakes his head. He’s right – it has missed everything, though Snicko, mysteriously, registers a big snick. Honest of Finn: if only more bowlers did that.
57th over: Sri Lanka 201-4 (Mathews 68, Chandimal 2)
A minor victory for Moeen in his duel with Mathews: a maiden. He has 1-58 off ten, which is pricey but affordable. If only more things were.
56th over: Sri Lanka 201-4 (Mathews 68, Chandimal 2)
Mathews pulls Finn, with more muscle than finesse, for three. He has now gone to Sri Lanka’s highest individual score of the series. Not saying much, of course, but much better than what has gone before.
55th over: Sri Lanka 198-4 (Mathews 65, Chandimal 2)
Cook packs the leg side for Moeen, so Mathews coolly reverse-sweeps for four. At the risk of the old jinx, this just could be one of his great acts of defiance.
Updated
54th over: Sri Lanka 190-4 (Mathews 58, Chandimal 2)
Finn has a spring in his step now and is back on good terms with 85mph. Even more than with most bowlers, it’s all in his head. He’s the kind of guy who if you played tennis against him, would either ace you or dish up double faults.
“Sri Lanka,” notes Bill Gibson, “have almost avoided the follow-on.”
53rd over: Sri Lanka 188-4 (Mathews 57, Chandimal 1)
Mathews, undaunted, keeps on mowing at Moeen, and gets another four over midwicket. He’s joined by Dinesh Chandimal, who needs to forget all about the tough time he had behind the stumps.
52nd over: Sri Lanka 182-4 (Mathews 56, Chandimal 0)
That is a triumph for Finn, who had been bowling like a county trundler. And a crying shame for Silva, who had joined Mathews in a feisty counter-attack, adding 82 off only 21 overs.
WICKET!
Silva c Bairstow b Finn 60
Finn still hasn’t found his mojo, but he has located his sting – after pootling around the 80mph mark, he suddenly produces a nasty bouncer at 84, and next ball he gets Silva caught behind off a top-edged pull. But it may be a no-ball... No, it’s just OK.
Updated
51st over: Sri Lanka 180-3 (Silva 59, Mathews 51)
The Moeen-Mathews battle rages on. It’s not Hector v Achilles but it’s an intriguing tussle. Mathews has the better of this over, playing a pull for four, a straight mow for four, and an educated dab for two, to reach a fine fighting fifty off only 63 balls.
Updated
50th over: Sri Lanka 168-3 (Silva 59, Mathews 38)
Uneventful from Finn, who continues to go for singles. Two of the four runs added were from the over before – sorry, rookie error.
Updated
49th over: Sri Lanka 164-3 (Silva 58, Mathews 36)
Moeen v Mathews is a good little duel – wiles against welly. Mo almost has his man, but Bairstow can’t complete the stumping. He’s got credit in the bank.
MISSED! Mathews steps out, tries to mow Mo, doesn’t make contact, but Jonny Bairstow can’t gather the ball.
48th over: Sri Lanka 164-3 (Silva 58, Mathews 36)
Cook turns back to Finn, who continues to look thoroughly out of sorts, down on pace and with all his limbs trying to go in different directions. If this was football, he would have been subbed by now. The batsmen take a couple of singles.
Dean Kinsella has a thought. “I wonder if Captain Cook is beginning to regret the early declaration yesterday?” Nice.
Updated
Tea is for email, as David Jamesson confirms. “I wonder if the apparent improvement in Sri Lanka’s batting could have anything to do with getting paying punters through the gates tomorrow or whether Sky are getting a bit uppity about not getting all the potential action they’ve paid a lot of money for. I wasn’t born cynical. Life has simply made me so.” I couldn’t possibly comment.
Janet Stevens picks up the Duckworth Lewis Method thread – the band, not the deluge-defusion system. “Another DLM album would be welcome and, if Neil Hannon is short of inspiration, please pass along the suggestion someone made yesterday that he needs to do something to highlight the tyranny of the over-rate regulations. Thanks.” If Hannon can’t write a song about that, nobody can.
An email from Robert Wolf Petersen. “Congratulations on making your debut.” Thanks. “Good to see you picking up a couple of early wickets, although you have been a touch expensive over the last few overs.”
I couldn’t help but notice that the first comment beneath the article about Toby Young is written by none other than Toby Young, disowning many of the contents therein. I hope you’ll be taking a similar approach by completing your stint on the OBO, only to write a final, declamatory entry in which you inform us that everything you’ve written up to that point is entirely untrue.” That, Robert Wolf, is the email of the day so far.
So that’s tea. Sri Lanka have played so much better that you wonder how on earth they managed to lose 30 wickets for 311. Now they just need to get to 500 and hope a slow pitch turns sticky.
TEA
Sri Lanka 162-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 35). Respectability at last.
47th over: Sri Lanka 162-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 35)
Mathews keeps things nice and agricultural, belting Moeen for a a one-bounce four over mid-off. The idea of playing for tea seems not to have occurred to him, and he’s probably right: when you’re doomed, you might as well go out in style. That’s tea, and since lunch Sri Lanka have made 104-2, at four an over: good stuff.
Updated
46th over: Sri Lanka 156-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 29)
Cook turns to James Vince, who has had an eventful Test bowling career to date (1-0-10-0, last weekend). He blots his copybook with a maiden, and even squeezes a leg-cutter past Silva’s obdurate bat.
Mathews’ six in the over before brought up the fifty partnership – Sri Lanka’s first of the series. Baby steps.
45th over: Sri Lanka 156-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 29)
Moeen Ali is back on, not before time. Mathews gives him the heave-ho, doesn’t quite get to the pitch, slices it a bit but still manages six over extra cover, such is his brawn. Cook may feel this vindicates his reluctance to bowl Mo. But it also gives the bowler a chance, and England can afford any number of sixes. Mathews goes for another, and gets four this time.
44th over: Sri Lanka 146-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 19)
Broad tries a bouncer to Mathews, who has time to play a tennis shot out to midwicket for a couple. It was the kind of shot you play when you’re teaching your kid how to smash: gentle. And a little landmark is passed. This is now Sri Lanka’s longest innings of the series.
43rd over: Sri Lanka 143-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 16)
A maiden. Tidy from Woakes, who has not just been better than Finn, but faster too.
A tweet arrives from Andrew Smelt. “Just watching felt like bullying yesterday,” he feels. “Glad we’re putting the shoe in less frequently today.” His Twitter bio suggests he knows whereof he speaks.
42nd over: Sri Lanka 143-3 (Silva 57, Mathews 16)
Cook must heard the mutterings about his indifferent captaincy today. He suddenly gives Broad not one short-extra, not two, but three. It’s like the Under-10s – which is not an unfair reflection of the way Sri Lanka batted until this innings. But they’ve found some gumption now, so Angelo Mathews just waits for a sniff of something short and then smacks it past all the short-extras at once.
41st over: Sri Lanka 138-3 (Silva 56, Mathews 12)
Cook puts Finn out of his mediocrity (8-0-31-0). Woakes comes back and continues to shine, squeezing a Harrow cut out of Silva, but he gets a single from it and three from another decisive cover-drive.
“Afternoon Tim and welcome to the OBO,” says Phil Sawyer. “After a promising start to the day for us Lancashire supporters, Yorkshire are now grimly piling on the runs (right now I really wish England had picked Rashid for this match) and those early wickets seem very different memories, so I’m trying desperately to pretend the match is not taking place and focusing on the test instead. Which is probably why the wickets have dried up there too.” Not to jump to conclusions, Phil, but are you by any chance English?
40th over: Sri Lanka 131-3 (Silva 52, Mathews 10)
The game suddenly wakes up, as Test cricket tends to do. Mathews, who has been untypically tentative, finds some authority and clatters Broad through mid-on for four.
“Try the tennis?” scoffs Furlong1190. “I’d rather eat my own earwax.”
39th over: Sri Lanka 126-3 (Silva 52, Mathews 5)
An uppish leg glance off Finn from Silva, which takes him to Sri Lanka’s second individual fifty of the series. Calm, positive, punchy: if only he had found this zone a bit earlier.
Updated
38th over: Sri Lanka 119-3 (Silva 47, Mathews 3)
Another maiden from Broad – the runs were leg byes. The biggest news in that over was the arrival of a leg gully. The game, like some of its older customers, is taking a mid-afternoon nap. If it’s getting too sleepy for you, try the tennis – Murray v Isner
37th over: Sri Lanka 117-3 (Silva 47, Mathews 3)
A couple more singles off Finn. He is either a big threat or none at all, and today, so far, is one of his off days. But then so was the last day of the first Test and then he grabbed three wickets. He is at least getting the chance to search for his lost form, unlike poor old Compton.
36th over: Sri Lanka 115-3 (Silva 46, Mathews 2)
A maiden from Broad to Silva. After finding maidens tedious for about 44 years, I now greet them with grudging gratitude. Reminds me of Bill Frindall’s line on the phrase “he didn’t trouble the scorers”. Getting out for a duck is the most trouble anyone can be to the scorers.
35th over: Sri Lanka 115-3 (Silva 46, Mathews 2)
Finn, labouring in the low 80s, tries a couple of yorkers. Sri Lanka take a couple of singles. Martin French gives me a tactful shove towards the Key Events over on the left. Do drinks count, Martin?
DRINKS
Sri Lanka 113-3
And that’s drinks. This is already Sri Lanka’s highest score of the series, but the ball, and the bowlers, are doing enough to keep the game moving smartly along. If you’ve got tickets for tomorrow, you might want a Plan B.
34th over: Sri Lanka 113-3 (Silva 45, Mathews 1)
Broad is back on, replacing Anderson, who has gone off. He gets plenty of movement but Silva’s got his eye in now. Moeen was given three meagre overs – a clear sign that Cook would rather wrap up this series today than think about the long-term development of his team.
“Afternoon Tim,” says Simon McMahon. “Had the pleasure of seeing Tom Walsh and Pugwash last Thursday, playing lovely acoustic versions of Mason on the Boundary and The Age of Revolution as part of their set. How about some DLM [Duckworth Lewis Method] during the drinks break? And a third album. Jimmy Anderson really needs a song written about him, doesn’t he?” He does. But I hear Neil Hannon is busy making another Divine Comedy album.
33rd over: Sri Lanka 113-3 (Silva 45, Mathews 1)
Only two openers have done a thing in this series: Alex Hales and Kaushal Silva. Standing outside his crease to reduce the sideways movement, Silva off-drives Finn for four, then cover-drives him for three. He’s making it look, not easy, but feasible.
32nd over: Sri Lanka 105-3 (Silva 38, Mathews 1)
One reason Sri Lanka are doing better now is that they are being purposeful. Unruffled by those reviews, Mathews takes a busy single and Silva punches into the covers for a crisp three. Cook turns to Finn.
Updated
Review! This isn’t a misprint: a second review in about half a minute. Anderson thought he had Mathews caught behind, but he didn’t. At this rate, he soon will. Seven reviews against Aleem Dar now, and all of them wrong. There should be official stats for this.
Review! Always fun. Mathews edges Anderson, Joe Root takes a sharp chance at slip, but has it touched the ground? The umpire thought so, Root himself wasn’t sure, and Rod Tucker took no time to establish that grass had indeed been involved. Not out.
31st over: Sri Lanka 100-3 (Silva 34, Mathews 0)
So Moeen dispatches the dangerous Thirimanne by pitching off, hitting off. Angelo Mathews has got to do something here: something like this
WICKET! Sri Lanka 100-3 Thirimanne b Moeen 13
Just when the Sri Lankans were making a decent fist of it, Moeen produces a classic off-spinner’s delivery to the lefthander, beats the prod, and takes the top of off stump. Good for him, bad for the match.
Updated
30th over: Sri Lanka 100-2 (Silva 34, Thirimanne 13)
Silva is hitting the bad ball when it’s there to be hit, and he cover-drives Anderson for another four. A hundred! For two! This is a feast after three famines.
29th over: Sri Lanka 96-2 (Silva 30, Thirimanne 13)
Payback time for Moeen’s 150. Thirimanne plays a controlled edge for two, a commnding cut for four, and a sumptuous square drive for four more. The deficit is down to a mere 301.
Updated
28th over: Sri Lanka 85-2 (Silva 30, Thirimanne 3)
Just a single from Anderson’s over. Give him a rest, Alastair.
“I’ve recently bought a new garmin heart rate monitoring watch,” reports Tom van der Gucht, “ which has led to me devoting increasing amounts of time obsessing over my daily stats. I’m not sure what this says about the quality of this test match, but my heart rate hit its lowest beats per minute I’ve achieved whilst listening to TMS sitting slumped on the sofa yesterday. I would have liked to see the read-outs during the last overs of the Edgbaston 2005 Ashes test...” Indeed. But you’ve come to the right place. The black Americano to TMS’s camomile.
27th over: Sri Lanka 85-2 (Silva 30, Thirimanne 2)
Silva’s eyes light up at the sight of something slow. He spots Moeen dropping short and carts him away for four, the first runs Mo has conceded in the match after his four maidens in the first innings. He still has 151 runs to play with.
“Welcome to the fray!” writes David Keech. “Not the same I know but I remember the glee I felt when my first email to OBO was published.” Very much the same, I would have thought. OBO is just email with a loudhailer, isn’t it? “I have a general question. OK, so we’re not yet at the stage when runs don’t matter (if Sri Lanka score 600+ in this innings England could get seriously embarrassed), but there are cases when runs really don’t matter. I mean games when one team is over 700 runs ahead at the start of the 4th innings and there are only 4 sessions left. Why oh why, in those situations, don’t captains just use all fielders in attacking positions with no run-saving men at all? I’ve never seen anybody do this; especially modern captains set pretty conventional fields with just a few extra slips and close catchers. Any ideas anyone?” Well, one idea: it might freak out the bowlers, who can be grumpy buggers at the best of times.
26th over: Sri Lanka 81-2 (Silva 26, Thirimanne 2)
Another maiden, this time from Anderson. Even Alastair Cook, a hard man to bore, is getting impatient, so he turns to Moeen Ali for the next over.
25th over: Sri Lanka 81-2 (Silva 26, Thirimanne 2)
A maiden from Woakes to Silva, who has decided to drop anchor. With Woakes and Anderson bowling in tandem, it’s like watching Prince do a duet with Marvin Gaye. Just a bit less sexy.
24th over: Sri Lanka 81-2 (Silva 26, Thirimanne 2)
After the pyrotechnics of the previous over, normal service resumes. Anderson is tidy, Thirimanne wary.
Andrew Benton picks up the Cook baton on the other side of the world. “If Cook isn’t a natural captain, who is? I don’t see there’s a lot to choose from - though I think a bit of Moeen would be worth a try. I was surprised he didn’t opt to bat to make about 80 or so, to set an (hopefully) impossible target for Sri Lanka, but maybe that might have been seen as him going for his 10,000, rather than making a sensible decision. Incidentally, here in China, 10, 000 has its own character, the Wan. Next after that in characters is the Yi, for a hundred million (ten thousand Wans, or a Wan of Wans, a double Wanny even). Cook’ll be a while before he gets there though.”
Meanwhile Robert Wilson emails with some sage advice. “An OBO debutant is as fluffy and delightful as a new bike or a bag of kittens. Starting with random Toby Young abuse was a crafty gambit. If you can quickly slip in a sprinkling of Wasim Akram love or some fretting about your waistline or hairline, you’ll be high-fiving the other guys in the changing rooms before you know it.”
23rd over: Sri Lanka 79-2 (Silva 26, Thirimanne 0)
Woakes bowls a maiden to Silva. Never mind standing in for Stokes – this is surely Woakes’s audition to be Anderson’s eventual successor. Going pretty well so far: 4 for 38 in the match, not to mention 39 with the bat.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 79-2 (Silva 26, Thirimanne 0)
So much for looking comfortable.
Mendis did everything right for five balls, making hay while Jimmy Anderson lost his way for once. But, class act that he is, Anderson found the unplayable ball that he needed. Mendis gone for 26 off 22; Thirimanne promoted to stop this becoming yet another collapse.
Updated
WICKET! Sri Lanka 79-2 Mendis c Bairstow b Anderson 26
Anderson bowls some filth, concedes 14 off five balls, but it was all a plan to lure Mendis to his doom with a classic out-seamer.
Updated
21st over: Sri Lanka 65-1 f/0 (Silva 26, Mendis 12)
Whisper it, but these two are looking comfortable. Woakes is bowling straighter, Michael Holding reckons, and both batsmen nurdle him away to leg. Six off the over.
“Good afternoon and welcome,” says John Starbuck, sounding alarmingly professional. “One of the important issues for you to deal with is, what did you have for lunch? To be in keeping with the game it should probably have been a green curry, but this leads me to wonder if the Sri Lankans ever try roast beef or other traditional English fare, or if they are as wary of it as England teams abroad seem to be of the local cuisines. I understand there are some nifty fast-food outlets in the vicinity, which may be a leveller.” I thought traditional English fare WAS a curry.
England haven’t been able to do much wrong in this series, but Alastair Cook seems to be having one of his dopey days. He could have opened the bowling this morning with Chris Woakes, and handed him a gift-wrapped chance for a first Test five-for; instead he went for Anderson and Broad, like your uncle who always gives you the same gift voucher. He could have not enforced the follow-on, to give Nick Compton time to find his form. And when he did finally bring Woakes on, he could have given him more than two slips, which would have brought a second wicket before lunch. Admirable man in many ways, but Cook still isn’t a natural captain.
Thanks Vish – the Moeen to my Finn. I’ve been reading the OBO with pleasure for years, so it’s an honour to join the fray. Apologies in advance if I have a Toby Young moment and discover that it’s more difficult than it looks.
More importantly, there is good news at last about the Sri Lankans: they’ve worked out how to blunt the new ball. Now they just need to reach the second one for the first time in this series.
Joining you for the afternoon session will be Tim de Lisle, who makes his OBO day-boo. He was due on last week but, thanks to Sri Lanka’s ineptitude, he has had to bide his time. Thankfully they’ve managed to hold on for him today.
Feel free to drop him an email (tim.delisle@gmail.com) or your pithier witticisms to @TimdeLisle.
LUNCH
Sri Lanka 58-1 f/0 (Silva 23, Mendis 8)
It’s the last over before lunch but Mendis isn’t looking to keep quiet till the interval. Finn strays onto his pads and is whipped effortlessly to the square leg fence for four. That’s lunch then. Three wickets in the session, but just one in the follow on innings. England still ahead by 339 mind. Still a long, long way to go...
19th over: Sri Lanka 53-1 f/o (Silva 23, Mendis 3)
An uppish drive through cover point (four) is followed by a thick edge between Joe Root and a nonexistent third slip (also for four). “A lead of more than 300 runs and still no third slip?” questions Mahela Jayawardene. The gap is plugged for Mendis and stays plugged when Silva comes back on strike. A hurried two finishes the over off - 12 from it!
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18th over: Sri Lanka 41-1 f/o (Silva 12, Mendis 2)
Finn starting to crank up the pace. His third delivery – first to Mendis – clocks in at 85mph but wide enough outside off stump for the youngester to leave easily. The final delivery strays onto his pads and Mendis is off the mark with two to fine leg.
17th over: Sri Lanka 38-1 f/o (Silva 11, Mendis 0)
Woakes gets the breakthrough – rewarded for being the most threatening on show. That brings Kusal Mendis to the crease.
The opening stand broken one ball after becoming SL's longest partnership of the series. It's been an epic morning #ENGvSL
— Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) May 29, 2016
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WICKET! Karunaratne c Root b Woakes 26 (Sri Lanka 38-1)
There it is. Woakes decks a ball across the left-hander, who goes at it hard to nick to Joe Root’s left at second slip.
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16th over: Sri Lanka 38-0 f/o (Karunaratne 26, Silva 11)
Kaushal Silva tries to add a bit of finesse to his obdurate innings but nearly chips to Chris Woakes at midwicket, as he wrists into a drive. Luckily for him, the ball drops just short.
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15th over: Sri Lanka 37-0 f/o (Karunaratne 25, Silva 11)
Glorious shot from Karunaratne: Woakes gets one full and the left-hander plays a picture perfect on drive for four. All along the floor. Pleasing. Does anyone remember what a wicket feels like?
Pretty sure that the groundsman is trying to tell us something in binary. #ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/XhjUnEhxUF
— Cat Jones (@Cricketbatcat) May 29, 2016
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14th over: Sri Lanka 31-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 20, Silva 10)
Broad makes way for Steven Finn. It took him a few overs to find his rhythm yesterday. Starts well today, though. The first ball is short and worked away by Silva, but the rest of the over – at Karunaratne – asks some probing questions. An edge goes to third man for two.
“I’m with David Keech,” says Robert Wolf Petersen. “We endured 18 years of drubbings at the hands of the Aussies. 18 years. I doubt a single Aussie spent those barren times bemoaning our incompetence. They seemed more interested in laughing at the fact that we believed Ian Salisbury was a credible international cricketer. Is it a streak of masochism? What would please the people who object to the current state of affairs? Are heroic backs-to-the-wall draws and nerve-shredding victories the only results they deem acceptable? It’s like a weird dysfunctional relationship where we hate it when England let us down, but we can’t stand it when they’re successful because it’s like they don’t even need us.”
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13th over: Sri Lanka 28-0 (Karunaratne 18, Silva 9)
Yet another single into the leg side for Karunaratne – you’d think they might want to cut that off for the time being. A three for Silva gets the leftie back on strike and Woakes beats him with a crackign delivery from over the wicket. There’s a slight noise which brings about an appeal from some. Sounded more bat on pad than bat on ball, to be fair.
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12th over: Sri Lanka 24-0 (Karunaratne 17, Silva 6)
NEARLY! An aerial cover drive from Karunaratne gets Broad excited, but it’s nowhere near a fielder and brings about the first boundary of the innings.
TAKE SOME WICKETS
— Samuel Honywill (@SDHoneymonster) May 29, 2016
11th over: Sri Lanka 19-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 12, Silva 6)
Cracking delivery from Woakes moves in late and beats Silva between bat and pad. Somehow, the stumps remain intact. Two balls later, Silva tries to leave but doesn’t move the bat away in time and inadvertently guides the ball to Joe Root at second slip on the bounce. And that’s your third maiden in a row. Conventional modern-day cric-wisdom says a wicket is due any moment now...
10th over: Sri Lanka 19-0 f/o (Karunaratne 12, Silva 6)
The field at the moment is as good an inication as any that not too much is happening out there. Broad has a short mid on and a mid off in place, as he comes in around the wicket to Karunaratne. Another maiden.
9th over: Sri Lanka 19-0 f/o (Karunaratne 12, Silva 6)
Anderson makes way for Chris Woakes, who is looking to add to his match haul of three wickets for nine runs. Immediately he’s “making things happen”: the ball hitting the splice of the bat hard and doing a little bit more off the surface to square Silva up. He starts with a maiden.
“I will no doubt rile up our friends ‘down under’,” starts David Keech. Go on... “But I think this Sri Lankan series shows the difference between England supporters and Australia supporters. We win a Test comfortably and look like winning a second easily too and immediately we are in to ‘this is so easy, it’s no fun’ mood. I didn’t sense any such feelings from Australian supporters, in the Warne/McGrath years when they were winning everything in sight so easily it was ridiculous. They just enjoyed demolishing all comers by massive margins all the time. As, presumably, an Indian supporter where do you guys stand in the ‘it’s too easy’ stakes?” Well firstly, I’m not Indian (Sri Lankan, as it happens). Secondly, Test wins are Test wins.
8th over: Sri Lanka 19-0 f/o (Karunaratne 12, Silva 6)
Not really happening for either opening bowler, relative to the collapses they’ve instigated in their previous three innings. Broad not quite making it into the mid-eighties, allowing Karunaratne to hold firm and knock another two, this time into the off side.
The only other time Sri Lanka followed-on in two consecutive Tests was in 1994, against India in Lucknow and Bangalore #ENGvSL
— Shiva J (@Shiva_cricinfo) May 29, 2016
Meanwhile, there is a Roses match taking place in the County Championship. Defending champions Yorkshire are in a bit of strife on 35-4 (Lyth, Lees, Leaning and Ballance the wickets to fall)! You can follow all the action on the live county blog.
Well, the first hour has gone pretty well, all in all!
— Lancashire CCC (@LancsCCC) May 29, 2016
Yorkshire are 29/4 at Headingley. WATCH the first 3 wickets.https://t.co/O9F2SIzs6J
7th over: Sri Lanka 17-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 10, Silva 6)
Bit more movement for Anderson but it’s too wide to really trouble the right-hander Silva. A straighter delivery to end the over is pushed nicely through extra cover for another couple to Silva’s total.
6th over: Sri Lanka 14-0 f/o (Karunaratne 9, Silva 4)
The first appeal of note comes as Broad gets a ball to move late into Kaushal Silva, who is struck on the pad after taking a decent stride forward. Not out is the call, as Silva takes the leg bye on offer. Handed back the strike next ball, he times nicely through the covers for two.
“Anderson’s average for the series is a perfectly respectable 6.46,” writes Tom Botwell. “But this is only good enough for 3rd in England’s series averages behind Woakes (average of 3) and Ali (average of 2).” Excellent spot, Tom. Always knew Jimmy wasn’t much cop...
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5th over: Sri Lanka 10-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 8, Silva 2)
The left-hander Karunaratne is finding some joy on the leg side. He’s beaten a couple of times by Anderson, who is getting the ball to leave him at will, but the opener is keeping is cool and waiting for anything straight to work away.
4th over: Sri Lanka 8-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 6, Silva 2)
Bit of bite from the surface, as Broad straightens up and urges Kaushal Silva to play at every ball. However, both he and Karunaratne look more comfortable. Four from the over, as Karunaratne nabs a three to square leg.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 3-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 2, Silva 1)
Kaushal Silva pushes well into the off side for a single. Karunaratne nearly chops on for another. That sums up the comfort of both players at the crease. Silva tries for a single too many and is sent back. Luckily, a dive and a poor throw means he was not in any danger of being run out. Niall Mullen emails in:
“As much as I’d like to see a contest England’s opening bowlers have nearly 800 Test wickets between them while their captain has 10,000 runs (give or take). Comfortably putting away an underprepared Sri Lanka team in favourable conditions is almost a minimum requirement.”
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2nd over: Sri Lanka 1-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 1, Silva 0)
Stuart Broad starts off around the wicket to Karunaratne. There’s a bit of movement but not enough to bring about an edge of an appeal of any sort. Maiden.
1st over: Sri Lanka 1-0 f/0 (Karunaratne 1, Silva 0)
And so Sri Lanka try again. Anderson has the new ball and his first ball is moving away from Karunaratne, who pushes forward and gets an inside edge towards square leg. A huge cheer greets the first run of this innings: a push to just wide of mid-off.
While doing the OBO for the last two Tests, I’ve received a lot of messages like this:
I love seeing England win Test matches @Vitu_E but it's no fun seeing the Sri Lankans capitulate, however well we're playing. Rudderless.
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) May 29, 2016
And I’m inclined to agree. I think the one real bonus from an England perspective is how ruthless they have been. Other teams in the past, particularly in Test cricket, have had a habit of playing with their food, as it were. England see a team in front of them ripe for a shellacking and are administering it expertly. However, it’s disconcerting seeing so little fight from what should be a punchy Sri Lankan side.
Yet another damning stat...
Sri Lanka have scored less in each of their three innings than the top scorer in each of England's two innings. Oh dear @Vitu_E
— richard c preston (@richardpreston_) May 29, 2016
So far this series, Sri Lanka have lost 30 wickets for 311. That’s really quite something. Bob O’Hara emails in: “I reckon Cook missed a trick by asking Sri Lanka to follow on. He should have gone out to bat, scored his five runs to get to 10k, and then declared.”
That would have been excellent. Especially if he ran out a couple of partners on the way there.
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Sri Lanka trail England by 397 runs and Alastair Cook has enforced the follow-on.
WICKET! Thirimanne c Compton b Anderson 19 (Sri Lanka 101 all out)
44th over: Sri Lanka 101 (Pradeep 1)
Oh well, that’s that. Thirimanne tries to sky the ball into the deep but can only get height on the shot rather than distance. Nick Compton, doing his best Bruce Grobbelaar impression, takes the catch, much to the amusement of his teammates.
43rd over: Sri Lanka 100-9 (Thirimanne 19, Pradeep 1)
Somehow, Nuwan Pradeep manages to find a single in the off side. It wasn’t really there: the ball was dabbed into point to Moeen Ali. Thirimanne set off immediately but Pradeep laboured and, as a result, wasn’t even in the frame as Moeen’s throw passed the stumps. An opportunity missed. A push off the back foot for two brings up the team 100 to modest applause.
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42nd over: Sri Lanka 97-9 (Thirimanne 17, Pradeep 0)
Well, well, well. Alastair Cook decides to “chase the pro” – a club cricket tactic of allowing the better batsman a run to bring his lesser companion on strike. The field is set accordingly – one slip, one gully, a few run savers. Lahiru Thirimanne, not wishing to play ball, decides to come down the track and smash Anderson over his head for a one-bounce four! This could be entertaining. He advances next ball but Jimmy sees him coming and fires one wide. Pradeep to begin on strike to Broad next over...
@Vitu_E The way Jerusalem was sung would have caused William Blake a heart attack if he wasn't already dead.
— Justin Horton (@ejhchess) May 29, 2016
41st over: Sri Lanka 93-9 (Thirimanne 13, Pradeep 0)
Despite spending a couple of minutes marking out his run-up, Stuart Broad starts with a no ball. The first two deliveries are very much looseners, both clocking in at under 80mph. Thirimanne gets off the mark for the day with a single to mid on, allowing Broad a go at Lakmal. He gets him first ball. That brings Nuwan Pradeep to the crease, who takes a two-leg guard but ends up at square leg when the ball is bowled. Broad doesn’t get on one on the stumps and Pradeep survives the over.
WICKET! Lakmal c Bairstow b Broad (Sri Lanka 93-9)
Just four balls into the morning and Stuart Broad has a wicket – Suranga Lakmal hangs his bat out to dry and an edge is taken. Simple.
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Away from Test cricket, it’s the IPL final today as the Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB – Gayle, Kohli, AB de Villiers – are the favourites. But the Sunrisers have some talent of their own with David Warner, Kane Williamson and Yuvraj Singh. Unfortunately, those on-field talents don’t quite translate to the screen and stage...
Presumably England will start with James Anderson and Stuart Broad. But wouldn’t it be nice to see Chris Woakes nab the last two for a tidy five-wicket haul? The quickest and the pick of the bowlers yesterday, he shaved 16 off his bowling average – it’s now at 47 – and looked a man somewhere near the top of his game. Whether he does get to finish things off, this very same England attack have gone some way to avenging the hiding they received at Wellington during the 2015 World Cup.
Can’t be missing these kind of chances, Christopher...
Chris Woakes spurns a golden chance as England warm up for day three with a bit of football #ENGvSL https://t.co/8c7sFlKyqy
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 29, 2016
I wasn’t joking...
Nick Hoult of The Telegraph and The Guardian's Mike Selvey join Paul Allott for Cricket Writers on TV on SS2 now. pic.twitter.com/p1SmetwEqo
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) May 29, 2016
Preamble
Morning, morning – Vish here to get your over-by-over up and about for a Sunday morning jog before the 11am start. Today could be it, really. There’s nothing to suggest that Sri Lanka can resist enough to see out today: surely there’ll be 12 chances – there’s cloud cover without the real threat of rain – and that’ll be that. Perhaps if England don’t bowl as well as they did at Headingley: not to nit pick, and it’s hard to when this attack has reduced Sri Lanka to 91-8, but there were moments when they did let their standards slip with a leg stump ball here and a half-volley there. Presumably Alastair Cook will enforced the follow-on. Moeen Ali suggested enough last night. He also had some other things to say, which Ali Martin has written up here (“There were some loose ones too, but I decided I don’t really care, I’ll keep batting like that” might be my favourite line in the piece).
Right now, Mike Selvey of this parish is on Cricket Writers On TV, sporting a fetching gilet in this new Football Italia alfresco set-up the programme seems to have adopted.
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