Sri Lanka v England: very first Test, the first day– live! – The Guardian

41st over: Sri Lanka 121-6 (Shanaka 18, Hasaranga 10) Hasaranga, who is playing his 3rd Test, is currently appearing he will not be down at No. 8 for long. He cover-drives Bess for 4, then chips him over mid-on for 2. After dealing with 9 shipments, he’s the very first batsman today to address a run a ball.

40th over: Sri Lanka 113-6 (Shanaka 17, Hasaranga 3) An over without any accidents: things are searching for for Sri Lanka.

” Early Morning Tim …” Early Morning, David Horn. “A Smyth/ de Lisle opening collaboration is quite the OBO equivalent of Anderson/Broad. I’m old sufficient to keep in mind Booth/Bull (Harmison/Hoggard?) opening the OBO in years passed– another age-old double act. What a reward to have Test cricket back. I desired the BBC to provide the ECB an unique award in their December affair for the work they did in 2015 with their bubble, and it’s rarely in the last 35+ years of following cricket that I have actually stated that about the sports governing body. I enjoy football too, however if there was ever a tonic for our times, it’s Test cricket. Fabulous to have it back, and in the capable hands of Smyth/de Lisle. Invite back.” Thank you! Too kind. And amen to the bit about the bubble– 2020 was such an odd year that we even discovered to enjoy the ECB.

39th over: Sri Lanka 110-6 (Shanaka 15, Hasaranga 2) Bess almost captures another as Shanaka plays a glimpse perilously near to the male at leg slip. No alarms for the brand-new batsman, the interesting Hasaranga. He’s simply been Gamer of the Competition in the Lanka Premier League, so we can be relatively sure he’s got the character that this circumstance needs.

Another one! And it’s a surprise. Bess uses Dickwella a long hop, and Dickwella pops it to backwards point, where Sibley simply recuperates from his awe in time to scoop it off the grass. Bad ball, bad shot, great catch.

So it’s been England’s hour, and England’s day up until now– though Mahela Jayawardene believes 250 is a good rating here.

That was too kind from Rob. The male is a star– and a group gamer, which might describe why he took the 4am shift today, enabling me to clock on at 8.15.

38th over: Sri Lanka 105-5 (Dickwella 12, Shanaka 12) Leach is beginning to discover his rhythm. He didn’t bowl terribly at the start, however you might inform he was a bit rusty.

Well, that’s it from me. The fantastic Tim de Lisle will be with you for the remainder of the day – please e-mail him on tim.delisle.casual@theguardian.com or tweet @TimdeLisle.

37th over: Sri Lanka 102-5 (Dickwella 9, Shanaka 12) Wood beats Shanaka with an excellent bouncer. Shanaka formed to hook, understood that was a fool’s errand and dropped his hands at the last minute. Wood’s typical speed remains in excess of 90mph, which is exceptional in this humidity.

36th over: Sri Lanka 97-5 (Dickwella 5, Shanaka 11) Prior to this video game, Jack Leach was something like 6/5 to be England’s leading wickettaker in the series. I could not be troubled to put the home loan on it however I want I had; he needs to outbowl Dom Bess, and I ‘d be staggered if a seamer takes more wickets than him on these pitches.

Shanaka, who has actually begun favorably, sweeps Leach flat and difficult for 4 more. His Test record is modest (avge 14 from 5 video games) however he averages over 40 in first-rate cricket so it’s reasonable to presume he can play.

35th over: Sri Lanka 93-5 (Dickwella 5, Shanaka 7) Dickwella, a compulsively assaulting gamer, attempts to ramp Wood and is beaten for speed. Wood uses him another next ball however this time Dickwella sways out of the method.

34th over: Sri Lanka 93-5 (Dickwella 5, Shanaka 7) Shanaka drags Leach over mid-on for 4. Wood jumped optimistically however Shanaka got enough on it to clear him relatively easily.

” Hey There Rob,” states Paul Smith. “You connected to the Byrds in your introduction. I have actually been racking my brains however aside from the Simon & & Garfunkel traditional I can’t think about any tunes about Sri Lanka. Can anybody else?”

Erm, Kandy Pop by Bis? I’m rather captivated by how the subconscious guides you towards particular tunes. I have actually had The Rat by the Walkmen in my head for the last 2 days, especially the line, “You have actually got a nerve to be asking a favour.” I’m persuaded it’s due to the fact that of all the Galle puns that were utilized in the different series sneak peeks, gall being a synonym of nerve.

33rd over: Sri Lanka 89-5 (Dickwella 5, Shanaka 3) Mark Wood changes Broad, whose figures of 9-3-20-3 are silently outrageous, if that isn’t an oxymoron. After a number of 87mph looseners – 87mph looseners! – Wood is back over 90mph. The pitch is actually sluggish, however, and Dickwell and Shanaka play him relatively easily. Dickwella has sufficient time to touch the last ball of the over off the pads for 4.

31st over: Sri Lanka 83-5 (Dickwella 0, Shanaka 2) Dickwella bat-pads Broad into the leg side. There’s no brief leg and the ball lands securely. Another maiden from Broad, who looks shattered and will undoubtedly take a break.

30th over: Sri Lanka 83-5 (Dickwella 0, Shanaka 2) Sri Lanka have actually played some actually bad shots today. Kusal Mendis is the only batsman who didn’t provide his wicket away. As he was out for a 4th successive duck, I question he’ll be climbing up the ethical high ground.

Another one! These are golden wickets for England. Leach tosses one as much as Chandimal, who thumps it inside out towards cover. Curran transfers to his right and dives forward to take a great low catch.

29th over: Sri Lanka 81-4 (Chandimal 28, Dickwella 0) In conditions that might hardly be harder for fast bowlers, Stuart Broad has figures of 8-2-20-3. The male’s an animal.

That’s a big wicket! Mathews slashes loosely at a shortish shipment outside off stump, and Root takes a dazzling catch to his right at slip. Stuart Broad, the amazing Stuart Broad, has 3 wickets.

28.5 overs: Sri Lanka 81-3 (Mathews 27, Chandimal 28) Chandimal hooks Broad for a single. The outfield is really sluggish, which is another reason Sri Lanka’s rating is most likely much better than it looks. We’re just a session into the match however it’s currently wonderfully poised.

28th over: Sri Lanka 80-3 (Mathews 27, Chandimal 27) Sri Lanka are inching towards a good position. This was constantly going to be such an essential collaboration, and I ‘d picture Dan Lawrence is having a hard time to put that dropped catch prior to lunch out of his mind.

27th over: Sri Lanka 79-3 (Mathews 27, Chandimal 26) We’re having a couple of technical issues I hesitate, though you have not missed out on much.

26th over: Sri Lanka 78-3 (Mathews 27, Chandimal 25) Hey There! Out of absolutely nothing, Mathews chips Leach directly back over his head for 6 That shot likewise raises a calm, reliable fifty collaboration with Chandimal.

25th over: Sri Lanka 69-3 (Mathews 21, Chandimal 22) Stuart Broad, who took 2 early wickets, returns after lunch in location of Dom Bess. Angelo Mathews thick edges a cutter to 3rd male for 4, which takes him to 6,000 Trial run. He’s just the 5th Sri Lanka to reach that turning point after Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Sanath Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva.

That was a good early morning for England Stuart Broad took 2 wickets in a clever new-ball spell, and after that Kusal Perera offered Dom Bess a wicket with an ill-conceived reverse sweep. Sri Lanka remained in huge problem at 25 for 3, however Angelo Mathews and the stand-in-captain Dinesh Chandimal calmly brought back order. For the many part they played actually well, though Chandimal was visited Dan Lawrence in the covers prior to lunch.

24th over: Sri Lanka 65-3 (Mathews 17, Chandimal 22) Leach bowls the last over prior to lunch and beats Chandimal with another jaffa that curves in and after that rips past the outdoors edge. That’s lunch.

22nd over: Sri Lanka 61-3 (Mathews 13, Chandimal 22) Chandimal slaps Leach towards cover, where the debutant Lawrence drops a caretaker Eesh, that’s not a terrific method to begin your Test profession, and might be expensive in what is most likely to be a low-scoring video game.

” Hey There Rob, I value your genuine psychological connection to the video game, and your deep understanding …” states Zaph. “Nevertheless. I just recently plugged into the OBO of the Aussie v India video games and there’s loads more information, e.g. the field settings, notes on variations on all balls of the over, field modifications; whereas you just provide the ‘highlights’ of these things. Can you not be troubled? And no, I’m not composing to Mr. accuracy Ingle, simply questioning what your ideas are, do you check out those OBOs?”

No, I can’t be troubled.

21st over: Sri Lanka 61-3 (Mathews 13, Chandimal 22) A number of shipments from the spinner have actually currently gone through the top, which recommends this pitch will collapse long in the past day 5. Bess and Leach have experience of bowling on surface areas like that at Somerset, though up until now they have not been at their finest. That’s reasonable – Bess is bowling in a Test in Asia for the very first time, Leach is bowling in a Test for the very first time because 2019.

20th over: Sri Lanka 56-3 (Mathews 12, Chandimal 18) Mathews and Chandimal have actually played practically 150 Tests in between them and understand precisely what they are doing. They’re simply collecting smartly – no difficulty, no frills and ideally no 4th wicket prior to lunch for England.

19th over: Sri Lanka 52-3 (Mathews 11, Chandimal 17) It’s difficult to understand what a great rating is on this pitch, however I think Sri Lanka would be content with 250, specifically as England need to bat last. At the minute batting looks fairly comfy. However in Galle, there is typically one with your name on it.

18th over: Sri Lanka 50-3 (Mathews 10, Chandimal 16) ” Early Morning Rob,” states Andy Bradshaw. “It’s a small quibble considering he’s wanging it down at 90mph and making the batsmen dip into it, however I do want Wood slip a yorker in more frequently, thinking about how quick he is in the air and how sluggish the pitch is, why not take the pitch out of the formula?”

Constantly with the formulas.