England and Sri Lanka will play their second Test match on 29th August at Lords.
Match preview:
The confident England will take on Sri Lanka at Lords after grinding a victory in the first Test match. England are missing the services of Ben Stokes and adding insult to injury, the pacer, Mark Wood is out of the series with a thigh injury. The 20-year-old Josh Hull has received the maiden call to fill up the boast of the veteran pacer.
England were three down at 70 with a chase of 205. But as expected, one hero emerged: Joe Root. The veteran batter scored 62 runs under the pump and guided his side home in the first Test match.
The side will hope that Root will recreate these heroics in the upcoming Test as well.
England will walk to this Test match with confidence considering how they managed to stand victorious in the first game despite diverting away from the “Bazball” style. Gus Atkinson was the standout bowler and Jamie Smith also plundered a plethora of runs scoring 111 and then combining it with 39.
Despite the loss, Sri Lanka had a few positives to take on, especially in the name of Asitha Fernando. The pacer took 4 wickets in the first innings and later took 2 wickets in the second on. The medium-pace bowler proved to be a tricky customer for the English side and if he manages to do the same at Lords, Sri Lanka may field positive results.
De Silva scored a fighting knock in the first innings and in the second innings an interesting hero emerged in the name of Kamindu Mendis.
‘We are over the moon as a team, not for the result but the way we played in this game is unbelievable. In the first half an hour on the first day, we lost three wickets. Milan [Rathnayake] and Dhananjaya batted brilliantly and took us through the game” Chandimal said.
So, Sri Lanka will serve as the title of underdogs as they hold the ability to take down the English side.
Playing XI:
England:
Ben Duckett
Dan Lawrence
Ollie Pope (capt)
Joe Root
Harry Brook
Jamie Smith (wk)
Chris Woakes
Gus Atkinson
Matthew Potts
Olly Stone
Shoaib Bashir
Sri Lanka (probable):
Dimuth Karunaratne
Nishan Madushka
Kusal Mendis
Angelo Mathews
Dinesh Chandimal (wk)
Dhananjaya de Silva (capt)
Kamindu Mendis
Prabath Jayasuriya
Asitha Fernando
Vishwa Fernando
Milan Rathnayake
Head-to-head record:
A total of 37 games have been played between the side and in 18 games England stood victorious while Sri Lanka clinched victory in 8 games.
Pitch and weather report:
The weather looks promising as there are minimal chances of rain. So, fans can expect a great and tension-free contest at the home of cricket.
And as expected, the bowlers, especially seamers will get a lot of help from the pitch as the new ball tends to seam and swing at this ground.
Predictions:
Although Sri Lanka had a few positives to enjoy against England, the Three Lions are still favourites to win the second Test match, increasing their head-to-head tally against Sri Lanka.
Where to watch:
Pakistan: Tapmad
UK: Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Go app, TNT sports
India: Sony Sports network, Sony Liv, FanCode app
South Africa: Super Sports app, Super Sport cricket
Others: CricHD
