RECAP
Follow UsYet another failure for Ollie Pope
When Ollie Pope walked out to bat at 22/1, it gave him the best chance there was to put on a show and put aside all the doubts over his batting. Instead, Pope continued his struggle with a second dismissal in the Test via a short-ball.
The field was scattered with one goal: to get Pope to mistime one straight to a fielder in the deep. The right-hander has only 22 runs in his last three innings.
Harry Brook’s aggressive display
Harry Brook walked out with only one intention: to destroy the Sri Lankan bowling unit. That’s exactly what he did, with a 36-ball 37, where he smacked five boundaries in total, including two off Prabath Jayasuriya’s bowling.
That 58-run partnership between him and Joe Root augured well for England.
Sri Lanka turn towards a short-ball strategy
With their backs turned against the wall, Sri Lanka looked towards the short-ball strategy to fetch them wickets. It worked well for them, with five wickets on the day, in an area where the Sri Lankan pacers averaged just 11 with Asitha Fernando and Lahiru Kumara picking six wickets between them in the second innings.
ROOOOOOOOOOOT
✅ Most Test centuries among active cricketers
✅ Most Test centuries for England
✅ Most Test centuries at Lord's
✅ Hundreds in each innings of a Lord's Test
No need to add anything more, I guess? Joe Root had quite a field day out at Lord’s.
England’s pace unit responds
England pacers waited and when it was their turn, put on a dominant display. With the light dimming towards the late hour of the day, the conditions became quite troublesome for the Sri Lankan batters to deal with.
Unlike Sri Lanka, the English pacers approached it in a more traditional manner, hitting the length as the ball did the rest, accounting for Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.
