Sri Lanka vs England, 2nd Test, England tour of Sri Lanka, 2021 - CommentarySL vs ENG, 2nd Test, England tour of Sri Lanka, 2021 - Commentary

Umesh Garg: Get ready India, England are coming prepared now.

Vivaan: After every passing over, Sri Lanka's hopes are fading

Pulkit: Very similar to what happened in the first match of IND-AUS series. Losing a bunch of wickets in an hour. SL will be disappointed that they could not set a target of 200+ for their bowlers.

Pari: There might be a 30 mins extension if the umpires think we can get a result today.

Dexter: Credit to England batters who haven't thrown it away. The only culprit might be Root who played a poor shot. Rest of them have done their job so far. At least, didn't play reckless.

Ashwin Srinivas: The game seems to be slipping away from Sri Lanka's grasp. If they don't pick up a wicket or two in the next three overs, it will be pretty much curtains as England will chase this target down.

Ravindra: Test cricket over the last few weeks is such a treat to watch !! And the line 'STILL ANYBODY'S GAME' just makes it more exciting. SL bowlers must be accurate and should not let the batsmen score freely. It is also important to grab the chances created by the bowlers.

Mohit Prakash: "Root's wicket is big but England still have the upper hand at this point with another match-winner Butler out there. If England still lose they are gonna regret those 40 runs of Embuldniya!"

Pushkar: "Dilruwan Parera is not supporting his partner nicely.. Even he needs to bowl tighter lines and create pressure from one end."

Sriharsha M: "2021 is taking Test cricket to another level and proving that toss is just a factor and you need skills and GRIT to win a Test match no matter how the conditions are."

Taha Haidery: "Very crucial phase of the game. If SL gets rid of Joe Root, this match will be wide open. If only they can find a way to get an edge on his sweeps.."

sharath J: This is where Bairstow's limited-overs experience will come in handy. Instead of playing conservatively, he can just take the team out of jail in a matter of time.

Shehan MS: Not so sure whether SL will be able to defend this target

Ashwin Srinivas: Lankan spinners have to keep it tight, as of now the singles are coming at a fair clip. Pitch is surely a factor but the spinners need to be disciplined as well

Sri Harsha: It's more of Embuldeniya vs Root than SL vs ENG.

Agam: Wood needs to nail two yorkers here and this should be over.

Vicky: I am getting a strong feeling of a Sri Lankan victory in this test match. Embuldeniya and Perera might be too much for the English batters to handle in the 4th innings.

Ashwin Srinivas: The fact remains that Indian pitches are not extreme like Sri Lankan pitches and Indian batsmen are also not so inept in their shot selection, so the job wont be this easy for England's spinners

Sathish: I agree England have a very good bowling attack. but I seriously doubt if their batting lineup can pose challenge to Indian bowling when they cross shores in a week's time. Even in this series apart from Root and Jos, no one has made very significant contribution to the scorecard.

Manish Ramnani: This would be a good confidence booster before the India series. Both the spinners 1st taking 5 fers and now taking wickets in tandem

Rishi: What can be the target that can make match interesting?? -- Anything over 150 could be challenging.

Aaryan: In 2015 it was SL wreaking havoc in Galle, this time it's England who are wreaking havoc in Galle. This is why England are considered a great team. Archer will only boost the bowling attack.

Prasanna Ganesh: There is a fine line between playing natural game and playing responsible cricket. Someone needs to pass it on to the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Hari: "Haven't seen a top-order batsman play such poor shots in a long, long time. Getting out to good balls is one thing, this is just unacceptable."

Ben: "Bah! I miss those days of pre-1995, when England batsmen were hopelessly inept against Indian spinners Kumble, Chauhan and Raju. Bring back those rank turners and make batsmen dance to the tunes of world-class spinners!"

Vinay: "We almost expect Root and Mathews to get 50+ scores. But this match will be decided by the rest of the batsmen. Buttler vs Dickwella. Bairstow vs Thirimmane. Those will be the key scoring outputs to compare and those will lead to the result going one way or another."

Abhay bakshi: "Just imagining this series without Joe Root and Embuldeniya!!"

Somansh: "Time for the tail to grind it out so that Root gets his well deserved double. I agree with @Taha that Root is probably on course to being the best batsmen of all time for England. A similar showing in India would cement his place among the greats."

Chanti: "Sri Lanka not using bowlers wisely. Embuldeniya has bowled a lot of overs." -- Well, no one else has looked even half as threatening, leaving them with no choice

Xavier: "Bess troubling Lanka more than Root. Lack of dot balls are pressurizing the inexperienced bowling lineup."

Taha Haidery: "Joe Root in my opinion is propably the best batsmen of all time from England. It's a big statement though but looking at his numbers and age, he can break all the batting records set by the great English players."

Raven: I feel bad for Sri Lanka, where all the talk has been about India vs England, there is so much at stake here guys like the series is on the line and valuable WTC points are up for grabs.

Yash: If England can wipe out the deficit, all 3 results are possible.

Divyam: Much like Australia, England also depending on 1 man to do all the scoring. So the Indian think tank needs to figure out a way to get Root early and win the series 4-0.

GM: "Too many easy singles for Root, average fielding placement from SL!"

Aditya: "Joe Root's job in this series: Making 50th test fifty and converting it into 49th by the end of the innings."

Chris: "Have a gut feeling Root has scored too many runs in this series and will not continue in the same vein in India against a much better attack. Stokes is the only one who can be a threat despite his 20-30avg. vs India."

Jade: "Alastair Cook quit after that India series in 2018, and England had yet to find a replacement. They were not in quite a good place and as captain there was obviously pressure on Root, which caused him his batting runs. England are now in a far better position and Root is back. GO ROOT!!!"

Greeshmanth: "@Deepak: I wouldn't say you were exactly correct but most of the runs he scored came from the dead rubbers. I wouldn't say Root isn't great but he just had a rough patch in past two years in Tests. We cannot disagree with that."

Ruwaif: "There should be some variation from Embuldeniya, he is just bowling that left arm off-spin, not much pace variation too."

Akash Pal: "I certainly wish that Joe Root is back in the top 3 ICC test Rankings. What composure and understanding of the game. Such class deserves to be in the top 3."

Deepak Surana: "One cannot question the overseas performance of Root. He has averages above 50 in SA, SL, IND, WI and close to 40 in NZ and Aus. His overseas record is behind Smith but considerably better than Virat and Kane. He is under rated just because of lack of tons."

Amit Sawant: 'Yes, he was not converting his 50s to 100s more often. But one should also not forget that he plays most of his matches on difficult English wicket where the ball does something whole day.'

Samarth Jain: "Though Joe Root is part of fab 4, he is the one who struggles in away conditions the most. Here in Sri Lanka, always trying to sweep, reverse sweep the spinners.. but yes, he has shown a lot of composure in this innings."

Deep Mishra: "I swear I hadn't move an inch since Root was in his 90s #R100T"

Jos: "Joe Root's strike rate has been so amazing and astounding considering he hasn't really offered a chance to Sri Lanka the whole innings despite his pretty aggressive approach."

Nitesh: "Joe Root is back among the runs! Be scared India... be very scared!"

Devansh Tripathi: "This is what Joe Root was always capable of.He missed out on a lot of centuries earlier after getting starts and batting out tough time but now he is in the right mindset."

Rubel Babu: "All ten wickets of Sri Lanka taken by the English pacers, I won't be surprised if the Lankan spinners do the same. Everyone has their own strengths."

Hari: "Looks like its Embuldeniya vs whole of England"

Dheeraj: Joe root is not letting me taking my classes now, putting up a masterclass.

Akhilesh: Watching Root bat like this makes for such wonderful viewing. There's not a lot of players in World Cricket who can score runs attacking with such effortless ease and class. Hopefully, we get to see a lot of it this year.

SHIKHAR GOVIL: It looks like 2021 can be the year where we will see Joe Root getting back in fab 4. Till now he has been really positive in his batting and looking to convert starts into bigger innings

Somansh: "A score between 375-400 should put Sri Lanka on top. A solid first innings effort after the debacle in their previous attempt."

Abdullah: "Just like Chris Woakes, Dilruwan Perera has been an understated performer for Sri Lanka over the years."

ashish: "Dilruwan Perera is a quite handy batsman at home in Tests, he can add those extra runs at the end, it's been quite a while that I've been noticing this."

Abhijeet: "James Anderson may not be bowling at a high pace but whenever he bowls, he makes sure that he bowls with great consistency. I have been watching this match since day 1 and never have I ever seen him giving freebies or any opportunity to the batsmen to score runs."

Akash Pal: "Just imagine the threat to a batting lineup, when you see Broad, Anderson, Woakes and Archer bowling together. England might not have a good spin attack but their pace attack is always a threat to all batsmen on any pitch on any day anywhere on this Earth."

Lakshay: "Niroshan is an extremely valuable asset for Sri Lanka. He has always stood tall for them whenever required. And with age on his side, expect him to lead Sri Lanka in the near future."

Yash Verma: "Three changes Sri Lanka made for this Test and interestingly all three of them register ducks!"

Taha Haidery: "Who said James Anderson is less effective in Asian conditions? Though Sri Lanka has gifted him wickets, his consistency in that corridor of uncertainty is impeccable."

Steven francis: "This performance of Jimmy Anderson will be undoubtedly a tight slap on his critics who said that he is successful only on the English pitches. A 38 year old fast bowler with years of experience playing across the globe can be termed as a dangerous bowler to face against in the test cricket."

Ayush Jhawa: "Now Niroshan is on his highest Test score, hope he scores his first ton."

srimanth: playing till end of tea and posting above 400 will make the hosts favourites to win this game keeping in mind the quality of the spinners we saw in the first Test

Yashashvi: Sri Lanka will be desperate to make a comeback in this series. It will good for Test Cricket and great to watch

Kavish: @Vignesh I disagree because England skipper Joe Root had clearly mentioned that they are focussing on the Sri Lanka tour ONLY at the moment and India will come by later. Also, on a given day, Sri Lanka can be a much more threatening and difficult opponent than India.

Anuj: Being the tourist side in these times, England has come in with a small squad. They need one more spin bowler in the squad. Considering the conditions, they might play three of them in a single match.

Vignesh: This EngVsSL series is a Win-Win situation for both Eng and India in one way. England can narrow down on their Best XI to play against tougher opponent like India. At the same time, Indians will be keenly watching on the weak area of this tough English side. Cant wait for Feb 5th. Bring it on

Akash Pal: Niroshan is well set now and should look for runs along with rotating the strike along with the tail. Need to see his approach . Anything above 320 will be a good score on this pitch provided how good sri Lanka's spinners were in the first Test.

DMKalhans: England needs to call back Adil Rashid for sub-continent conditions. He is the most effective spinner in England right now.

Abhishek: England Fast bowlers are doing wonderful job here. They have taken all wickets without much help. But spinners need to step up.

Akash Pal: England desperately needs a Good and effevtive spin duo to win matches in the sub-continent and spinning pitches. The last duo that was effective was that of Graeme Swann and Monty Paneswar a long time back.

DMKalhans: We have been seeing James Anderson for the past 15 years, taking random fifers with his beautiful bowling action. What a legend man!

Karl anthony: Dom bess and Jack leach haven't been that much impressive with their spin techniques, I fear this might be a concern for the English before Test series against India , where pitches are most favorable for the spinners.

Prashant: Why isn't Broad and Anderson playing together? Broad is more attacking than Wood -- Rested with England playing a 4-Test series against India immediately. Wood has the extra pace and is also handy with reverse swing.

Bharat: Sri Lanka Used to have an excellent No. 6 in Dhananjaya De Silva in past few years. Where is he now? Is he Injured?? - He had a freak thigh injury when he was batting so well in the Centurion Test against South Africa and hasn't recovered fully since then.

Divyam Dhoot: Mathews has been a blessing in disguise for Sri Lanka. He is looking really good. He should be making a big century in this match and lead Sri Lanka to a good first innings score

Dan: "England will want to get another wicket soon. Just got a feeling with the new batters coming in, one wicket could lead to 2 or 3."

Vicky: "Wood needs to add some edge to his bowling and not just rely on pace. He isn't really accurate and will definitely struggle in India and Australia."

Arul Aakash: "Sri Lanka must score about 350 runs. Then surely they will be in the driver's seat!!!"

siva: "Bess was leaking too many and releasing the pressure created by Anderson from the other end."

Harsha: "This is excellent recovery considering they lost two wickets early"

Ravindra: "Angelo Mathews is a match winner and such a crucial player if SL is to get back to winning ways. His impact on the team is visible and other players look comfortable and confident when he is at the other end. If not for injuries, he would have been in the zone of Ben Stokes and Ravindra Jadeja."

Yash: "I think Wood is really angry at being rested for India's tour."

Akhilesh: Although this rotation policy is great for ensuring the fitness of these bowlers and managing their workload, I hope to see the 3 of Anderson, Broad and Archer together at some stage this year.

Ravindra: We have observed set batsmen losing their wickets at times post lunch/tea breaks (may be they relax a bit and lose their momentum and that's when bowling teams try to use the situation to their advantage). Ironically, a break is aiding bowling team more than the batting teams to draw their plans

ASH: England's rotation and resting policy is just awesome. It prevents injuries and gives opportunities to young talents. Dan Lawrence is just an example for this..

Kritant: Two international matches are going on right now. Difficult to figure which one is a Test match and which one is an ODI.

Soham: Leach is bowling nicely short and wide at least a couple times an over and gives up an easy single. He may still get wickets off other balls considering the current quality of Sri Lankan batsmen but those freebies will release any built up pressure on Indian batsmen in India. Not promising from Leach

Harsha: Thirimanne needs to convert his start into a big one.

Rohit Kosigi Shroff: "We may criticise Kusal Mendis for playing a shot very early in the innings and getting out. Remember that he scored big runs in the same way. these are the players who will fetch you runs in the same way. We saw that with Rishabh Pant also." -- Firstly, it's unfair to compare both and secondly, Kusal Mendis has been given more than decent number of chances to prove himself. Unfortunately for him and Sri Lanka, the expectations and results travelled in opposite direction.

Jack: Will be interested how Bess bowls - as this could be the difference between him and Moeen playing in India. Despite his fifer, he was quite out of control and Indian batsmen can take advantage of his freebies. Hope he is more controlled today even if he doesn't get wickets.

Dhruv: Really liked how ECB has planned out the workload for players well in advance and made it public. They are giving appropriate rest to mostly everyone. I think they will also want their players to play the IPL too to prepare for the WC this year.

Manohar: Not all openers can be both aggressive and score runs in test cricket, that’s where greats like Sehwag, Hayden, Trescothick stood apart from others.

Aayush: @Cricbuzz, Is the SG used in Sri Lanka or they play with Kookaburra - SG only in India. England and West Indies - Dukes. Rest of the world - Kookaburra

sangha: Sri Lanka need to add 350 or 400 runs on the scoreboard. We know that first innings runs are crucial

Commentary not available for this match