SL vs ENG 2nd Test: Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes the ongoing second Test between Sri Lanka and England at the Galle International Stadium will go down to the wire.
On day four, England added just five runs to their overnight total to finish of 344 in the first innings giving Sri Lanka a 37-run lead. However, the tables turned within an hour as the England spin duo of Dom Bess and Jack Leach came to the party — dismissing half of the hosts’ batsmen in 16 overs. Vaughan, who had criticised England’s team selection for the first two Tests against India last week, on Monday said the ongoing game is now turning into one of the great Test matches.
“Well I never … This is turning into one of the Great Test matches … !!! England now favourites with the bookies … not so sure about that but it’s GAME ON,” Vaughan tweeted.
Resuming their second innings, Sri Lanka got off to a disastrous start to hand over the advantage to England in the second Test.
Leach struck first to dismiss Kusal Perera while Bess sent back Oshada Fernando. The interesting thing was that no England spinner was able to pick a wicket in the first essay. But in the second innings, the spinners came out all guns blazing to dismantle the Lankan top-order.
On Sunday, skipper Joe Root’s knock of 186 helped England stay on course against Sri Lanka in the game. Root has become the fourth-highest run-scorer for England in the longest format of the game.
Playing in his 99th Test for England, Root continued his golden patch and has gone from seventh to fourth among England’s top Test run-scorers to add another feather to his cap.
Of the nine England wickets that fell on Sunday, seven were taken by Lasith Embuldeniya. He scalped the wickets of Dom Sibley, Zack Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Dan Lawrence, Sam Curran, Dominic Bess, and Mark Wood.
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