Rashid in Dhdfkhj sdffddfs a rush to sdffdg wrap it up
STOKES HELPS SKITTLE SRI LANKA
eNGLAND’S dream of a 3-0 whitewash is still bang on course after Ben Stokes and Adil Rashid hit Sri Lanka with the old one-two.
The two English bowlers bullied the home side with pace and bamboozled them with spin on a sluggish pitch.
With Keaton Jennings producing his own masterclass to take four superb catches at short leg, England turned a day that had been drifting into another dominant position with a lead of 99 by the close.
Stokes (right) and Rashid, England’s very own Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, were magnificent to cause a collapse of 8-53 after tea and leave the Lankans reeling.
One is at you like a Rottweiler, in your face, making you hop about and worry about getting hit as well as losing your wicket.
The other circles you like a cobra, sliding the ball this way and that, teasing and testing you, before he gets the ball to spit sharply out of nowhere and take your edge or beat your bat.
And it was Rashid, who had all but given up on Test cricket at the start of the year with a white-ball only contract with Yorkshire, who claimed his careerbest figures of 5-49. A match-winner in the one-day team, Rashid has come a long way over the past six months in the Test side and deservedly led the team off the field. “It may well be the best I’ve bowled in Tests,” said Rashid. “It is certainly right up there, the pitch offered a bit of assistance and I tried to be attacking. “My plan was to get the ball spinning both ways, I was trying to mix it up, bowl my variations and got my rewards. Stokesy is a world-class performer and showed it again. He had a gameplan to be aggressive, run in hard and rough them up.
“I didn’t expect myself to be here 12 months ago, but things can change quickly.”
England had been struggling to make an impact, taking just one wicket apiece either side of lunch thanks to the incredible hands and bravery of Jennings.
While Joe Root spilled two chances at slip, Jennings moved up the pitch as Danushka Gunathilaka swiped at one that landed in his midriff.
At 182-2 at tea Sri Lanka were in control until Jennings linked up again with Rashid to spark the collapse.