A few tweaks are needed after Sri Lanka let off hook
ENGLAND’S spinners admit they must learn fast if the team are to win the second Test in Sri Lanka.
It may have been the first time since 1974 that an England pace bowler has not taken a first-innings wicket.
And it may have been the first time since 1962 that four spinners claimed at least one wicket in the same innings.
The pitch offered them plenty of assistance, but their lines and lengths were not good enough to make the most of it often enough and it cost them.
A tough old day in the Sri Lankan dirt finished with England 46 runs behind and cursing what might have been.
From 211-7 and 252-8, Roshen Silva’s 85 helped Sri Lanka to 336 all out, England’s frustrated bowlers wilting in the heat.
“We’ve had a chat about it and we’re a bit disappointed they got a 40 to 50 run lead,” admitted left-arm spinner Jack Leach. “We thought we could have a lead out there.
“I felt I could have put more pressure on and put more balls in the right areas. On these wickets you have to be extra patient and that means putting the ball in the right area all the time and asking questions of the batter.
“I feel I could have done that a little better and it’s something for me to learn from in time for the fourth innings, when hopefully the pitch will have broken up more. It will be crucial to put meaning on every ball and create chances and, as we talk about with (bowling coach) Saqlain Mushtaq, being double patient.”
Leach was not alone in giving the Sri Lanka batsmen an easy ride at times, with Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali sending down plenty of freebies, especially in the first session.
But thankfully for England they do not always have to rely on their bowlers when Ben Stokes is in the field and he produced the champagne moment of the series so far to run out Dimuth Karunaratne for 63 and break up a 96-run partnership.
A one-handed pick up and throw, off balance and with one stump to aim at, yet he could not have been more accurate were he using laser guided technology.
He followed it up with a smart slip catch which seemed to fire England into action after lunch, when Rashid returned a different bowler. He has struggled to replicate in Test cricket the control he has in the white-ball game, but in a spell of nine overs he took 2-23 and looked an absolute world beater.
He had both Dhananjaya de Silva and Angelo Mathews well pouched by Ben Foakes behind the stumps, finding two legspinners to die for.
Sadly for England those moments were few and far between after tea, as Sri Lanka played the conditions superbly to earn a meaningful lead, although docked five runs for deliberate short running.
Jos Buttler dropped what would have been a stunning catch at extra cover, but when Roshen was finally the last man out failing to clear mid-on, England had just one over to negotiate so they turned to their hardest working man for help.
Leach’s 29 overs were the most by any England bowler, but he took on nightwatchman duty, going out with Rory Burns to open the second innings.