England vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test, Day 4 - 2nd Test Won England 9 Wicket 2-0

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

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That's that: England win by nine wickets
Cook and his men have clinched the series 2-0. England knock out the 79 runs without breaking a sweat and in the process clinch the series as well. In the end it was Sri Lanka's hapless batting display in the first innings that came back to haunt them. But they would take a lot of heart from their second innings display as the batsmen led by Dinesh Chandimal's strokeful century showed good intent to dig it out in the middle. Alas, Anderson's class was a little too hot for the young batsmen to handle. Despite being on the field for 171.5 overs at a stretch, the old warhorse still managed to pose enough questions to snare an eight-wicket haul. It however sets us up perfectly for the next Test, which despite being a dead rubber promises to be a mouth watering contest with a resurgent looking Sri Lankan batting attack.

That's it from us folks! Until next time then ...

The sun is out and the players are out the as well. Spin to start and 46 more needed.

And we have a wicket as well. Full and flat, Hales goes back to flick it to the on side. The ball skids, takes the pad before hitting middle. Milinda Siriwardana gets a wicket. England 35 for 1.

Tea: England 33 for no loss
England are still 46 runs away from clinching the series 2-0 and the players have walked out for tea. England should polish off the chase in the final session but what a day this has been for Cook. He hit a century on debut. He churned out runs. He began to plough them, irrespective of seasons and geographies. The ugly front foot push began a fashion, just like patience. Ashes win, a 2-1 shaming of India at home on cultivated turntops and then.. the bad form struck. And followed an inexperienced team, a Swann-less, Bell-less, KP-less team to be humbled at home.. by Asian pacers. Media, pundits, fans - all called for his head. But he stuck, to his captaincy because his struggles became fashionable again. 10,000 runs today to celebrate simplicity and to celebrate cricket, thus taking away English cricket into a coveted club of run-harvesters. That was all this session about. And if you could look past Cook, then about Sri Lanks's spirited revival that hopefully will stretch into the Lord's Test match. We'll be back in a bit ...



There it is: Cook gets to 10,000
Full and on the pads, Cook flicks it past square leg and sets off. The ball slows down as it rolls towards the fence, Cook wants it to hit the fence. His eyes says it all. He has been waiting for this. As soon as the ball hits the fence, a big smile appears on Cook's face, he's relieved, off goes the helmet, up goes the bat. Cook has finally scaled Mount 10k.

And we are back
Cook takes strike, Sri Lanka start with Herath and the England captain gets off strike with an inside edge. Four more needed. The tease ...

That's that: England need 79 to win
And the wait has ended. Sri Lanka are all out for 475. Cook rushes back into the pavilion, he has a job to do. Anderson leads the pack back. Sri Lanka's overwhelming resistance runs out of fuel.. at least 78 runs more than what they were expected to.

Milestone alert - Cook needs five more to get to 10,000 Test runs.


Big wicket: Chandimal falls
End of a lovely innings from Chandimal. The crowd gets up, applauds robotically before waning down ridiculously in sync. But a horror shot to get out, this from Chandimal. Premeditates the slog on this, wields his bat across the line but Broad had done well to stick to the stumps. English bowlers always do. Chandimal misses, Broad hits.

Five for Jimmy:
Anderson bowls one straight on off stump and Eranga tries to nudge it leg side but is beaten. The off stump is uprooted giving Jimmy his fifth wicket of the innings. He has bowled so well in this series especially in this innings where the bowlers have been working hard to fetch wickets. The lead is approaching 50 as Lakmal enters the crease.

Wicket: And there's the wicket England were looking for
This looked plumb the moment it hit the pad. 61 runs of awesomeness, 91 balls of genius resistance ends. The inswinger from Anderson this time, Herath was stuck on the crease trying to second-guess which way the ball will move. Comes shooting in with the angle, raps the pad and a referral, albeit a formal one, confirms a plumb LBW.

Anderson's 450th Test wicket as well. Sri Lanka are 430 for 7. They are 33 ahead now.

50 for Herath:
After Chandimal's century, Herath gets to a fifty with a single. This is will certainly frustrate England. These two have added 104 runs for the seventh wicket. Sri Lanka 418 for 6.

Lunch on Day 4: Sri Lanka 403 for 6
Sri Lanka's session, this. Sri Lanka now lead by 89 and England will have to bat again. Chandimal and Herath have added 85 for the seventh wicket. The pitch has flattened out, yes, but this is some quality fight from the duo. After England got rid of Siriwardana, they would have hoped to wrap things early. Not to be.

We'll be back in 30 minutes for the second session.


Century: Chandimal 100*
There it is. Chandimal gets to his sixth Test ton with an outside edge to third man. He's pumped. Jumps in the air, off comes the helmet, the crowd is up on their feet.Sri Lanka needed this but more importantly the Chandimal needed this. Not to forget, he's playing with an injured thumb. He's leading Sri Lanka's resistance and has found good support from Herath.

Dropped: Chandimal survives
Got to say it was a straightforward chance but Bairstow doesn't hold on to it. The inswinger from Anderson, Chandimal gets forward to defend, the ball nips in sharply, there was a gap between bat and pad, the ball takes the inside edge but the keeper moved to his left and shells it.

And there's the first wicket of the day
Anderson strikes in gloomy conditions. Siriwardana falls. Beautfully set-up by Anderson, hits it on a length and seams it away just a touch, Siriwardana played it with hard hands, the ball shaves the outside edge and flies towards gully where Hales nicely pouches it.

Sri Lanka 314 for 6.


And we are set
The lights are on, James Anderson to start, Chandimal on strike and Milinda Siriwardana is with him. How long will Sri Lanka survive?




ICYMI: Sri Lanka 309 for 5
If you missed Sri Lanka's resistance from the third day due to the IPL final, you can read our match report here. Some good news as well, the covers are coming off and we are hoping that we'll start on time.

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the fourth day of the second Test between England and Sri Lanka. After a string of dismal batting performances in their last three outings, finally the visitors stepped up with the bat. A different approach was required in the second innings and for once the batsmen did not disappoint. Alastair Cook's side were left frustrated as Angelo Mathews, Kaushal Silva and Dinesh Chandimal posted half-centuries that took Sri Lanka to - within 88 runs of making England bat again and avoid the humiliation of a second successive innings defeat. Nevertheless, with a refreshed bowling attack and a new ball, England will still be confident and look to fancy their chances of bundling out their opponents on day four, as Sri Lanka's tail looks extremely fragile in these conditions. Let's see if Chandimal and Siriwardana manage to delay the inevitable.
 
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