Unusual to come on here and find people questioning whether England declared too
early Fair point re the basically sound pitch ...but the odd ball has done enough to keep all the spinners interested and you'd think 460 is an ample cushion. True the seven overs last night didn't get any joy , but it might well have done against tired openers : worth a try , I think. I imagine Joe Root has an eye to the possible weather issues...
The psychological gain from making 400 might have been nice but I reckon reaching the scores they did with practically no contribution from Root or Moeen will have given them plenty of heart anyway. Who could have predicted England being in this position after three days
in Galle - especially with a couple of debutants and the failures of key batsmen ?
Job not done yet , of course. Sri Lanka will surely bat better this time around and the English bowlers will need to stay patient...another test for Root's captaincy as he's tended to lose the plot a bit in these second innings situations when things don't go to plan. He certainly can't complain about lack of variety in his attack - only lacks a 95mph paceman.
Quiet first half hour . Anderson has found a couple of edges but they've gone quickly to ground : think the spinners will need to do most of the work today - though I wouldn't rule out the quicks collecting a couple of lbws later in the innings. Sri Lanka will be happy not to have lost any early wickets this time around.