- Live updates from Galle with second Test in balance
- Day two: Root and Bairstow lead England fightback
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66th over: England 216-4 (Root 118, Buttler 51) After a short breather, Embuldeniya is back into the attack replacing Dilruwan. But he drops short to Buttler, who makes no mistake carving him away behind point to raise his half-century. He reaches the mark from 79 balls with seven boundaries. This pair have added 84 vital runs with the England ‘keeper providing sturdy support to his skipper.
65th over: England 211-4 (Root 117, Buttler 47) Ramesh Mendis, the man on debut, is giving it a good old rip now with his off-spin. After making a duck with the bat at the first time of asking, he’ll be desparate to get in the book. He doesn’t here but it is a pretty useful over in terms of the turn he’s generating. Handy.
Playing in England a lot can contribute to low scores. But I've always felt it helps to judge batsmen on how well they do away from home.
So this is the best averages, away from home, minimum 20 innings, last fifty years. Root is 23rd. Chris Broad at number 1 though! pic.twitter.com/1e3SXJUoZS
64th over: England 209-4 (Root 116, Buttler 46) Lizard stops play?! Not quite, but the little guy is racing across the outfield in front of the sight screen making for some beautiful shots on the slow-mo camera. Another is Buttler getting down low into his reverse sweep posture, crunching Dilruwan away through point for his sixth boundary. England’s are still 172 behind but these two are ticking over nicely.
63rd over: England 203-4 (Root 115, Buttler 41) Universe Jos brings up England’s 200 with an elegant cover drive - his best of the innings, racing away for four off Lakmal’s seam. That might be just about the final over of his spell. Quality cricket.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Graeme in Fontainebleau. “I was reading in the last test that Joe Root’s batting average is bothering 50 again. He looks a fine player - as fine as any Englishman I’ve seen (I go back to Gower) - I was wondering why, whilst the finest players of other countries average 50+, if there’s any reason why English batters don’t?”
62nd over: England 198-4 (Root 114, Buttler 37) Root’s technique on the reverse sweep is so well honed that even when he doesn’t get it right, the ball still ends up going straight into the turf off the bottom edge. Buttler scored from that shot earlier in the over, so the attack is clear against Dilruwan. He then gets a couple to finish, opening up the blade to steer behind point. Jos is 37 from 67 and going well.
61st over: England 194-4 (Root 113, Buttler 34) Another classy maiden from Lakmal, who looks the man most likely since lunch for Sri Lanka. Despite looking a million bucks out there, Root’s inside edge is still beaten by that late inswing. They go up for leg before, not out on account of height. Good decision; no review.
60th over: England 194-4 (Root 113, Buttler 34) Dilruwan returns to the attack, the offspinner who created a couple of chances earlier on. It doesn’t take long for Root to dance and clip, just past midwicket. Buttler lunges forward to a ball that really rips out of the rough, spitting into his inside edge and front pad. Back to Root, who doesn’t have a care in the world when sweeping, retaining the strike accordingly.
“Hi Adam.” Hello, Robin Hazlehurst. “This talk of when Bannerman’s record will go sounds like you could make a song (or shanty) about it. ‘When will the Bannerman go? This time it will not be Joe. Someday someone will make it though. And carry his team along.’” Lovely. But yes, it will never fall.
59th over: England 191-4 (Root 111, Buttler 34) Buttler is fortunate not to spoon Lakmal a catch in his follow through, miscuing a drive off the leading edge. Both men inspect the pitch; there was a puff of dust there when the ball pitched. The seamer continues to be a handful with the movement he’s getting with the old ball.
Is there a venue in world cricket that gets more aerial love from the camera than Galle?
58th over: England 190-4 (Root 110, Buttler 34) With Embuldeniyahanging a fraction wider this time around, both men are able to tick the board over through cover with a minimum of fuss. The partnership is 58, England’s deficit 191.
57th over: England 187-4 (Root 108, Buttler 33) Lakmal to take up the attack, having bowled a few handy overs in the first session, getting the old ball to hoop around a bit into the right handers. In turn, there’s a catching short midwicket on the edge of the pitch. With this in mind, Buttler is playing watchfully here to begin, getting forward to defend. He tries to lash a drive later on but doesn’t get much of it with the ball moving late. That’s the best over of seam we’ve seen today.
“Hi Adam, you’re a busy fella!” Tim Gilkison, great to have you with us. “Just sat here on the Sai Kung waterfront (pic below) catching up on your text commentary before I’m dragged around the shops. Great to see Root Going well and getting another ton. It bodes well for the challenges ahead. Right, the supermarket beckons (apparently).” Enjoy the struggle - stick with me on the OBO.
56th over: England 187-4 (Root 108, Buttler 33) The 50-run partnership is up with that Root sweep we’ve seen so often, taking a single to deep midwicket off Embuldeniya. Buttler is drawn forward later in the over, playing something of an unintentional Natmeg through his legs off the inside edge for three.
Glenn Finkelde raises a point here: in this innings we currently have on the shelf a Laker, a Bannerman and 229 - the lowest score not made in Tests. Dream!
Imagine a Laker and a Bannerman (which gets to 229) in the same knock.
What a time to be alive!!!
The players are back on the field. “DRS is back on, gentleman!” says one of the umpires. Embuldeniya to continue, Root (105) the man on strike. A vital session coming up with England 200 behind. Can this pair bat for a couple of hours? PLAY!
“Hi Adam.” Hi, Max Savochkin. “Just reading through the list of England’s top run scorers and can’t help notice that the last England batsman to retire with an average north of 50 was Ken Barrington in ‘68, 53 years!! If you think of all the players from other countries who’ve managed it since! I’m assuming England’s home conditions are the main factor here?”
I would say so, yes. However, it’s also worth noting that only 42 men have retired with a 50+ average in the history of Test cricket - far fewer than I expected when this was brought to my attention last week. It reinforces how good Root is that he’s right on that mark as he prepares to continue this unbeaten gem.
January 26. In case you missed it, the main details are captured in this story, with Jason Gillespie the latest player to come out in support of Cricket Australia. That isn’t stopping the usual suspects unleashing online in response - ugly stuff, sadly.
Related: Jason Gillespie backs Cricket Australia against Morrison's 26 January first fleet comments
“Hello from Bangkok.” Hello there, Leo Philips. “I notice that it is a nice patch of England batsman Root finds himself in as regards all time career aggregates having just overtaken Boycott’s 8,114, and with Pietersen 8,181, and Gower 8,231 in reach today... with Stewart next on 8,463 (before we reach the great IVA Richards on 8,540).” That he is - let’s tick them off. And a 100th Test cap in his next start.
Here the full list for England. Given how many Tests he is going to play in 2021, he’s almost certain to go from 8th to 2nd in the space of a year.
What a gem of an innings this is from Joe Root. We all sensed last night that he was putting something special together, and this morning he made his way to a 19th Test ton from just his 139th ball in the middle. It’s an innings that has included sweeps, reverse sweeps, drives, a switch hit - the works. After losing Bairstow (28) and Lawrence (3) to the superb Embuldeniya - who has all four of Sri Lanka’s wickets - the England captain needed support and got it through Buttler, who eats his sandwich on 30 with the partnership worth 49. All told, a super contest.
54th over: England 181-4 (Root 105, Buttler 30) More information on the Buttler saga: they’ve picked up on the stump mics that he was actually given out leg before wicket. And, because he hit it, they didn’t need to use ball tracking. There we have it. One, two three singles from the final over, England finishing the hour on a positive note. Two wickets and 83 runs in the session; England trail by 200.
54th over: England 178-4 (Root 103, Buttler 29) There’s still a bit of confusion out there - is DRS available at one end and not the other? That’s what Root wants to clarify before facing up to Embuldeniya, who is brought back to bowl one over before the lunch break. Buttler gets a couple when he overpitches but then plays and misses at the one that breaks big away from the right-hander. He follows it with the quicker one darted in at off-stump. Class. By my clock that should be lunch, they’re not in position, but they’re going to let them squeeze another in.
53rd over: England 175-4 (Root 102, Buttler 27) Some controversy here: the players were, so TV is reporting, told that DRS wasn’t able to be used at this moment because the technology is down. But then, Buttler did use it. So, Chandimal, the Sri Lankan captain, isn’t happy. Play continues, and the right decision was arrived at, but that episode is going to prompt a stewards’ inquiry at the lunch break.
NOT OUT! A lot going on but the edge on the reverse sweep is into the ground. The poor old third umpire is battling to relay that information to Umpire Dharmasena but he gets there in the end with the correct decision. Buttler survives.
IS BUTTLER CAUGHT IN CLOSE? Kumar Dharmasena says so but Jos is reviewing.
52nd over: England 173-4 (Root 102, Buttler 26) Shot! Jos at his best, slamming a cover drive on the up into the gap and holding his pose for just long enough. And it’s back to back boundaries, leaning back to ride the bounce through the gully.
Those boundaries will put an end to that Bannerman chat - fun while it lasted. On that, Malcolm Brown in Tuscany, where he insists it is wet and windy. “The irony about Slater’s 123 is that when he was dismissed he was ahead of Bannerman, but his inconsiderate team mates added 4 runs for the last 2 wickets, thus taking the record away from him.”
Brilliant from Joe Root. Century number 19 scored at a 71 strike rate. Hit a switch hit like a loon, too.
First time he's scored hundreds in back-to-back Tests #SLvEng
51st over: England 164-4 (Root 102, Buttler 17) Dilruwan goes around the wicket with the changed ball, a slip and short leg in for Buttler after Root gets off strike. The England wicketkeeper is playing a careful game for the most part but is happy to unfurl a checked-drive to finish, out through cover for three. Nice and steady.
ROOOOOOOT!
Another century for the England skipper, his 19th in Test cricket.
He's taken England to 157-4, trailing by 224 #SLvENG
Watch https://t.co/bT0CP9Q8No
Blog https://t.co/cJNbB8VWVVpic.twitter.com/ItESqpvY34
50th over: England 160-4 (Root 101, Buttler 14) Asitha Fernando goes again at Root - a largely tidy set, attacking the stumps. The skipper keeps the strike with a single off leg stump. Now it looks like they’re going to change the ball between overs.
49th over: England 159-4 (Root 100, Buttler 14) Dilruwan bowls the over that takes Root from 98 to 100, Buttler celebrating the skipper’s milestone with a reverse sweep of his own, albeit to a man in the deep. Root has faced just 139 deliveries - a strke rate of 72. Other than Buttler (52), nobody in this match has gone at better than 50. It wasn’t long ago that Root was widely seen as a member of Test batting’s Big Four alongside Smith, Kohli and Williamson. That’s not the case at the moment but he’s batting in a fashion that could see him back there quickly. As a leader and a player, 2021 will go some way to defining his career. What a way to start it.
He gets there with a single to midwicket. What a performance from England’s number one, striking 14 boundaries along the way, combining the conventional with the innovative. Tons in consecutive Test Matches; his third in Sri Lanka.
48th over: England 154-4 (Root 98, Buttler 11) Asitha Fernando on for his first twist of the third day, bowling five wicketless overs yesterday. Root is drive away from a ton but he won’t get it here, clipping a single instead. Back to Buttler, who has wound it back after his quick start, defending soundly then driving to cover, straight to the man stationed there for that very shot. England are 227 behind.
Embuldeniya’s spell this morning 11-2-53-2. Shades of HMRKB Herath.
47th over: England 153-4 (Root 97, Buttler 11) Root to 97 via an inside edge - a bit of reverse from Lakmal? Buttler plays the rest of the over defensively. A good one.
“Is anyone every going to break the Bannerman?” asks Matthew Beggs on twitter. “Think the closest that I’ve ever seem and still likely to see is Slater’s 123 out of 184. It’s like the ultimate impossible goal.”
46th over: England 152-4 (Root 96, Buttler 11) Such good batting from Root, sweeping with authority through midwicket from the first ball of the new Embuldeniya over. Given his chance, Buttler than does exactly the same thing to race into double figures. Having knocked the spinner off his length, he then oversteps for the third time today. When you consider Nathan Lyon has played 100 Tests without bowling a no-ball, that’s quite a good effort from the young man.
45th over: England 142-4 (Root 91, Buttler 7) Uppish from Buttler! Hard hands, in the air to cover off Lakmal, and not far away at all from the man catching in there. I realise the 43rd over post didn’t submit, by the way - not sure what happened there. At the time, I described a pedestrian maiden from Lakmal to Root.
“Good morning Adam!” Good morning to you, Chris Bourne in Poole. That’s where my mum was born. “We’d all be complaining about Root if he’d got himself out with the switch hit, but it’s certainly good to see how confident he’s become while retaining the captaincy. Nevertheless, he can’t win this one by himself. I suspect Sri Lanka still has the upper hand, since it will take Root and at least one other England batter to go big in order to get a lead over Sri Lanka. Batting last, they need some sort of a cushion, don’t you think?”
44th over: England 139-4 (Root 90, Buttler 5) Buttler pushes Bannerman back into the lead with a picture-perfect reverse sweep off Embuldeniya to start his new over - what a shot. I remember talking to Glenn Maxwell about the reverse and he explained that he feels more comfortable using it than the conventional sweep because he has spent so long fine-tuning it over so many years. Buttler falls into a similar category. Root gets his turn and plays carefully even when a full toss comes, happy to knock it out to deep midwicket for one. Into the 90s. Drinks. That’s Sri Lanka’s hour thanks to the fine work of their classy left-arm tweaker.
42nd over: England 132-4 (Root 89, Buttler 0) Embuldeniya, what an impressive young bowler. To the new man Buttler, he brings him forward and pushes him back, mixing up his pace and turn. He has all four of Sri Lanka’s wickets.
Are we on for the Bannerman to be finally broken???
Fantastic bowling! Lawrence had to come forward to a delivery angled in at middle stump on a perfect length. It spun sharply, kissed the edge and ended up in the safe hands of Thirimanne at first slip. England have plenty of work to do now.
41st over: England 132-3 (Root 89, Lawrence 3) Seam for the first time today, Lakmal replacing Dilruwan. He’s attacking the stumps from the get-go, which is why both men are able to nurlde singles to fine leg when he gets a tad too straight.
“Morning Adam, thanks for warming the early hours, especially with a busted boiler here.” My pleasure, Paul Turp in Liverpool. Although it must be said, I’m in Australia at the moment on a steamy Sunday afternoon, returning to the UK in late February. “Thoroughly enjoying Dickwella’s sledging about the rotation/resting/dropping of YJB. He’s right isn’t he?! If he was as quick a wicketkeeper as he is a wit, we’d be done for! All the best.”
40th over: England 130-3 (Root 88, Lawrence 2) Oh, won’t you look at that? The best of white-ball cricket implemented expertly in the Test Match arena, Root nailing his switch hit through point for four. This was such a wonderful part of the Gabba chase I had the great fortune to witness and call on radio last week, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar drawing from their T20 best to win a classic Test. I’ve seen the alternative view advanced in recent days, that white ballers should be banned from First Class cricket. Ummm, yeah, wouldn’t have thought so.
39th over: England 125-3 (Root 83, Lawrence 2) Missed stumping! Dilruwan gets one to turn through Lawrence’s gate after dancing down the strip but its bounced over the wicketkeeper’s gloves. That stings for a spinner, turning it square with all the dip you could ever want only for the chance to go begging behind the stumps.
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38th over: England 122-3 (Root 82, Lawrence 2)“The end of a superb half an hour of Test Match cricket,” says Mark Butcher as Embuldeniya comes to the end of another probing over, spinning it big at Lawrence, the young man defending positively. A lot to like about their early exchanges. England still trail by 259.
37th over: England 119-3 (Root 81, Lawrence 1) Dilruwan oversteps - can’t be doing that as a spinner. Root then gets off strike behind square. Lawrence is safely off the mark too in the same direction around the corner. Back to the main action: Embuldeniya’s spell. “Trying to get caught up on the match, how is the fielding positioning going?” asks Peter from Camberley, still in bed. “Are they looking aggressive?” They were for both men but now not so much for Root, the short leg taken out after he walloped a half-tracker off the left-armer. Mark Butcher isn’t thrilled with that conservative decision and I share his frustration.
36th over: England 116-3 (Root 80, Lawrence 0) A fine piece of bowling from the left-arm spinner to Bairstow, getting both drift and dip. Ohh, and he’s getting one to turn big at Lawrence, just missing his outside edge to end the successful over.
Yep, a big inside edge before landing at slip. Sri Lanka, who have bowled very nicely so far this morning with Embuldeniya leading the way, get an early reward.
IS BAIRSTOW CAUGHT AT SLIP? He’s given not out but Sri Lanka have immediately sent it upstairs. They’re certain there was an inside edge.
35th over: England 111-2 (Root 75, Bairstow 28) The 100-run stand is also up between this pair. Back to Bairstow with Root taking a single behind square from the penultimate ball, preparing to face his first delivery from Dilruwan today. He’s forward and defending, albeit not far away from the man at short leg. Between overs, Dickwella is into YJB’s aforementioned India omission on the stump mic: “Why drop him? Why drop him? He is their best player! After the captain.”
34th over: England 110-2 (Root 74, Bairstow 28) Bairstow dances and wallops Embuldeniya over his head for four. Shot. What a fantastic player of spin. As Nasser Hussain said in his commentary overnight, it does seem a touch odd than YJB won’t be in India for the first two Tests of that series. Of course, it makes sense to carefully manage the three-format players over this hectic winter, but still.
33rd over: England 104-2 (Root 73, Bairstow 24) Root misses another sweep off Dilruwan, his front pad hit and the Sri Lankan fielders up in appeal... turned down. He was well outside the line though, so no review is considered. The hosts have started well here, asking the right questions before Root gets himself re-set.
32nd over: England 104-2 (Root 73, Bairstow 24) Embuldeniya to continue from last night, the man with the wickets so far. He’s tight on it too, eventually getting one to dip at Root, the captain just getting down in time with his sweep. Bairstow to face his first delivery of the day to finish the over and he’s safely in behind it.
31st over: England 103-2 (Root 72, Bairstow 24) Root is immediately using his feet trying to clip the first ball past midwicket as Jerusalem begins up on the fort, sung by England’s one fan, Randy Caddick. Oooh, a sweep and a miss and a boundary. Or not a miss - that was a little underedge, as the TV shows and so signalled. Not really a chance for the wicketkeeper Dickwella but ever so close to the stumps. A better sweep to finish, around the corner for a single to retain the strike.
The players are on the field. Joe Root (67) is preparing to face the first ball, out there with Bairstow (24) to resume their 93-run stand. Dilruwan has the ball. PLAY!
Joe Root is chatting to Mark Butcher. “A really important day. It’s pretty much parity so far. We worked hard in the hot conditions and the important thing is doing the same thing now with the bat. We talk a lot about batting big in the first innings and now we have a chance to do that.” On his own aggressive game against spin. “It felt like conditions changed quickly so I had to find a way to combat that. It was about making sure I could dictate terms rather than the other way around.”
Pitch report. Russell Arnold is doing his thing on TV. “It’s drying up and starting the crumble,” the former Sri Lankan batsman says. “It will turn and bounce.” So, nothing revelatory, then. Looks like another clear and red-hot day in Galle.
Here’s Jimmy last night responding to his 30th five-wicket bag in Tests. Remarkable to think, as my Wisden colleague Yas Rana tweeted, that more than 18 years have passed since Anderson first starting hooping them around for England.
To get into the mood, here’s Tim de Lisle in the paper. He’s looking at rotation; how it is working so far with Anderson and Broad but why it isn’t a cure-all.
Related: Jimmy Anderson's brilliance poses questions about rotation policy | Tim de Lisle
Day two at Galle was one where both teams had a couple of times to drive home the advantage and both were able to wriggle off the hook after getting into strife. All told, it leaves honours just about even as we enter morning three, England 98-2 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 381 with Joe Root having already made his way to 67 dreamy runs after he came together with Jonny Bairstow (24) when the score was 5-2.
So far in this series, the visiting skipper has been a cut above all comers with the blade, using his dazzling feet to deal with the home side’s spinners, be in in defence or in attack. He did plenty of the latter before the close last night, already striking ten boundaries. It’s difficult to think of a time when he’s looked so in control as a batsman since assuming the armband nearly four years ago.
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