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England will be looking to complete a series victory when they take on Sri Lanka at The Rose Bowl this week, writes Thomas Rooney.
Andrew Strauss’ men lead 1-0 in the three match series with one test to play. A drawn series may be the worst they can hope for, but they will settle for nothing less than victory as they aim to become the No.1 test team in the world this summer.
Strauss will be determined for England to show the clinical side to their game that has been so apparent over the last 18 months.
Looking at the series so far, even though England have the slight edge, the teams have been relatively evenly matched. Certainly with the bat, both teams have shown they can pile on the runs.
England lead the series though because of Sri Lanka’s horrific batting collapse in the first test.
They capitulated on the final afternoon in Cardiff, with England’s bowlers reveling in their oppositions’ vulnerability.
The Sri Lankans were made of sterner stuff during the second test at Lords though, finishing on 127-3 in their second innings to ensure the series was still alive going into the match at The Rose Bowl.
With this in mind, it should be another competitive contest between the two teams that will come down to who is more likely to bowl their opponents out twice.
Should this be the method to conclude who is favourites to win the game, England have to be expected to do the job – for two reasons.
Firstly, the Three Lions batting line-up is looking stronger than ever. Strauss may be slightly out of form and Kevin Pietersen still needs a big innings or two, but Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott in particular are run machines at present.
Ian Bell is one of the form players of international cricket too, while Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior have made their contribitions to proceedings.
Overall, it must be a daunting prospect for Sri Lanka when they look at the England batting line-up.
The second reason England are favourites is the return of James Anderson. He is Strauss’ main strike bowler and arguably the best of his type in the world at the moment.
Replacing Steven Finn, Anderson should give England a boost and perhaps be the difference between the two teams.
Sri Lanka are no pushovers though, that’s for sure. Aside from the 82 all out in Cardiff, their scores have been 400, 479 and 127/3.
However, they are likely to be without captain and opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan and this combined with England’s winning mentality, the form of their batsman and the return of Anderson, mean that the hosts are expected to secure a crucial series victory.
The third test gets underway on Thursday 16th June at 11am.
