Cricket
England vs Sri Lanka second Test preview
The first Test of the three-match series has finished, with England gaining victory over Sri Lanka to take the one-nil advantage in the series.
It wasn’t easy for England, who looked to have it tied up in the first few days but were made to work for the victory in the latter stages by their opponents. It was a tense fourth day with England set 205 to chase, as Brendon McCullum’s side found themselves 70 for three, after the dismissal of Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence.
As we have seen so many times before it was Joe Root that stepped up, scoring 62 to take the pressure off, leading England to win the first match of the series.
We take a look at the best selections for the second Test between England and Sri Lanka below.
Bet on the second test between England and Sri Lanka with William Hill
The second test
The England vs Sri Lanka Test series continues on Thursday, with the second Test beginning at Lord’s. England are currently 1/4 favourites to win the second Test, with opponents Sri Lanka 6/1 underdogs. England deserve their favouritism in the tie, after looking dominant early in the first Test before coming through a mini fightback from the Sri Lankans.
English fast bowler Mark Wood was out injured in the fourth day of the Test due to a thigh issue and has now been ruled out of the remainder of the series, which is a blow for England. 20-year-old Josh Hull has received his first England call-up as a replacement for Wood and he brings an alternative aspect to the bowling order as a left-handed fast bowler with lots of potential.
Despite diverting away from the usual Bazball style to grind out the victory against Sri Lanka, that aggressive approach will likely be brought back here and you would expect the top end of the England batting order to be prolific here. Joe Root is 6/5 to score 50 or more runs, off the back of the 62 he scored in the first test. He looks set to go well again.
There were positives in defeat for Sri Lanka to take away from the first Test, particularly the bowling performance of Asitha Fernando. He took four wickets in the first innings before two wickets of the five in the second innings. The medium-paced right-armer was proving a tricky customer for the English batting order, and is 13/8 to be the top bowler for Sri Lanka in the second test here.
On the batting side for The Lions, the ‘Top Batsman’ market looks very competitive, but the preference is the 5/1 about Kamindu Mendis who scored 113 runs from 183 balls in the second innings of the first Test. A repeat of that type of performance in the second Test would see him go close and he is worth a go at that price.
