Sri Lanka vs England 2nd Test: SL Collapse For 126, Tables Turn On Day 4 As England Take Driving Seat

The visitors England need 164 runs to win the Test with one and a half day’s play to go. A win for England would mean a whitewash for Sri Lanka on their own soil.

England look all-set to whitewash Sri Lanka.

The second Test between England and Sri Lanka looked like a see-saw game. At the beginning of Day 4, Sri Lanka had a small lead but all wickets were intact. SL Fans were hoping that if their team replicates the batting performance of the first innings, they will have a good chance to win the test and draw the series.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We bowl Sri Lanka out for 126 and require 164 runs for victory.<br><br>Scorecard: <a href="https://t.co/g6a0fiVGdp" rel='nofollow'>https://t.co/g6a0fiVGdp</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SLvENG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#SLvENG</a> <a href="https://t.co/ktjY4wNX6a" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/ktjY4wNX6a</a></p>&mdash; England Cricket (@englandcricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/englandcricket/status/1353617078876516352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>January 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sri Lanka’s second innings scores could be written in a single line: 14, 13, 3, 5, 9, 7, 16, 4, 11, 40, 0. It was a dismal batting performance by the hosts. At one point it looked as if SL would be bundled out under 100 runs but a quick fire 40 by Embuldeniya salvaged the Sri Lankan score. Inrestingly, Embuldeniya’s wicket was picked up by Captain Joe Root whose figures stood at 2-0. No other batsman could cross even the 20 run mark. With many controversies surrounding the Sri Lankan team about their conduct off the pitch, there will surely be criticism coming their way.

But credit must be given to the two English spinners, Dom Bess and Jack Leach who picked up four-wickets each. Their figures were 4-49 and 4-59 respectively. Indian team must look out for both these young English spinners and figure out a plan to play against them in the upcoming Test series from 5^th February. Dom Bess is a right-arm off spinner while Jack Leach is a left-arm orthodox bowler.

England off to an unsure start:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tea in Galle ☕<br><br>England need 118 runs to win with Jonny Bairstow and Dom Sibley at the crease 🏏<br><br>They are 46/1.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SLvENG?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>#SLvENG</a> ➡️ <a href="https://t.co/3ZC7G8CMYp" rel='nofollow'>https://t.co/3ZC7G8CMYp</a> <a href="https://t.co/0xoHAYskmx" rel='nofollow'>pic.twitter.com/0xoHAYskmx</a></p>&mdash; ICC (@ICC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1353633904167555072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel='nofollow'>January 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Even after having the momentum in their favor, England lost their first wicket early. It is now upto the rest of the England side to put up a good show with the bat. England needed 118 runs to win with nine wickets remaining at Tea on Day 4.