Sri Lanka bowl England out in 34 overs to leave attacking abandon in spotlight
Vithushan Ehantharajah08-Sep-2024On a 16-wicket third day, it was the 10 that fell in England’s second innings which put Sri Lanka on track for victory in this third Test.A target of 219 has already had 94 lopped off the top, primarily thanks to Pathum Nissanka’s second breezy half-century of the match, with nine wickets still intact. He, along with Kusal Mendis, did to England what they tried – and failed – to do earlier in the day. While England were skittled for 34 overs, Sri Lanka seized the initiative outright in the first 15 overs of their chase, maximising what looseness there was on offer with the ball, and the lush green of The Kia Oval.”This is how you put England under pressure,” Aaqib Javed, Sri Lanka bowling coach, beamed of the late flurry of runs, before lauding the performance of his attack in snuffing an overly aggressive batting line-up out for 156. It was a valiant effort by all four seamers, but especially from Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando as they bagged six of England’s top seven between them.It was Vishwa’s six-over spell of incisive swing bowling that shoved England in the mire, even if they were already teetering with Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence falling in cavalier fashion. Having left the field to tend to hamstring stiffness, Vishwa, the 32-year-old left-arm seamer, let loose and trapped both Joe Root and Harry Brook in front across seven deliveries.”He came to the dressing room and went back and gave everything,” Javed said. “He bowled some superb inswingers like Chaminda Vaas. Sometimes people go for safer options. But he went flat out. He gave everything.”Ollie Pope chopped on in Lahiru Kumara’s first over•Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty ImagesThe same could not be said for England’s batters. Their approach to the second innings was odd, as if their lead was a healthy triple figures rather than the 62 that their bowlers managed to salvage early on day three.The last five of Sri Lanka’s first-innings wickets were taken for just 52 – an impressive feat, given that half-centurions Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis started out in the middle. They added only five and 10 to their respective scores.But England’s bowlers had just 34 overs off their feet for the third innings before they were back out there again. It meant Gus Atkinson, who missed the morning session because of a tight quad that required assessment from the medical team, had to re-emerge earlier than expected, sending down four overs lacking his usual bite.”We’re not always going to get it right, and today was one of those days we didn’t get it right,” Paul Collingwood, England’s assistant coach, said. “The guys in the dressing room will hold their hands up and sometimes the opposition find ways of putting us under pressure like we’re trying to do to them. And give them [Sri Lanka] full credit: I thought that they had a fantastic day today.”Related
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There were features of this day – comfortably the worst for profligacy since Brendon McCullum took over as coach – that resembled passages contained within defeats to Australia at Lord’s, and against New Zealand in Wellington in 2023. Both times, England were guilty of over-ambition and lacked nous when the game was theirs to manage.With the series won, and Sri Lanka only showing glimpses of their best throughout the first two Tests, this had a whiff of complacency. England have steamrolled their way to victory five times already this summer. And Sunday’s malaise, coupled with fumbling a first-innings position of 261 for 3, does hint that this group are coasting, albeit with little on the line – something Collingwood strongly denied.”It’s pretty easy to make that excuse and say ‘complacency’ and all that,” he said. “But there’s plenty of fun and desire and we want to make sure that we could have a clean sweep, and the lads are very proud about paying for England. So there’s certainly not felt like there’s been any complacency coming into this match.”As has been the way over the last three days, bad light brought a premature end to proceedings. But it was very much England who were the beneficiaries this time.Bad light brought another early close in south London•Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty ImagesThe last over was bowled by Shoaib Bashir after the umpires informed Ollie Pope that the quicks could no longer operate. After one over from the Vauxhall End – of which the first ball was swept powerfully by Kusal Mendis for four – Pope wisely decided against a part-time spinner at the other end. Off the players went, with England glad for the chance to take the sting out of the game and regroup with the hope the early morning movement which assisted them on Sunday returns on Monday.”We’re going to need a special day tomorrow,” Collingwood said. “There’s enough movement to be able to do it and there’ll be one hell of a Test match to win from this position with the players that we have on the side. It’s an exciting opportunity for them to turn it around this Test match around and go out there and win.”It is not the first time someone from this England camp has greeted a seemingly unsalvageable situation with a smile. But with Atkinson not at 100 per cent, a raw debutant in Josh Hull, not many runs left for Bashir to play with and a captain in Pope who has perhaps been too aggressive with his fields in this match, the usual serving of optimism tastes overcooked.Sri Lanka, meanwhile, managed to stitch together their best day of the tour. And though it has come too late to affect the series result, victory will not be any less sweet for it. For England, defeat would give them cause for reflection at the end of a summer where they have rarely been tested.
