Alastair Cook’s decision to bat first on this Chester-le-Street
track was a well thought one. He read the track well and was well aware of the
weather forecast. When a Shaminda Eranga delivery squared up Alex Hale, batting
on 7, I thought this track had a bit of pace as well and had the Lankan bowlers
hit the speed gun a bit more, the England batting would have come under
pressure on a overcast morning. They say, there is a Durham length to strike
gold on this track and the Lankan new ball bowlers, in my opinion, struggled to
pick up that length. I thought, they bowled too straight rather than keeping
the ball more on the full-length.
When Herath extracted turn from the track, I was a bit
surprised. This track is not the one I was thinking about, but it is more like
on the two-paced deck. Still, I could not witness anything impressive from the
Sri Lankan bowlers. But, the Lankan fielders struck gold with some athletic
work in the field – Angelow Mathews, Thirimanne and Lakmal fetched outstanding
catches and helped the Lankan bowlers to break important partnerships as soon
as they started to look threatening.
As the day progressed, the dark clouds started to ebb away and the day ended as
a sun-kissed one. In my opinion, England have the edge on day 1. Despite losing
important wickets during the crucial phase of the game, England bounced back
well by being fluent while scoring runs. Joe Root, Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow
and Moeen Ali didn’t sweat while cracking boundaries and fetching singles and
twos. Or, I think I should say, the Lankan bowlers failed to cash on the
important breakthroughs – they bowled too straight, wide and too short more
often.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
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