Related Links : England Vs Sri Lanka : Scorecard
England took good control of the 2nd Test Match played at Edgbaston after bundling out Sri Lanka for just 141 on the first day. England in reply lost three wickets with Muralitharan doing the damage taking two of them. The homeside at stumps on Day 1 were just three runs behind Sri Lanka’s paltry total with Kevin Pietersen and nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard being the two not out batsmen.
Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and chose to bat first and it proved to be a big mistake as Sri Lanka’s innings lasted just over 51 overs. Matthew Hoggard started things off by bowling Tharanga with a beautiful late inswinger that drove past the bat pad gap of the left hander. It was just the fifth delivery of the match and that delivery put plenty of doubts in the other batsmen waiting for their turn to face the English attack. Andrew Flintoff made a quick change taking himself out of the attack to bring Plunkett and the latter dismissed Vandort and then last match hero Jayawardene. Vandort had played a loose shot and Jayawardene got a terrific delivery that held its line and bounced that extra bit after hitting the surface. Samaraweera and Sangakkara were taken behind the wicket as they fell to the swing and the angle of Hoggard and Plunkett respectively. The Sri Lankan innings was in tatters and wickets fell at regular intervals and with 8 down in the 32nd over, England looked set to bowl the Lankans under 100. But Vaas and Malinga pulled a stubborn partnership of 51 runs and they helped Sri Lanka reach 141 in the end. Vaas was not out on 30 and he had done well surviving 78 balls. Malinga who gave him the support scored 26 and the other batsmen who got decent scores were Sangakkara and Dilshan who made twenties. Plunkett was the most successful bowler taking three wickets and the other three pacers Hoggard, Flintoff and Mahmood chipped in with a couple each. Monty Panesar also got a wicket for his efforts and this meant that all the English bowlers used today had something in their wicket column to show.
England in reply started off through a solid opening stand between Trescothick and Strauss and it was Murali who struck in the 17th over by forcing Trescothick to edge a sharp off break to the wicket keeper. Strauss was the next man out as he was stranded in his crease watching the ball go behind the crease and not responding to his partner Cook who gave the call for a single and took off. Strauss who was totally confused at that monet reacted very late and gave away his wicket in the end. Murali gave Sri Lanka one more wicket before close that of Alastair Cook who was wrapped up in front of the stumps failing to read the top spinner. For Sri Lanka they will have to remove the inform Pietersen as soon as possible tomorrow as he has already started to take the game away from them with his blistering 30 which already has a slog sweep for a six. Muralitharan is the only man who looks to be good to do the damage control for Sri Lanka and he has already taken two wickets after bowling just 9 overs. England would be looking to take a big lead and ensure that Lord’s doesn’t repeat at Edgbaston.