England arrived in Sri Lanka with a little bit of preparation that they had. However, they brought the best out of themselves in both the Tests in Galle. The entire bowling unit performed really well.
In the first Test, Two spinners namely Jack Leach and Dom Bess came out of the game with 2 fifers is worth applauding. England’s veteran pacer James Anderson proved that he is worth the weight in gold in the second Test.
The experienced campaigner took 6 wickets in the first innings. As far as the batting unit is concerned, England captain Joe Root was the lone warrior for the visitors in both Tests. He unleashed his batting potential at the best scene. He scored a stellar 228 in the first Test in Galle.
The batsman continued his good form from where he left off and scored a brilliant 186. Root’s approach to the game was quite brilliant. He got into a good space early on in the game. The right-handed batsman had a perfect balance between attack and defense.
England won by 6 wickets to inflict 2-0 clean sweep on Sri Lanka. Overall, Root accumulated 426 runs in the Test series. Rightly so, he was named the man of the series. Joe Root is now ranked fifth in the ICC Test batting rankings. He garnered 783 rating points after his batting masterclass in Sri Lanka.
Jonny Bairstow hits a six which directly falls into paint bucket
During England’s run-chase of 164, Bairstow hogged the limelight for hitting a six off Ramesh Mendis’ bowling. Bairstow looked in good touch with the bat as he was scoring runs like a white-ball batsman.
In the process, he swept Mendis for a six. The ball went over the fence and directly fell into the bucket of white paint. The red leather turned white and the video of the same spread like wildfire on social media.
Watch the video below:
Bairstow ended up scoring 29 off 28 deliveries including 3 fours and a six. While he was looking good at the crease, he was dismissed leg before wicket off Embuldeniya’s bowling. England won the game by 6 wickets with the help of Dominic Sibley’s 56 and Jos Buttler’s 46.
Tough challenge lies ahead for England
England are currently placed fourth in the ICC Test team rankings with as many as 108 rating points. On the other hand, Sri Lanka are sixth in the ICC Test team rankings with 83 rating points. Joe Root-led team might have outsmarted the depleted Sri Lankan side like a hot knife through butter.
However, the real challenge lies ahead for them when they take on the mighty Indians. England will fly to India for the full-fledged tour – comprising 12 international fixtures. Both teams will play 4 Tests, 3 ODIs, and 5 T20Is. The two-month-long tour will kick-off from February 5 onwards.
The upcoming Test match series will be part of the ICC World Test Championship. The intriguing final will be played on June 1, 2021, at the iconic Lord’s cricket ground. There is still no clarity whether the fans will be allowed to enter the stadium in India.
There is a decrease in COVID-19 cases in India. BCCI may allow the fans to turn up in numbers at least by 50% after consulting the Indian government. The upcoming series would welcome the return of international cricket in India after a year due to the coronavirus epidemic.
