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18th over: England 75-2 (Bairstow 29, Root 16) Root joins in the fun with a sweep for four, and these two have doubled the score in no time. Counter-attack is the best form of defence. I hope Jose Mourinho’s watching.
“Given the amount of sweeping England are doing,” wonders Matthew Doherty, “is Dick Van Dyke England’s new batting coach?”
17th over: England 69-2 (Bairstow 28, Root 11) A couple more singles off Pushpakumara, then Bairstow sees a particularly slow one and goes big, with the slog-sweep, and that’s the first six of the day.
“Liking the potential psycho-drama of Robin Hazlehurst’s suggested alternative to tossing a coin (over 9),” says Brian Withington. “However, what would be the Wimbledonesque tie-breaker if the respective captains continue to make the same call as one another? In the wrong hands I have seen rock, paper, scissors descend into a stalemate that would make the current chess world championship look like a rollercoaster ride.”
Written by Tim de Lisle (now) and Simon Burnton (later)
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2018/nov/23/sri-lanka-v-england-third-test-day-one-live under the title “Sri Lanka v England: third Test, day one – live!”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
