Third Test Match - England v Sri Lanka

by user Alex Holowczak

The Third Test commences today at Trent Bridge, as England look to dominate in the same way that they did for much of the First Test, and the entirity of the Second.

England were frustrated in the opener at Lord's, as they had to endure some resistant Sri Lankan batting. In the end Sri Lanka batted for over 15 hours to save the game.

England were on top in the Second Test, until they lost their last five wickets in their first innings for five runs. But England recovered, and as Sri Lanka were easing themselves back into the game, England retook control, that they would never relinquish.

Now the sides meet for the final time this summer at Trent Bridge, with England hoping to finish off the series in style.

England will still be without the injured Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, Ashley Giles and captain Michael Vaughan. Andrew Flintoff will continue to captain in Vaughan's absence.

Sri Lanka will have returning veteran Sanath Jayasuriya to bolster their batting.

England have played well so far, with dominant performanes from Kevin Pietersen, who has scored two centuries in two innings against Sri Lanka. Sajid Mahmood and Liam Plunkett have filled in well in the bowling department, and it looks like they are fighting for a place when England's injuries resolve. However, Jon Lewis is coming in for Mahmood in this match. Monty Panesar seems to be a contender for Giles' spot in the team.

By contrast, the best Sri Lankan batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraeera, and Kumar Sangakkara have just two fifties and one hundred between them. Jayasuriya should resolve that problem. As usual, much will depend on another veteran, Muttiah Muralitharan. The 35 year old off-spinner has been imperious so far, picking up five wickets in the first innings at Edgbaston.

Teams for the Third Test:

England: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/ukfs_sport/hi/newsid_3610000/newsid_3614900/3614946.stm?team=england&p0=dM0&p1=dM3&p2=dM2&p3=dM4&p4=dA0&p5=dA1&p6=dFR0&p7=dH1&p8=dH0&p9=dH3&p10=dH4&p0Role=ba&p1Role=ba&p2Role=ba&p3Role=ba&p4Role=a&p5Role=a&p6Role=wk&p7Role=bw&p8Role=bw&p9Role=bw&p10Role=bw&frWk=0

Sri Lanka: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/ukfs_sport/hi/cricket/other_international/sri_lanka/squad_selector/default.stm?team=srilanka&p0=dM2&p1=dM5&p2=dFR0&p3=dM0&p4=dA2&p5=dA0&p6=dA1&p7=dH5&p8=dH1&p9=dH2&p10=dH3&p0Role=ba&p1Role=ba&p2Role=wk&p3Role=ba&p4Role=a&p5Role=a&p6Role=a&p7Role=bw&p8Role=bw&p9Role=bw&p10Role=bw&frWk=0

England should win this Test easily for a 2-0 lead, their team is much, much better. England will have a bigger test later in the year, when the Pakistanis tour.

Date

Fri 06/02/06, 12:30 am EST