London [UK], August 28 (ANI): Ahead of Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka, England stand-in skipper Ollie Pope is confident the hosts are fully prepared for the fixture and they win the clash in order to seal the series.
The second Test of the three-match series between the two sides will be played at Lord’s starting from Thursday.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, he said, “It’s good we’re getting pushed. Sri Lanka were impressive last week, especially the way they batted. When you come to England, you expect different conditions and the conditions weren’t your classic English-style pitches but at the same time, for the guys to go and put together some good scores and set us a chase from a hundred deficit is a credit to them.”
“I’m sure they’ll be confident and feel strong but if we can play our best cricket, hopefully we’ll come out on the right side of the result again,” the right-hand batter said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Three Lions announced the playing XI for the second match of the series against the Islanders. The hosts have made only one change in the line-up for this match as they brought in Olly Stone in place of injured Mark Wood.
Despite having a career ruined by injuries, Stone has played only three Tests but has been an essential member of the England team whenever he has played for his country. The seamer has played 28 matches this summer for Nottinghamshire and London Spirit across formats, which is the second-most appearances he has made in a single season after missing the most of previous season due to a hamstring injury.
England playing XI for the Lord’s Test: Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicket-keeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir.
Recapping the first match of the series, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74 in 84 balls, with eight fours) and Milan Rathnayake (72 in 135 balls, with six fours and two sixes) that pushed SL to 236/10.
Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) were the top bowlers for England.
Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle-order batters Joe Root (42 in 57 balls with four boundaries), Harry Brook (56 in 73 balls with four boundaries), and centurion Jamie Smith (111 in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six) helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.
Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka.
In their second innings, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews (65 in 145 balls, with two fours and a six), and Dinesh Chandimal (79 in 119 balls, with seven fours) formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.
Woakes and Matthew Potts (3/47) took three wickets each to lead England’s bowling charts.
In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root’s calm and composed half-century (62* in 128 balls with two fours) and solid contributions from Brook (32 in 68 balls, with three fours) and Smith (39* in 48 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took England to a five-wicket win.
England took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. (ANI)
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