http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 v Sri Lanka- First Test- Day 3 - 51-65 over update
England was helped with a tremendous partnership built between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ian-Jonathan-Leonard-Trott-c63890, which pushed the home side to 138 for the loss of two wickets at the end of the 50th over.
The 51st over was bowled by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MF-Maharoof-c1944 with Trott on strike. He went for none on the first three balls of the over and Trott took a single by flipping the fourth ball round the corner and handed over the strike to Cook.
The fifth ball was left alone easily by Cook and the last ball that was bowled right into the wickets got the inside edge of Cook and went to the fine leg boundary for a four, which was really frustrating for Maharoof.
So at the end of 51st over, the Poms were at 143 for the loss of two wickets with Cook batting on 69 and Trott was just four runs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Short-c90107 of yet another remarkable half-century.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Balapuwaduge-Ajantha-Winslo-Mendis-c47194 started the 52nd over with Trott on strike. Trott guided the first ball towards third man and took a couple of runs. The next ball was defended well by Trott, who was just two runs short of his fifty.
On the third ball, Trott took a single and rotated the strike sensibly. Mendis went for naught on next two balls and on the last ball of the over, Cook hit a short ball by Mendis towards deep mid-wicket.
At the end of 52nd over, tea was called. So England were at 148 for the loss of two wickets thanks to a stunning partnership between Trott and Cook.
After tea, Dilshan gave the ball to his pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RAS-Lakmal-c2287 to bowl the first over, with Trott on strike, needing one run to complete his fifty.
On the third ball of the over, Trott played a crunching stroke towards the point region and a missed field allowed him to take a couple and reach his fifty off 102 balls.
Trott and Cook’s partnership kept moving forward with the same momentum. They rotated the strike expertly with the odd ball put away to the boundary. Trott hit a boundary in the 55th over off the bowling of Lakmal, after that it was all about
singles and doubles.
In the 59th over Dilshan opted to change his bowling once again and brought Maharoof into the attack and kept the spinner Mendis on from the other end. He was desperately in need of wickets.
Maharoof and Mendis maintained a tight line and length, not allowing the batsmen to free their arms. By the 65th over, the visitors had not given away any boundaries to the opposition and the Poms were at 185 for the loss of two wickets with Trott
batting on 69 and Cook was just 16 runs short of a century.
Tags: