ENG Vs SL: Sri Lanka is on a tour of England in 2024, where they are scheduled to play a three-match series of the red ball format. But the visitors, Sri Lanka started their tour with a seven-wicket loss in the opening Test Match which was played at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. The 1st Test ended in four days and the hosts England wasn’t with their regular skipper Ben Stokes either.
Captain Stokes will miss this whole three-match Test series because he injured his left hamstring in a T20 league competition called The Hundred. The second Test match will be played at the iconic stadium of Lords Cricket Ground and Ollie Pope will continue to lead this England side.
The second match of this three-match red ball series will be played from Thursday, 29th August 2024 to Monday, 2nd September 2024.
Winning a red ball match or a series in England hasn’t been easy for all the touring teams. The team that masters the art of batting in those swinging and seaming conditions end up winning the Test match.
Sri Lanka has struggled with the willow in hand even in the limited overs format. Although, their performance was exceptional in the 2022 Asia Cup, which was played in the shortest format.
The Lankans also won an ODI series against India recently before they came to this tour. They won an ODI series versus the Men in Blue after 27 long years. But Sri Lanka failed to translate that form and momentum in the red ball format in England.
The batting hasn’t come good for Sri Lanka and that is the main reason, which they will look to resolve for the second match of this series.
Before the next Test match at Lords starts, let us see when was the last time Sri Lanka won the last red ball series on the soil of England –
ENG Vs SL: It Was In 2014 Sri Lanka Won A Red Ball Series On England’s Soil –
England and Sri Lanka played a two-match series of the red ball format when the Lankans toured The UK in 2014 and that was the last time when Sri Lanka also won a red ball format series in England’s soil. After that series, England emerged victorious every time. The series win in England was just the second one for Sri Lanka. Their first series win in England came in 1998.
Sir Alastair Cook was the captain of England while Angelo Matthews led the Sri Lankan side in that series. Sri Lanka had also played a two-match ODI series versus Ireland in Dublin and they won the first ODI match while the second match was abandoned.
In the Two-match series of the red ball format in England, the first Test at Lords was drawn and Sri Lanka won the second and the final match of that series by 100 runs at Leeds.
ENG Vs SL: Top Run Getter For Sri Lanka In This Two Match Red Ball Series –
Kumara Sangakkara –
The legendary wicketkeeper batter and the former skipper of Sri Lanka, Kumara Sangakkara was the highest run scorer in that series win in England. Sanga scored 342 runs in those two Test matches and four innings with the best average of 86.33, one century and two half-centuries. He had also smashed 39 fours and his best score in this series was 160 runs.
ENG Vs SL: Top Wicket Taker For Sri Lanka In This Two-Match Red Ball Series –
Shaminda Eranga –
The right-arm fast-medium bowler, Shaminda Eranga was the highest wicket-taker for Sri Lanka in that series and he was the second-highest wicket-taker behind the legendary pacer man Jimmy Anderson, who recently retired from all forms of the game. Eranga had picked up 11 wickets in that two-match series win for the Lankans.
Also Read: IND Vs ZIM: When Was The Last Time India Played A Test Series Versus Zimbabwe?
