A fine performance in the field left England chasing a tiny total, and though Sri Lanka kept interesting, the win – in the rain – was comprehensive
Related: Sam Curran’s all-action display earns England T20 series win over Sri Lanka
That, then, is us. Our report will be here shortly and also on the site. We’ll be back with the third and final match on Saturday – ta-ra.
Morgan tells BBC that he he’s happy with his team’s bowling, less happy with the pitch, but also happy that Billings and Livingstone got the chance to do their thing. He didn’t expect it to rain because the report was clear all day, so Duckworth-Lewis crept up on the team, but they managed it well.
Jimmy then asks him about the fielding, which Morgan thinks is important but that the team can improve, likewise their death bowling on the subcontinent. Earlier, Vaughan said he’s sure the captain knows his team for the first World Cup game so asks about it, and obviously Morgan says he doesn’t. He’s got to really, but he sounds believable.
“So to quote a Guardian story from a couple of days ago,” emails Nicholas Butler,“Morgan said about Hales: ‘Issues of trust will remain until conversations are scheduled between Alex, myself and the coach, and potentially a few of the players.’
So it’s been more than two years and Morgan hasn’t even bothered to schedule a conversation despite it being a world cup year. Sounds like incredibly poor captaincy and man management.”
I’m not sure about that – we don’t know for sure that they’ve not chatted. And of all the things for which Morgan might be criticised – there aren’t many – poor man-management isn’t one of them. Whatever you think about the rules, Hales broke them, and only has himself to blame for where he now is.
Micky Arthur says he’s starting a journey with a young team and wants the team to play with freedom but it’s hard to do, especially against England. He says his batsmen can walk around the crease a bit more and try different things, but he liked the way his team responded with the ball, also noting that the fielding has gone up a level. He goes on to note that his batting unit is really exciting in home conditions, but needs to learn how to make scores when playing away.
Jimmy again says how much he loves playing with Wood and loves watching him bowl – I wonder where he is in England’s first-choice attack, given only three of Broad, Anderson, him and Archer can play.
Mark Wood says he feels good and his role in the team is to charge in – he keeps asking if he should try a slower-ball and Morgan keeps saying no. He then drops two interesting little tidbits – that Curran’s side-footed run out inspired the team, and that Jordan keeps the team going from mid off, letting the bowlers know what is and isn’t working.
That was a much more enjoyable match than seemed likely at half-time, because Sri Lanka’s bowling is so much better than their batting. Just another 20 runs and that was a much harder chase for England – I’m not sure why they didn’t chuck the bat earlier, because those runs were as out there as they always are, but you risk getting out to get them.
Curran twinkles down the track to Dananjaya and hoists six over his head! Of course he does. He finishes 16 not out off eight balls, Livingstone ends on 29 off 26, and his was the decisive innings.
16th over of 18: England 102-5 (Livingstone 29, Curran S 10) Target 103 Curran is one of the most hilarious cricketers I’ve seen. Things just happen for him, with him and around him – it’s uncanny, except it isn’t, he’s uncanny, and he hammers Udana’s first ball for four through the covers. Four singles follow. England require 1 run from 12 balls.
15th over of 18: England 93-5 (Livingstone 27, Curran S 3) Target 103 Naturally, Curran gets away immediately with a two to midwicket, then takes one into the on side. England require 6 runs from 17 balls
Tic-tac-toe! Billings tries to cut but he’s crowded, and there goes his off stump! That’s great bowling, and this isn’t quite finished yet.
15th over of 18: England 90-4 (Billings 24, Livingstone 27) Target 103 Billings misses one that bounces and the ball fizzes inches past his off stump, then he misses a swipe, hectares down the track ... and Dickwella not only misses the stumping but concedes four byes! England require 13 runs from 20 balls.
14th over of 18: England 86-4 (Billings 24, Livingstone 27) Target 103 Perera brings Chameera back, as he must, and Livingstone confidently flicks his first delivery to midwicket for one, then Billings – wearing sort of rusty red boots with yellow branding – rides a short, wide one, whipping through cover for four. A single, clouted to midwicket, comes next, then Livingstone shimmies over to the off side and uses the pace to flip and ramp for six! That should clinch it! England require 17 runs from 24 balls.
13th over of 18: England 74-4 (Billings 19, Livingstone 20) Target 103 It’s Hasaranga with the ball, and he’s drying it prior to each delivery. That might make it ok to grip, but the water it absorbs isn’t going to help, just as the break won’t have helped two set batsmen. But Livingstone starts well with a shove down the ground, then Billings does likewise; a further single follows, the Billings forces two to cover. England require 29 runs from 30 balls.
We go again...
OK, we’re almost good to go, but we’ve still got time for Jimmy to talk about the joy of playing with Murali, who he says is a great bloke – always happy, talks a lot, knows everything about cricket and helped him a lot when he was developing. He says he showed him to always be confident in setting his own field, how hard he trained, how focused he was, always knew what he was going to do and was great at working batsmen out, finding weaknesses that benefitted pace bowlers not just himself.
I’d not really thought about this, but BBC don’t have much in the way of recent cricket to show during breaks such as this. so we’re watching Murali destroying England at the Oval in 1998. Just the 16 wickets in the match.
And England’s revised target is 103
We’ve not lost any overs, says Isa, so no revised target. Provided there’s no more heavy rain, we’ll be away again at 9.55pm BST.
Bring it on!
Elsewhere, there’s stuff happening at Edgbaston. I’m not sure this is a problem, as people are sitting in stands and I’m not sure there’s a bubble anymore, but it’s not the best look.
Pitch invasion at Edgbaston. Could have serious consequences for the return of crowds at sport. pic.twitter.com/yGuuGvZY5W
The umpires return for a looksee – the cut-off point, say Cricinfo, is 10.20, though the telly haven’t felt the need to share this information.
Isa notes that Billings and Livingstone are probably competing for one spot, Jimmy favouring Livingstone because of his bowling - though Billings is a serious fielder. Livingstone gives an extra batting dimension as he’s an opener when playing elsewhere, but Billings probably has the stroke-making edge.
Oh dear. The big sheets are coming out to cover the run-ups and outfield, and at 9.23pm we’re struggling.
The way Sri Lanka have bowled has been impressive and encouraging. Their batting needs a lot of work, but even a halfway sensible total and England would be really struggling.
I guess if we get back out there – that’s a royal we – this is alright news for Sri Lanka, with this partnership nicely settled. I’m not confident, I’m afraid - it’s caning down now, and the PA is playing Travis to complete the mood.
Absolute sake. England are four ahead of the DRS par, so will win if we don’t get back out there, and Michael Vaughan says that it’s getting heavier.
12th over England 69-4 (Billings 16, Livingstone 18) Target 112 The umpires have a little chinwag but opt to stay on – Duckworth-Lewis par is 64. Anyhow, Udana continues and Livingstone works him off the pads for two ... then two more. This is a smart innings so far, no thrashing, just making sure to stay in and keep things ticking – basically, all that’s necessary. In comms, Jimmy, who plays with him at Lancashire, says he thinks he’s a better red-ball, but obviously England are well-furnished in that department (the second bit was me not him). Seven off the over, and England are ticking them off now.
11th over England 62-4 (Billings 15, Livingstone 12) Target 112 It doesn’t look like it’s easing when we see a shot of the floodlights, so Livingstone gets down on one knee to cart to deep midwicket, but the man there keeps it to one. Billings then turns two into the leg side – I say turns two but really the speed at which they ran the first one turned it into two – and four singles follow. This pair are batting nicely now, the partnership 26, but the rain is getting harder, apparently.
10th over England 55-4 (Billings 11, Livingstone 9) Target 112 We could do with another wicket or two to really get our new youthful audience going, on which point why not play this match at, say, 4.30, to avoid bedtime issues. Anyhow, with that in mind Sri Lanka bring back Binura – there’s no point saving him for when the match is gone. And he sends down another decent over, ceding just four singles and a wide, leaving England one behind the DRS par – though Isa tells us that the rain is easing now.
9th over England 49-4 (Billings 8, Livingstone 7) Target 112 England being Hasaranga’s latest over with two singles, then after a drive finds cover, Livingstone does everything back drag on; I’ve no idea how that avoided the stumps, no idea at all, but he makes the most of the reprieve by cutting three to deep point and finishes the over with a further single. This is one of those matches where one good partnership wins it, but it’s on one of those tracks where you’re never quite in so wickets tend to be constant.
8th over England 44-4 (Billings 7, Livingstone 3) Target 112 England need to be on 41 at the end of this over if rain ends the game and Duckworth Lewis determines the result. But we’re still out there for now and Livingstone one-hands to backward square for one, then Billings clobbers a wide one, taking it from outside off to wide long on for four; that was a very confident shot, and the way he rolled his wrists over it meant that, unlike the Lankans, he kept the ball down. A dot and two singles follow.
7th over England 37-4 (Billings 2, Livingstone 1) Target 112 Livingstone gets off the mark with a twizzle to long on and England need 75 from 79 ... but it’s starting to rain.
NOW THEN! Roy comes down the track and flings the bat, but the ball skips into him, he doesn’t get all of it, and that’s a simple catch for long on! Here we go! What a chance this is for Billings and Livingstone now; what an effort from Sri Lanka so far.
7th over England 36-3 (Roy 17, Billings 2) Target 112 Hasaranga, who bowled nicely last evening, is into the attack and Billings turns his loosener towards midwicket for one before Roy reverses him to the point fence for four. That’s a good shot and Roy will want to move here.
6th over England 31-3 (Roy 13, Billings 1) Target 112 Sri Lanka are bowling nicely – if only they’d even 20 more runs to play with. Anyway, I don’t know if it’s the dew, the lights or just the bowlers, but there’s more bounce in this pitch than earlier and when Udana bangs one in back of a length, Billings chops a thick inside-edge that almost cleans his stumps up. A dot follows, then he dabs to backward point and scuttles through for one – a direct hit and he’s struggling, but the throw misses the wicket.
Now then! Udana offers a short, wide one and Morgan tucks in, getting plenty on his cut ... but picking out the man at backward point! What an oversight that is! Do we got ourselves a ball-game?!
6th over England 30-2 (Roy 12, Morgan 11) Target 112 Udana comes into the attack and Roy takes a single to square leg....
5th over England 29-2 (Roy 12, Morgan 11) Target 112 Wood tells us that Roy is the most hyper man in the dressing room and say “Dya know what I mean” after every sentence; he duly rides the top of Chameera’s bounce and batters a cut for four, dya know what I mean. Two to third man follow and they’re into this partnership now; Chameera hits 92mph, the quickest ball he’s bowled in years, and Roy times it towards mid on ... but a diving stop saves the boundary and they run one. Next, Morgan misses with a flick around the pads and Dickwella, the SJ Broad of keepers, thinks there was an edge – course there was sweetheart – then the England captain absolutely cleanses a yorker on the full and earns four through cover.
4th over England 17-2 (Roy 5, Morgan 7) Target 112 England are exactly in a quandary, but usually they go hard in every circumstance. But here, they need to chase so few they could just knock it about and not take risks, at least until these bowlers have either finished or been taken off. Roy, though, faces two dots then tries a swat, picking out the man on the midwicket fence; they run one, bringing Morgan onto strike. As the face of the Brand of CricketTM, I doubt he’ll play safe and he doesn’t, pushing two through cover then absolutely belting four to extra.
3rd over England 10-2 (Roy 4, Morgan 1) Target 112 Morgan averages 102 in Cardiff, and he gets off the mark with an edge wide of slip. Roy then plays down towards point and they sprint one more, before another terrific ball, moving off the seam and beating the outside edge, finishes another terrific over.
No score for Malan, again! Chameera set him up with some full ones then whipped one full, pinned him on the crease, and that was smashing leg stump, dead centre and two-thirds of the way up! Now it’s England in trouble!
i thought it pitched outside the line, but looking again....
3rd over England 8-1 (Roy 3, Malan 4) Target 112 Again, Chameera finds serious lift off back of a length and when Roy misses his swipe, Dickwella has to leap to save four byes. A single and a bye follow, then Chameera rams one that keeps low into Malan’s pad. It piched outside the line I think, but...
2nd over England 6-1 (Roy 2, Malan 4) Target 112 Malan could use a score, but it might be tricky to achieve on this track – it’s a bit two-paced – but when he gets a short, wide one, he waits and paddles it hard over the top for four to backward point.
Binura’s been out of the team for six years but now he’s back he fancies staying back! This is a great delivery, quick, bouncing, and when Bairstow misses, he clatters middle peg! Great start from Sri Lanka.
2nd over England 2-0 (Roy 1, Bairstow 1) Target 112 We see VT of Wood saying Bairstow hits harder than anyone in their team – “The ball goes aaaarrrrggghhh!” Roy takes the left-armer Fernando’s first ball for one into the on side....
1st over England 0-0 (Roy 0, Bairstow 0) Target 112 Chameera opens with a beauty, on a length and screeching past Roy’s outside edge, then Roy follows his third ball as it shapes away, missing with meat and edge. He then backs away towards leg and hoiks off middle towards midwicket – they run one – then Chameera finds another goodun, beating Bairstow’s outside edge, then another! That’s a terrific over.
Right, off we go again...
England bowled really well, it must be said, but under no pressure and excuse me while I interrupt myself. Ian Ronald Bell has arrived, wearing blazer, jeans, and the whitest trainers I’ve ever seen. in fact I’m not even sure we can call them white – we need a new colour.
Seeing these shots right at the end, you wonder why Sri Lanka didn’t have more of a go, because they way they went about it ensured that they’ve pretty much no chance of winning. 111 is the lowest total England have ever conceded in a full 20 overs, and the only question now is how quickly they chase it down.
20th over: Sri Lanka 111-7 (Udana 19, Dananjaya 2) If there are no boundaries in this over, it’ll be the fewest England have ever conceded in T20, four; but Udana comes down, then waits to toe Jordan’s slower ball over long off for a one-bounce four. A dot and a two follow, but had Roy gone to the bowler’s end, he might’ve run out Dananjaya. Instead, when Jordan puts the pace back on, Udana rocks back and knuck! He absolutely bases Jordan over his heed for six ... and into the Taff! A dot and another heave follow – Jordan chases after it, hollers for it, and can’t quite gather, so they run two. Roy could probably have taken the snaffle, but when a fielder that good claims dibs you let him have it.
19th over: Sri Lanka 97-7 (Udana 5, Dananjaya 2) Willey returns and Udana slices a cutter that dies just in front of wide third man; they run one. Two wides follow, then Dananjaya plays down to point for one and I’m not sure what to think. On the one hand, they want to use all of their overs, but on the other, a quick 30 and you never know (you do know) but another 10 and it’s over. So Udana goes, picking out the man at long off, and we see that there’ve been 50 dots in this innings; for all the lack of boundaries, if half of those had been singles, Sri Lanka wold at least be in the game. Willey finises with 0-17 off his four overs.
“The Hundred – live on BBC2!’ says Gary Naylor. “What a great advert - for the Hundred. The ECB will be pleased.”
18th over: Sri Lanka 90-7 (Udana 2, Dananjaya 0) Jordan goes around to the left-handed Dananjaya, who doesn’t have the game to get hold of the slower ball and wide yorker that he’s served. This is the opposite of good from Sri Lanka.
Jordan sends down another slower one and Shanaka swings, but his feet aren’t planted so he’s relying on his bottom hand for all the power. It’s nowhere near enough, and Willey takes a simple catch at long on.
18th over: Sri Lanka 90-6 (Shanaka 8, Udana 2) Just what you need, one of the best death bowlers in world cricket returning when you’re already in a state. Udana whacks his second ball to mid off, but Wood pulls off a decent stop. A single and a very wide follow.
17th over: Sri Lanka 88-6 (Shanaka 8, Udana 1) I wish I had better things to say about this, I really do, and it’s kind of upsetting to hear the commentary team trying to convince people that we’re seeing something good. I mean we sort of are, because England are good, but it’s just not a contest. Anyway, Udana gets off the mark to point and Rashid finishes with 4-0-24-2. He’s so, so good at this.
This is not a good look. Rashid tosses one up, it dips, bounces and turns just a smidge – it’s enough – and Bairstow removes the bails, the batsmen nowhere near getting back.
17th over: Sri Lanka 87-5 (Hasranga 3, Shanaka 8) Rashid’s first three balls go for one – why aren’t they trying to go after him (or anyone else)?
16th over: Sri Lanka 84-5 (Hasranga 2, Shanaka 6) Wood hurtles in for his last over and whacks Shanaka on the pad; there’s a strangulated appeal, but it was too high and probably going wide of off. Wood’s bowled really nicely today, again, and Sri Lanka can manage just three singles. Wood finishes with 4-0-18-2, his final delivery coming through at 93mph. Not bad.
“I’ve just managed to watch half the episode of Finders Keepers whilst completely forgetting about the cricket,” emails Andrew Toner. “Why didn’t they call it ‘Battleships?’”
15th over: Sri Lanka 81-5 (Hasranga 1, Shanaka 4) Rashid continues and they have to make do with three singles and a two; surely they’ll have to go after it now. Shanaka made a fifty last night, so is in some sort of nick.
“So good to have live cricket on the Beeb,” says Guy Hornsby. “I know it’s hard to work out who comes out but I really feel sorry for Mo. With the pitches in the T20 WC we have to have a plan for them. His IPL was superb. Sigh.”
14th over: Sri Lanka 76-5 (Hasranga 0, Shanaka 0) here comes the hat-trick ball and Wood slings a beauty just wide of off ... Hasaranga does all he can to get an edge on it ... but he misses! Sri Lanka are in deep, deep trouble here.
Oh dear oh dear oh dear. Waiting for the short ball from around, Dickwella steps away, tries to pull, and spoons a leading edge to mid off. Woody’s on a hatty!
Oh dear oh dear. Just as Mendis is getting going, he goes again, top-edging a pull somewhere towards Neptune, and Bairstow chases towards square leg, catching it on the dive.
13th over: Sri Lanka 72-3 (Mendis K 35, Dickwella 3) Have a look! Mendis backs right away to leg, then carts Wood over the top for four down to long on! Great shot!
13th over: Sri Lanka 72-3 (Mendis K 35, Dickwella 3) Well! Dickwella turns to leg and runs, they want a second, and Billings picks up beautifully, launching a throw at the stumps ... but Morgan, backing up, can’t field it! I’m not sure what values or brands he thinks he’s representing there.
Oh dear. Perera gets down on one knee, tries a switch-hit, and plops a catch directly into the hands of Morgan at square leg.
12th over: Sri Lanka 65-2 (Perera 21, Mendis K 31) Jordan returns and Perera forces to mid on, then after a dot, Mendis leans towards off to absolutely zetz a short one over fine leg and into the upper tier! That was an almighty dig, but can Sri Lanka find more? They cannot. Jordan responds with a slower one, then Mendis goes again but doesn’t get hold of it in the same way – they run one – then Perera pulls a short one, splices it, and Malan is after it ... but he doesn’t quite there, diving and seeing it drop through his hands.
11th over: Sri Lanka 55-2 (Perera 18, Mendis K 24) Just what the Lankans need, Adil Rashid coming into the attack, and after three singles Perera tries a reverse scoop, instead imparting a fat edge that allows Willey to cut it off at the fence, saving two. Another single follows, then Isa asks Jimmy if he thinks Rashid should play Tests; he sort of says yes, then sort of walks it back because his captain clearly thinks otherwise, by saying how comfortable he seems with a white ball in his hand.
10th over: Sri Lanka 47-2 (Perera 14, Mendis K 20) Here we go! Wood hurls everything into an effort ball that Mendis drives to mid off, then tries to ramp an absolute grenade but misses. Four singles follow, the last of them a decent pull that picks out the fielder, and Sri Lanka need to bat like they’re running out of time because they are.
9th over: Sri Lanka 44-2 (Perera 13, Mendis K 18) Sri Lanka are moving now, Mendis stepping inside to hump Livingstone over extra for four. A two and a single follow then, from around, Perera gets an inside edge onto the boot that Bairstow pouches. They check for the catch, but he hammered the ball into the ground, and England will take that seven off the over – if Sri Lanka go at eight from here, they end up at about 130, nowhere near enough.
8th over: Sri Lanka 37-2 (Perera 13, Mendis K 11) Wood goes around to Perera, who clips his first ball away for one then unloads the suitcase at his second, edging high and behind; Malan chases around the rope to cut off the boundary and the batsmen have to content themselves with another single. So Mendis goes, opening the face to get the first boundary of the over down to wide third man – Wood responds with a brute that beats the outside edge – and a further single follows. By the way, has anyone noticed that Willey resembes both Richard Stilgoe and the Dean of Mean, Keith Jardine?
7th over: Sri Lanka 29-2 (Perera 12, Mendis K 5) Livingstone comes on to hustle down some off-breaks, leggies and who knows what else; his over yields just three singles, and Mark Wood will be on next. If he bowls as well as he did yesterday, this could get even worse for the Lankans.
6th over: Sri Lanka 27-2 (Perera 10, Mendis K 4) But as we alluded to earlier, in T20 all it takes is one person to turn up and everything chances. Meantime, Curran S’s golden arm gets a rest and Jordan replaces him, Perera guiding one to square leg then Mendis forcing to midwicket. Sri Lanka haven’t yet found the fence and badly need to, and here goes Perera, smashing over the top only for the ball to plug; they run two. A single follows, then Mendis misses with a pull – Bairstow appeals but no one else cares – and that’s the end of the powerplay. In over 2000 games, only 15 teams have failed to hit a boundary, which tells you plenty about where Sri Lanka are currently.
5th over: Sri Lanka 21-2 (Perera 6, Mendis K 3) Mendis drives Willey through the covers for two, then spirits one off a length that bounce and nips, far too good for the outside edge – that’s a great globule – and one he backs up with two dots. I hate to say it, but this looks a lot like a mismatch.
4th over: Sri Lanka 15-1 (Perera 6, Mendis K 1) Perersa has a problem: he needs to bat long, but he also needs to get things moving. His last three balls cede just a single, and he now has 1-8 off two, along with the run out.
Curran bangs one in and Fernando follows it, whacking high to the fence at deep backward square, where Livingstone takes a decent catch, on his haunches. Sri Lanka are in trouble, already and again.
4th over: Sri Lanka 18-1 (Fernando A 46 Perera 6) Perera pulls a short one for a single, then Curran goes around to Fernando who turns him around the corner for two.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 15-1 (Fernando A 4, Perera 4) This is a good start from England.
Umpire’s call on the stumps – it was hitting the top of leg.
I think that was missing.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 15-1 (Fernando A 4, Perera 4) Perera opens the face to run a single down to third man, then finds a bit of bounce – Mark Wood will taking note. Willey’s third delivery is slightly overpitched, so Fernando presents the full face and the ball races away ... but a decent diving stop from Jordan limits him to two. Then, after a wide, Willey pins Perera on the crease, there’s an appeal ... and the umpire says no but...
2nd over: Sri Lanka 9-1 (Fernando A 1, Perera 3) Right at Curran did that, they were discussing his ability to make things happen, and Jimmy was saying that he can look innocuous, then boom! He celebrated with a king of hitch-kick, then Roy did likewise and Jimmy let us know that he’s not even good at football. Perera gets off the mark with a turn to backward square, then pulls for one.
Fernando bunts down into the pitch, sets off for a run that’s never there, and Curran chases down the end, punches a right-footer at the stumps ... AND IT’S THERE! WHAT A FINISH!
2nd over: Sri Lanka 6-0 (Gunathilaka 3, Fernando A 1) In commentary, we’ve got Vaughan, Tufnell and Anderson; I wonder if someone a bit younger might be helpful. Anyway, Sam Cuzz will open from the other end and bowl into the pitch, trying to force the batsmen to hit square – the fear in Cardiff is being hit down the ground. Gunathilaka takes his first ball for a single, his second beats his outside edge.
1st over: Sri Lanka 5-0 (Gunathilaka 2, Fernando A 1) Ah, Bairstow is keeping, so Billings was preferred to Moeen as a batsman. Willey’s first ball was leg side, and though Gunathilaka couldn’t find it around his pads, it brushed one and added two leg byes – on the boundary, Wood just managed to shovel it back. There’s no swing about thus far, but after a single to backward square, Willey slants one across Fernando who he has a fiddle and miss; good ball. Two singles follow, and both sides will deem that a satisfactory opening.
Right, here we go! Go brilliantly please, boys.
Willey is running about like he’s going to bowl the first over. His blue trousers look less like pyjamas, more like trackies.
Here come the teams...
Niroshan Dickwella back for Sri Lanka https://t.co/jeIMnB7RIA
In other kit observations, Sri Lanka have taken inspiration from Galatasaray for theirs.
I guess the other thing to note about England’s team is that it still has no place for Moeen Ali. Ultimately, it’s hard to pick someone to leave out for him – if you were trying to make it happen tonight, you might’ve given Bairstow the gloves.
Jimmy Anderson is pitchside, and he says that having Wood at mid off helps him relax and remember that he’s meant to be enjoying himself. Two phenomenal heads of hair there.
When coloured clothing came in, people called it pyjamas, but these England kits are extremely pyjama.
We’re now watching some VT of Mark Wood, so likeable and yet so terrifying.
Eoin Morgan would’ve opted to chase and says that it suits England – but only if they play well. He confirms Buttler’s injury, and also that Woakes can’t play on consecutive days, which is why Willey returns.
Kusal Perera, meanwhile, wants to give his batsmen a chance to express themselves, so wanted to take first knock. His bowlers did well yesterday, but his batsmen need to give them something
to go at at which to go.
As @iggigg noted on Twitter yesterday, Willey does not skip leg day.
England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Sam Billings, 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Sam Curran, 8 David Willey, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.
Sri Lanka: 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Kusal Perera (capt), 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Akila Dhananjaya, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Binura Fernando.
England will be happy with that as they like to chase, but given we’re on terrestrial it might’ve been good for the audience had they batted first. In similar free-to-air ouch, Jos Buttler, so good yesterday, has a thigh strain – Sam Billings comes in – and David Willey, making his first appearance since being left out of the World Cup squad, replaces Chris Woakes. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, also make two changes: Niroshan Dickwella is back – yes! – and Binura Fernando is also in.
Though I’m not sure why they ended the opening titles with Jimmy Anderson and his latest Test-match madness.
Soul Limbo it is!
Right, get BBC2 on! Here we go!
Looking down this England squad, almost as notable as how good it is is how good those missing are. No Stokes, no Archer, no Hales, no Plunkett – and Root wants back in. I wonder if he’d be a sensible pick for India, given manipulating the ball can be just as useful as whacking 360.
Are we going to get Soul Limbo? I guess not, but anyone with any sense would’ve commissioned a grime remix. In the meantime, we can make do with this.
Back to our format, I do wonder about the rationale behind prioritising T20. The World Cup was understandable – England were hosts, had a great team, and the format rewards that. In T20, on the other hand, it’s possible to lose to pretty much anyone, making it much less sensible to rely on quality coming through – especially given the timezone and pay-tv aspect. But here we are so here we are.
So New Zealand finally did it. What a moment that was, and kudos to both teams for playing in a way that facilitated a result. The format needs work, but hopefully the WTC is here to stay and will only get better. I’m beginning to think that all schools should have to bin lessons and show one Test per summer on a big screen in the hall, and use it to trigger history, geography, English, maths and art lessons. I’m not sure whether or not I’m joking.
It’s T20 and it’s Thursday night, so let’s set the vibe: I really enjoyed Anz’s Piano Tunes mix.
Last evening, while New Zealand were busy beating India to enshrine themselves in history for eternity as inaugural world Test champions, England were busy thrashing Sri Lanka in a T20 international so revered that they’r playing another one just like it today. I believe they call this poetry.
Related: Jos Buttler and Jason Roy steer England to comfortable T20 win over Sri Lanka
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