Sri Lanka v England: Jack Leach says tourists have 'great chance' to win
Last updated on .From the section Cricket

Second Test, Pallekele (day two) |
England 290 & 0-0 |
Sri Lanka 336: Roshen 85, Karunaratne 63, Dhananjaya 59, Leach 3-70, Rashid 3-75 |
England trail by 46 runs |
Scorecard |
England have a "great chance" of victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test with "any kind of a score" in their second innings, says spinner Jack Leach.
Roshen Silva's 85 helped Sri Lanka make 336 on day two, a lead of 46 runs on a pitch offering significant turn.
England closed on 0-0 in Pallekele after Leach survived the final over of the day as nightwatchman.
"Batting last on that wicket will be very hard," Leach, 27, told BBC Sport.
"If we bat well and get a good lead then that will put a lot of pressure on Sri Lanka."
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England are 1-0 up in the three-match series and victory in the second Test will secure their first away series win under captain Joe Root.
Dimuth Karunaratne (63) and Dhananjaya de Silva (59) put on 96 for the third wicket to frustrate England in the morning before the tourists reduced Sri Lanka to 165-6.
But Roshen expertly accumulated to add 171 for the last four wickets, while England's spinners failed to bowl a consistent line and lengths.
"Our plan for the day was to be as patient as possible and know that things were not just going to happen," said left-arm spinner Leach, who took 3-70.
"We were a bit disappointed that they got ahead because we felt at one point we could've had that lead.
"I could have been a bit more consistent in terms of asking questions ball after ball.
"I need to be really specific with my line and length in the last innings because if it's turning a lot then we all need to be right on it. That's going to give us a great chance."
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Those who suggest Woakes (or Curran, Bairstow, or other "typical" late middle order batsmen) to bat in the top 5 are missing a vital point.
Making runs with the tail, slogging gloriously against a soft ball & frustrated tired bowlers, is a lot easier than building a big score against a hard bouncy ball & fresh hungry bowlers.
They'd get found out quickly at the top of the order.
Important to remember that there are 3 days left. How will England play? They tend to go aggressive and it might pay off but its risky. I'd love to see someone knuckle down and build a responsible innings... Maybe Jennings? but not holding my breath.
SL showed they know how to play on this pitch but Leach to win it for us.
I've lost count of the number of times this argument has come up, & how many times I've said the same.
Wrist-spin has so much more going on during the delivery, that it's impossible to get the same level of control as with finger-spin. Warne was an anomaly, most wrist-spinners go for a lot of runs.
But they get wickets. After all, if the bowler doesn't know what's happening...
Rashid is a wicket taker. The control is needed from the off spinners.Â
AR has a higher batting average than root, stokes, burns and ali in this series. Anderson hasn't done much in SL this time.Â
Beats me why some people love to pick on Rashid
Jack Leach
Rory Burns
Keaton Jennings
Ben Stokes
Joe Root(c)
Jos Buttler
Moeen Ali
Ben Foakes(wk)
Sam Curran
Adil Rashid
James Anderson
Realistically, Eng is facing an unexpected 1st innings deficit. In a low scoring game, 46 is a hurdle in its own right.
This is the end of day 2. Aeons still to go. They have to pace themselves, take their time & build sensibly, Be mature, not intemperate toddlers in a rush to hit everything out of sight. As Paul S says @14, Real test cricket.
That'd be a massive frustration to SL, & set an excellent foundation for a match-transforming innings total.
However (James @36) I'm not confident that the top order has the patience & mental discipline to build a big score. Hopeful, but not confident.