COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has played poorly and is weakened. And it’s already 2-0 down in the test series at home.
England fancies its chance of administering a coup de grace in the third test from Friday at Sinhalese Sports Club. “There’s only been two other sides who have won 3-0 out here in test cricket, so it would be a brilliant achievement which would fill us with a huge amount of confidence going into the rest of the winter,” England skipper Joe Root said on Thursday.
The two occasions Sri Lanka was swept were in 2004 by Ricky Ponting’s Australia, and last year by Virat Kohli’s India. Normally strong at home, Sri Lanka goes into the final test trying to patch a team together. Captain Dinesh Chandimal was ruled out by a groin strain. Chandimal was injured in Galle, where England won the first test by 211 runs, and he missed the second test at Pallekele last week, where England won by 57 runs for a first series win in Sri Lanka in 17 years.
Sri Lanka was hopeful Chandimal would recover for this test, but the selectors brought in Danushka Gunathilaka as cover. Gunathilaka’s fifth and last test was a win against South Africa in July, when he scored 57 and 61. (AP)
