England v Sri Lanka, 2014: One of the most underrated Test series

Sri Lankan players celebrating the dismissal of James Anderson

Second Test at Headingley

In the second Test at Leeds, Sri Lanka went in riding high with confidence from the very close encounter at Lord's. After being put into bat by England, Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 257 runs. Kumar Sangakkara continued his great form as he notched up another fifty. Liam Plunkett, who had a quiet first match, picked up his best bowling figures in Tests.

Sam Robson scored his maiden Test hundred as England once again took first innings advantage. Supported by Gary Ballance and Ian Bell, England took a 108-run lead. However, in the second innings, Sri Lanka came up with one of the best second-innings performances powered by a brilliant hundred by the captain, Angelo Mathews.

Mathews scored 160 runs off 249 balls as he pulled his team out of an ominous situation when they were tottering at 277/7. His 149-run partnership with Herath for the eighth wicket rescued the visitors and helped them post a total of 457, setting a challenging target of 350. Plunkett was again the best bowler as he picked up four wickets to finish the match with 9 wickets in all.

England were reduced to 57/5 in their chase after Dhammika Prasad produced one of the best bowling spells as he picked up four of the first five wickets. Joe Root and Moeen Ali helped stabilise England's second innings as the latter went on to score his maiden century in Tests.

By tea time, Moeen started running out of partners as England were struggling at 173/7. After the drinks break, England lost two wickets and were in trouble at 234/9 with around 10 overs to go. James Anderson seemed like playing the perfect innings of holding one end as he supported Moeen with great determination.

When Shaminda Eranga came to bowl the last over of the match, all Anderson had to do was play out the six balls and England would have done what Sri Lanka did in the first Test. Before the over, Anderson had survived 50 balls and not even got off the mark.

With England fans cheering the ‘Burnley Express’ on to chug along for the last two balls, Eranga produced a short ball that induced a bad shot from the tailender and he looped the ball to backward square where Herath made no mistake and sent Sri Lanka into delirium.

On looking at the end result, Sri Lanka won the series 1-0. However, it was not as easy as what the series scoreline might have shown. Both teams were in similar situations in each of the Test matches. Sri Lanka survived it, through an inside edge. England, on the other hand, failed at the very last hurdle and summed up their miserable series.

Looking Ahead

Now, the two teams have their roles reversed. England are in a much stronger position than before while Sri Lanka are still trying to figure out their right combination. A lot will rely on Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, who are the most experienced of the lot.

In the bowling department, Dhammika Prasad will be missed for the first Test. However, this could be a chance to impress for young Dushmantha Chameera. Chameera has shown a lot of promise and the English conditions could help him.

On the other hand, with Alastair Cook and Joe Root in good form, England will look to dominate the three-match Test series, starting from tomorrow. It remains to be seen how exciting this Test series could be. Fans of England and Sri Lanka will be hoping that the series will be as interesting as the one in 2014.