Sri Lanka vs England, 1st Test, Preview: Hosts eye a perfect ending to Herath's career as Englishmen begin a new era

While Sri Lanka bids goodbye to one of their finest player, the visitors introduce two new players to Test cricket.

Published - 05 Nov 2018, 16:58 IST | Updated - 05 Nov 2018, 16:58 IST

4 Min Read

This will be the last time Rangana Herath will walk out to represent Sri Lanka. The veteran left-arm spinner has annonunced his retirement from the game after the series opener and there cannot be enough inspiration for the home side to give their best in this game. England, on the other hand, have their own issues in the longest format and it goes without saying that they will be tested by the spinners if weather permits.

Sri Lanka play like a near invincible team at home in whites and will be highly confident of doing well in the first of the three-match series. They thumped South Africa by 2-0 recently and will be keen on strengthening their record. Galle is their most favoured venue as well which gives them a good chance to make it a perfect game for Herath. Moreover, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews return to the setup which makes their batting even stronger and will test England’s temperament.

Joe Root is yet to win an overseas Test as a captain and he will be desperate for it in this series. But it will not be easy for his team by any stretch of imagination. Alastair Cook’s retirement has left a big hole at the already struggling top-order. With Root moving down to the preferred number four position, it will be interesting to see who bats one-down for England. Moeen Ali did the job during the concluding stages of the India series back home.

Team Combinations

Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne, the Test specialist, returns to open alongside Kaushal Silva for the island nation. Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews beef up the perfect middle-order for them even as Dhananjaya de Silva will look to add more to his credentials as a Test batsman His part-time off-spin bowling will be more useful during the game against England’s left-handers. Niroshan Dickwella will be the enforcer down the order and will look to take the confidence from a good ODI series.

In the bowling departments, there will be three spinners. Rangana Herath will be playing his last Test match and he will be assisted by Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya. Suranga Lakmal will be the lone seamer in the line-up which has been the case for Sri Lanka at home.

Probable XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (C), Angelo Mathews, Dananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Akila Dananjaya, Rangana Herath.

England

The visitors will have two debutants in the series opener. Rory Burns is set to fill in the big shoes of Cook at the top of the order thanks to his stellar County season this year while Ben Foakes has been preferred ahead of Jos Buttler for the wicket-keeping job. Buttler struggled behind the wickets during the ODIs. Keaton Jennings will have to deliver as this seems to be the last chance to revive his career.

Root will bat at four while Moeen Ali is likely to be preferred at three. Ben Stokes and Buttler follow in the line-up with Foakes batting at number seven. James Anderson, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran will look after the bowling department with two all-rounders in the top five. Stuart Broad and Jack Leach will fight it out for the only remaining spot and the latter is likely to get a nod as the pitch will assist the spinners a great deal.

Probable XI: Rory Burns, Keaton Jennings, Moeen Ali, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Ben Foakes (wk), Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, James Anderson, Jack Leach.

Focus will be on

Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Mathews and he will have a point to prove in this match. The coach Chandika Hathurusingha deemed him unfit to play the shorter formats and Mathews was axed from ODI and T20I team following the Asia Cup debacle. Batting at number five, the experienced cricketer holds the innings together and the team will need his experience to beat this England side in this series.

Joe Root (England)

Joe Root, the captain and the batsman, both the personalities were pushed to the corner by the Indian side recently back home. But he redeemed himself in the final Test of the series. He would love to take the similar form into this series as well and coming back to his preferred spot will make Root feel more comfortable. England’s performance in the Tests will depend on how Root fares and possibly the same will determine the fate of the three-match contest.

Special Mention – Rangana Herath

The left-arm spinner has been performing for his team constantly and definitely the dark clouds over the Galle Stadium will also make way for his swansong over the net five days. He has 430 wickets to his name in the longest format after 92 Test to go with 34 five-wicket hauls and would love to add one more feather to his cap before calling it off. All the eyes will be on him as spectators are likely to come in numbers to celebrate the fabulous career.