Day 17: Left-arm spin is best

Many people can say they have legitimate grounds for say 2020 wasn’t a good year for them. Jack Leach is up there. Recovering from Sepsis during the New Zealand Tour at the end of 2019 was not a great start. Add to that 2020 where he hardly turned his arm over, and you know just how important his international comeback in Sri Lanka was, not only to him but England.

Leach doesn’t strike you as someone happy to get on with the job at hand, the quiet man that will win you games without any fuss. The one not out at Headingley his stand out batting performance. Who remembers his night-watchman innings against Ireland?

England’s spinners came into the first Test undercooked, that is for sure. As mentioned before England’s bowlers will need to be on it in the next couple of months. For Leach and Dom Bess to both take five-fors in the match is a promising sign.

Neither bowled at their best and England thanks in part to a dodgy start by Sri Lanka, and a double century from Joe Root, England were always in a strong position to win.

Sri Lanka improved significantly second-time-around, and that gave Leach and Bess to bowl themselves into a rhythm. Bess took eight wickets in the game, yet Leach proved his reliability in the second innings. Teams need to have a bowler who can move the ball away from right-handed batsmen. Leach eventually found the right line and length. You would expect that to happen with the best part of 42 overs under his belt in the second innings.

One thing for sure is that it is never easy to bat fourth in Sri Lanka and teams have been undone chasing low totals. England did their best to prove this; Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley went cheaply to the impressive Lasith Embuldeniya. Root followed soon after to a single that was never there.

England looked nervy on 14 for three, and when Jonny Bairstow tried to run himself out next ball, Sri Lanka suddenly looked to have a grip on the game.  

No more wickets fell before bad light ended the days play with England 36 short of the win. Tomorrow will be a good indicator of Dan Lawerence’s temperament in ensuring those runs get chalked off with little fuss.

Tomorrow Ireland will resume their ODI series with UAE as they play their second and final game. Later in the week, they will take on Afghanistan in a series with World Cup qualifying points on the line.