Well done Australia. Easy victory and outplayed England easily.
Having stayed up for this I’m now unlikely to see much of the Eng v SL test tomorrow, other than the last session!
I’ll try though 
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Stokes given two lives by Sandakan (spelling??). Given out off a no-ball twice!!
Good review!
SL in all sorts of trouble now.
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SL, 2 down and in the do-do.
3 down and Stokes on; good change!
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I’m just hoping the rain goes away
Matthews has a brain fart
They have him sussed. Brilliant catch.
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No way out now for SL the test is all but over, I’ll be surprised if they get beyond lunch tomorrow.
Winning 3-0 over there is a very good effort and the part I like the best is the way we have adapted, both in selection and in execution.
I never thought I would see an England side with 3 front line spinners and it’s refreshing to see that the selectors have had the courage to enable that. Just picking them doesn’t win games though, they have to perform and they have.
Get the top three sorted (no easy task) and we have a squad capable of competing anywhere against anyone. I expect the current incumbents will be given the opportunity to cement their places in WI, but they have to take their chance. We can’t go into an Ashes series with major doubts over our top order.
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I didn’t see Burns’ dismissal but Jennings’ was lame again. I think Bairstow will make a fist of three but those openers need to nail it down. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone else will be selected in those positions for the Windies tour. I have a feeling they are going to stick with them though.
Whatever, the middle and lower order mostly have an answer. I think they did enough today, aided and abetted by some low pressure fields and dumb no-balls. The pitch is not easy to bat on now. It’s dusty and some balls turn, while others don’t. When Sri Lanka’s 2nd innings began, Ali was beating the bat on both sides with identical deliveries. The ball spinning hard and seam pretty much square to the batsman. I think its a case of get it in the right area now and allow the pitch to do the work. Buttler seemed to grasp this early on and used his feet to take it out of the equation, especially against the wristy, catching him on the full several times. What a player Buttler is becoming, he seems to be able to change his tactics at will and is always calm. I can’t wait for him to get an opportunity to go mental! I guess a firing top order is what is needed for that to happen…
Sri Lanka look down and out now and I reckon you are right Paul, they will probably be finished by lunch tomorrow. Lakmal seemed to be skippering the game from the boundary for long stretches today and had thrown in the towel.
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England have adapted to the situation far better on this tour. I hope we go to Windies and play properly and don’t become complacent.
So many positives from this series but main one is everyone has contributed. When everyone is a 7 out of 10 you have a great chance against any team.
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Bairstow could nail 3 down, but only if he gets some protection from the opening partnership. If he’s walking out to bat in the second over all of the time, he might as well be opening, but he is not a test match opening bat, not by a long chalk. He has to be ready to bat from the second ball of the innings, but they need that to be the exception, not the rule.
WI pitches will be similar to Sri Lanka. I expect the same squad to travel there, unless they fancy resting Anderson or Broad, in which case Stone should get his chance and maybe Woakes will figure more in that series. The Duke ball will help and I expect us to win the series comfortably.
What a great effort by Sri Lanka.
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…but not quite enough.
Great end to the series.
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No, but a damn sight closer than I thought. I fancied them to fold today and they fought hard.
Foakes won man of the series. That’s brilliant, he has been a class apart with the gloves on and his batting is a joy to watch.
Bairstow sounding a little calmer today in his MOTM interview. 
Great tour. Well played England in both the tests and the limited overs games.
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Put it in your diary -
First test:
West Indies vs England - 23rd January - Barbados - 2pm start (UK time) 
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Great series win from England and it’s very good they were pushed hard today, it makes it that bit better.
They aren’t perfect- the openers are still fragile but this England are as dynamic a team as I can remember. To go to the subcontinent, attack from ball one and win 3-0 is a great achievement. They obviously have great team spirit- everyone has performed at some point or other- and they have rarely been sloppy in the field. I have loved the tri-spin attack, they are a great blend.
I think the squad may be as it is for the next tour plus Jason Roy maybe. I’d like to see them find room for Stone at some point soon, he and Jamie Overton are possibly the future for the fast bowling. Jennings and Burns need nets over Christmas!
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Be interesting to see if Jennings can cope with faster bowling. If not try Roy, with the middle to lower order we have Roy is worth a gamble as I suggested a while back.
Discuss…