England and Sri Lanka are currently locking horns in an enthralling second Test match in Pallekele. The hosts are only 75 runs away from a superb victory chasing 301 runs but only with 3 wickets in hand. England, on the other hand, will be looking to pick up quick wickets and seal in what could be a rare series win in Test cricket. They’ve so far picked wickets with their street-smartness thanks to Keaton Jennings and would need yet another such brilliance on the field.
After bowling out the visiting team for 346 in the second innings, Sri Lankan team had to chase down a mammoth total of 301 runs on a Day four pitch. Many felt that it would only be a matter of time before they succumb and at 26/3, the end seemed near. But Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews rebuilt the innings by mixing caution and aggression together. They added 77 runs for the fourth wicket and had just started to frustrate the opposition.
However, the 28th over was a magical one for England when Karunaratne was using his feet beautifully against the spinners and had employed a sweep shot to score a brilliant half-century. Like a norm, he played a sweep shot off Adil Rashid to guide the ball towards fine leg and timing on that shot was quite well.
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Meanwhile, Jennings who was fielding at short leg anticipated Karunaratne’s shot and starting moving. He put his hand out in the direction of the ball as it hit his hand. But the fielder couldn’t hold on to the chance but he made sure that the ball didn’t go down and lobbed it up only for an alert wicket-keeper Ben Foakes to gobble the catch. Everything happened in a motion and in a split second that the batsman was left helpless and shocked at the same time.
All the credit of the dismissal should go to Jennings who was aware and agile enough on the field and then Foakes also for staying alert when the ball was in the air.
Here’s the video of the dismissal:
Keat-Boon Jennings, more like. pic.twitter.com/6ypk5Pt06v
— Pavilion Opinions (@pavilionopinion) November 17, 2018
