SL tour of ENG: England Vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Live Scores, Jun 12, 2014
Sri Lanka tour of England: England Vs Sri Lanka 1st Test Live Scores at London, Jun 12, 2014.
Teams: England Vs Sri Lanka
Venue: Played at Lord's, London
Time: Match scheduled to begin at 11:00 local time (10:00 GMT)
Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first
Last five matches result:
England: L L L L L
Sri Lanka: D W L W D
Preview :
England have had an issue in replacing Andrew Strauss at the top of the order. Nick Compton, Joe Root and Michael Carberry have all had their chance but now Sam Robson has been picked to try and form a new partnership with Alastair Cook. Robson has been sounded out for some time as a Test opener but his early-season form hasn't been outstanding.
If Sri Lanka are to find success in the series, their bowling attack must deliver. Shaminda Eranga has made a handy start to his Test career, with 38 wickets in 11 Tests. His sharp seamers have showed much promise and he can solidify that potential into a strong performance against England, their green batting order will have plenty of problems.
England's batting was on a steady decline before the blow out in Australia and building up big totals will be high on the priority list for Peter Moores. A vastly different batting line-up will play against Sri Lanka with novices Robson, Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali in the top six and Ian Bell moving up a place to No. 4.
There is less upheaval in the bowling attack that will still be led by James Anderson and Stuart Broad with Chris Jordan and Liam Plunkett adding the pace and aggression that England wanted from Steven Finn, Chris Tremlett and Boyd Rankin over the winter. Losing a matchwinning spinner in Graeme Swann is the one major concern but he didn't have a doosra; Moeen Ali purportedly does.
Asian opponents at home should be the plumb draw for the start of a new era but with the first Tests of the summer shifted back from May to June, the advantage has been eroded slightly. Sri Lanka are well settled in the UK, have confidence and form from their successful one-day series and are set to enjoy better weather over the next two weeks.
Sri Lanka will also have gained motivation from the animosity that brewed during the one-day series, chiefly by the mankading at Edgbaston, and will sense the chance of an upset against the new-look England. They certainly hold the edge in the spin department, Rangana Herath having ran through England on their last tour of Sri Lanka, and veterans are Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara hoping to guide their side to success on their final tour to the UK.
Pitch and conditions:
Sri Lanka's prayers seem to have been answered with the weather forecast dry and sunny with warm temperatures and hot for the first two days. Lord's always produces an excellent wicket.
Stats:
England have won 18, drawn three and lost three of their last 24 home Test series.
Of captains to lead their team in at least seven Tests in England, only Brian Close (six wins in seven) has a higher win percentage than Cook (five wins in seven).
Kumar Sangakkara averages 30.58 in England, his lowest in any country. He has one century in 18 innings in England.
The entire England squad have only scored 137 more runs than Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene combined
Teams:
