SL vs ENG Live Score, 1st Test, SL vs ENG Live Cricket Score, SL vs ENG Live Score Updates

Date:            14th January, 2021

Time:            10:00 AM IST

Venue:          Galle International Stadium, Galle

Match Preview

After a difficult time in South Africa, the lions from Sri Lanka will now be back in their own den, where they will take on the famous Three Lions. Sri Lanka lost both of their Tests against South Africa. They are currently placed at the 7th position in the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship rankings.

England will be donning the whites after August of last year, where they played three Tests against Pakistan. They won one of those matches, while the remaining two were drawn. While Test championship standings will suggest an England win, they have got a big list of significant absentees. Hence, this game can be a lot more exciting than what the tables and form-books might suggest.

Sri Lanka

Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Kusal Perera, Kusam Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella (WK), Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dilruwan Perera, Lahiru Kumara/Vishwa Fernando and Suranga Lakmal

England

Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root (C), Daniel Lawrence, Jos Buttler (WK), Sam Curran, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and James Anderson

Weather Report & Pitch Condition

This is where the excitement goes for a toss. While the first day of the test is all set to be sunny, there are 70-90% chances of precipitation for the next 4 days. Hence, it is unlikely that we will get to see full 5 days of riveting cricket.

The pitch here at the Galle International Stadium will support the batsmen, especially in the first couple of days. As for bowling, spinners will enjoy more purchase than batsmen.

Average first innings score:

394 (Last 5 Tests played here)

Record of chasing teams:

Won – 1, Lost – 4 Tied – 0

SL vs ENG Top Picks

• Jos Buttler has established himself as not only a limited-overs specialist, but a reliable Test batsman as well. In the last Test series against Pakistan, he scored 265 runs at an average of nearly 90.
• James Anderson has the ability to pick up wickets even on tracks that don’t offer much to seamers. In the series against Pakistan, he picked up 11 wickets from 3 games.
• Joe Root did not have a great series against Pakistan back in August, but he has scored over 7800 runs in Test cricket. The English skipper has scored 17 centuries in this format of the game.
• Sam Curran will have to take a great share of the workload. He has picked up 41 wickets in just 19 Tests and has also scored over 700 runs.
• Wanindu Hasaranga was one of the few Lankan lions who had a good time in South Africa. In the 2 Tests, Hasaranga scored 122 runs and also picked up 4 wickets.