Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara feels England have the edge over Australia in the ongoing first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, saying the captaincy and thinking in taking a slender seven-run lead has been brilliant.
England took the last five Australian wickets for 75 runs to bowl them out for 386 in the first session of day three’s play, with Ollie Robinson taking three of those scalps after a wicketless performance on Day Two’s play. For Australia, Usman Khawaja top-scored with 141, his first Test century in England.
“It is set up wonderfully and there will be an exciting two sessions from here. I think it is pretty even but the way the innings ended I would give England (the edge). The thinking was brilliant, the captaincy was brilliant. England are not going to settle for draws and now it will be if they can dominate with the bat after lunch. An aggressive declaration may come,” said Sangakkara to Sky Sports.
England also kept a lot of funky fields, like keeping fielders in close catching positions to put pressure on the Australian batters.
“This is where England are ahead, especially Stokes. He understood singles wouldn’t matter to the tailenders, they were going to come out swinging. The fields were really well set to create those chances, showing the Australians they needed to take chances.”
Asked if Australia could set defensive fields while bowling to England’s ultra-aggressive batting line-up, Sangakkara said, “I think they will get a better balance than the first innings. I think we will see one boundary rider but not lots of them. I think they will try to nip out a few batters if there is any nip off the pitch with the new ball and then they will see who is batting.”
“If it’s Crawley, they might be defensive. If it’s Root or anyone who settles in they may squeeze. The pitch doesn’t have the pace to hit through the line of the ball, you cannot really time the ball to the fence.”
“You need a bit of muscle behind it. The key is the pace bowlers’ economy and ability to penetrate but more importantly, Lyon, who can then springboard off that and use the turn on the pitch.”
Sangakkara was also impressed by Khawaja’s 141 coming off 321 balls, laced with 14 fours and three sixes. “He was very much like Steve Smith when he got into that zone – the inner concentration where he set up for a big one.”
“I was impressed with his patience and how he played Moeen, taking the attack to the off-spinner. His defence was impressive against pace and spin and he will be another important batter for Australia.”
Sangakkara signed off by saying off-spin all-rounder Moeen Ali suffering a blister on his spinning finger will keep England worried. “It could be a crucial issue and will play into the decision-making in terms of how long they need to bowl Australia out. Who is going to do the work with spin?”
“They have a back-up in Joe Root but is he good enough? Moeen looked uncomfortable and didn’t look like his bubbly self. Okay, he is not bubbly anyway but he didn’t look as aggressive as usual.”
20230618-184402
