Batsmen in focus as Sri Lanka look for quick turnaround

Chris Woakes will replace Ben Stokes in the England playing XI for the second Test. © Cricaction

Sri Lanka faced some familiar issues in the first Test as the swinging ball kept troubling their batsmen. Five days after suffering a humiliating innings defeat, their batsmen will be under the scanner again and this time, it looks like the conditions are going to get more challenging in chilly Chester-le-Street. Kusal Perera was drafted into the squad after getting the clean chit from the International Cricket Council but is unlikely to feature yet in the playing XI.

Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva will have to bat better against James Anderson, who took ten wickets in the first Test. Kusal Mendis showed plenty of promise at No. 3. Angelo Mathews, the captain, after enduring a failure with the bat will look to make amends. Dinesh Chandimal and Lahiru Thirimanne will be under tremendous pressure after a below par performance.

Their pacers had a decent outing though with Dasun Shanaka ripping through the top order but losing Dushmantha Chameera to an injury is a huge blow for the visitors. Suranga Lakmal, who was part of the victorious 2014 side, will be replacing him in the XI.

England will have to rejig their middle-order after injury to Ben Stokes. Jonny Bairstow, who scored a century in the first Test, will now move up one spot to bat at six and Moeen Ali at seven. Nick Compton will be looking for runs in order to save his spot after scoring just 66 runs in his last six innings while Joe Root will be looking to return to his best after a rare duck against his name in the first Test.

Chris Woakes will walk into the playing XI straight away in place of Stokes after his excellent form this year in the county circuit where he recently took nine wickets in an innings.

Alastair Cook is just 20 runs short of reaching 10,000 Test runs. What will please the think-tank most is that Alex Hales came up with a solid performance after a horror show in South Africa. Hales will now look to capitalise on the strong start in the series to cement his position.

When: England vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test Match, May 27-31 at 11 AM local time and 3.30 PM IST

Where: Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

What to expect: Another paradise for seamers with conditions expected to be cold. Skies are expected to be clear for the first three days but there could be spells of rain on the fourth day.

Team News

England: A surgery on his left knee has ruled Stokes out for a few weeks giving Woakes a chance to impress. He is a like-for-like replacement for the Durham all-rounder.

Sri Lanka: Suranga Lakmal will replace the injured Dushmantha Chameera in the playing XI as confirmed by their fast bowling coach. No other changes are expected despite a poor show in the series opener.

What they said:

"He's scored two hundreds already. So he can play at this level. Like all of us, he's only a score away, and he needs a score, but he's in a really good place to do that." - Alastair Cook is certainly backing Nick Compton.

"Chameera's the fastest bowler of the group, so of course it's a blow. But here, because the wickets are helping the seamers even the others will be good. Suranga is bowling really well in the nets and is an experienced guy, so he will fill up that role." - Champaka Ramanayake, Sri Lanka's fast bowling coach.

Did you know?

England have won all their five tests at Chester-le-Street, three of them being innings victories.

Alastair Cook has scored just 200 runs in his last five Tests at an average of 22.22 with a solitary fifty.

Stuart Broad has taken 14 wickets in two Tests at Chester-le-Street at an average of 14.57 and a wicket every 27.4 balls - the best strike rate for any in this venue.

Squads:

England (Playing XI): Alastair Cook (C), Alex Hales, Nick Compton, Joe Root, James Vince, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, James Anderson, Jake Ball (12th man).

Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews (Captain), Dasun Shanaka, Dhammika Prasad, Dilruwan Perera,Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis,Lahiru Thirimanne, Milinda Siriwardana, Niroshan Dickwella, Nuwan Pradeep, Rangana Herath,Shaminda Eranga, Suranga Lakmal.