Sri Lanka and England to lock horns again in the 2nd test

After a thrilling finish to the 1st Test in Kandy, Sri Lanka and England meet again for another battle in the 2nd Test in Colombo starting on Sunday. Sri Lanka have grabbed the early lead in this 3 Test series, after bowling out the visitors in the dying minutes of the 1st Test, and will be looking to wrap up the series with another strong result here.

Kumar Sangakkara proved why is considered one of the world's finest batsman, with a stunning Man-of-the-Match performance in Kandy. The English bowlers will be thinking long and hard about how to dismiss the man who has now been elevated to the official ranking of the world's #1 Test batsman. With scores of 92 and 152 in Kandy, he has now jumped ahead of Australian Ricky Ponting and South African Jaques Kallis, who is the only batsman to have scored more Test runs this year.

The Sri Lankans will be without stalwart Sanath Jayasuriya, who retired on a high after the first Test match. If there is one area the Sri Lankans may now be exposed, it is opening the batting. Following retirements of Jayasuriya and Atapattu they lose 200 matches and over 12,000 runs of experience from their side. They will look to the future with the pressure on Michael Vandort and Upul Tharanga to ensure that Sangakarra is not exposed too early.

The task of bowling out the home side will be made even more difficult with injuries set to deplete the English bowling attack. Matthew Hoggard, is unlikely to play as he is still to prove that he has overcome a back injury sustained in the 1st Test. With Ryan Sidebottom suffering with a stomach complaint and James Anderson nursing a suspect ankle, they will look to backups Steve Harmison and youngster Stuart Broad to fill the breach. Spinner Monty Panesar will need to twirl some magic if they are to take 20 wickets in this Test match.

The English batsman have the ability to post big scores and if they can manage to post a first innings lead once again, they will hope to take better advantage this time around. It will be a difficult task against an attack lead by world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan, confident super-slinger Lasith Malinga and the consistent Chaminda Vaas.

Sri Lanka should again hold too many aces for an English side missing several key players. Now with the world's #1 batsman and #1 bowler, on their home turf and full of confidence, the Sri Lankans are worth a bet at $2.05 at SportsBet Australia, as they look to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in this series.

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