Sri Lanka vs. Australia 2nd Test
Sri Lanka vs. Australia has been an interesting series so far, as Sri Lanka have been too strong for Australia in the current Test series. Australia would definitely been hoping for a change of fortunes as they needed to win/draw this Test match, in order to keep their hopes of winning this series alive. Sri Lanka had other plans though and from the onset they were outplaying Australia once again. In their first innings they racked up 281 runs which was a decent score going by the first Test match. Starc was the standout bowler for Australia grabbing 5 wickets. Australia in their first innings collapsed the Sri Lankan bowlers raced through the batting line-up.
Perera and Herath wreaked havoc for Australia they both grabbed, 4 wickets each and Australia found themselves in trouble as they were all out for 106 runs in the first innings. Sri Lanka just picked up where they left off and added to the runs tally 237 runs to be precise, to create more problems for Australia. They had an uphill steep challenge and Sri Lanka were not going to make it easy at all for them. Australia once again struggled and the chief destroyer was Perera, this time round he grabbed 6 wickets and Australia found themselves once again defeated they lost by 229 runs.
Sri Lanka have won the series so the 3rd Test match, will be a dead rubber one but Sri Lanka will still be looking to dominate.
Pakistan vs. England 3rd Test
The series was at 1-1 so going into the 3rd Test match each team was going to be giving it their all. England were batting in this Test match and they set up a decent total of 297 for their first innings which definitely set the tone for the rest of the game. Khan grabbed 5 of the England wickets giving him a good start as well in this Test match. Pakistan did well in their first innings they racked up 400 runs giving them a slight lead in this Test match, the century by Ali was a defining factor for them and made a big difference for them. England in their second innings came back very strongly as everyone was contributing to the runs total. Which was definitely going to make it more difficult for Pakistan. England were in reverse mode before, but now they were going fast forward, to setting themselves up for victory with all the runs they had scored.
England ended their second innings by declaring on 445/6. Pakistan though in their second innings were finding themselves in a big trouble as they were losing wickets at regular intervals, and this was not going the way they had planned at all. England were making headway into the batting line-up, and this something Pakistan were trying to avoid in order to win this Test match. Once again all of the England bowlers bowled well, and they each grabbed 2 wickets a piece. Pakistan were defeated in this well fought Test match by 141 runs. England now lead the series 2-1.
England will definitely be looking to keep this momentum going into the 4th Test match.