Today at 4:30 GMT, or 11:30 a.m. ET, Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan in the Second Test from Colombo, Sri Lanka of their two-match series which can be live streamed free by clicking this link. The match kicks off on August 14, and will conclude August 18.
Sri Lanka has a 1-0 lead over Pakistan in the series, and will take the oval with extra motivation in their minds--making sure Mahela Jayawardene ends his test cricket career on a high note. Today's matchup will be the 149th of Jayawardene's career; it may not be the last Sri Lankans see of him altogether though. According to reports he plans on playing in the 2015 one-day World Cup Down Under.
"It has been a great privilege and honour representing my country during the past 17 years," Jayawardene said of his long, storied career. "But I believe this is the right time. The younger players in the side are doing well and Angelo (Mathews) has settled in as captain. My job is done."
Although he's ceded much of the leadership burden to Matthews, Jayawardene's presence will be difficult to fill. "Not just me, but the cricket world, Sri Lankan fans and our whole team will feel the loss of a great player like Mahela," Kumar Sangakkara said. "It will take a long time to fill that void."
Pakistan can not be expected to roll over in ceremonial deference to Sri Lanka however. A loss would mean they've been swept in this series, and it would also drop them from third to sixth in the International Cricket Council world rankings.
STARTING SQUADS:
Sri Lanka: AD Mathews*, HDRL Thirimanne, N Dickwella†, RMSEranga, B Fernando, PLS Gamage, HMRKB Herath, DPMDJayawardene, FDM Karunaratne, MDK Perera, KTGD Prasad, KCSangakkara, JK Silva, WU Tharanga, KDK Vithanage, UWMBCAWelegedara
Pakistan Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq*, Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Shehzad,Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Junaid Khan, Khurram Manzoor, MohammadTalha, Rahat Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Shan Masood, UmarAkmal†, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.