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The interim head coach of Sri Lanka, Sanath Jayasuriya, stated that his team’s ability to frustrate Harry Brook was crucial to their comeback on the second day at the Kia Oval. At the end of their first innings, they were only 114 behind after bowling England out for 325 in the morning session.
After racing to 221 for 3 in just half a day on day one, England appeared to be in a familiarly strong position overnight. However, on day two, they lost their final seven wickets for 104 more runs in 24.1 overs, and all ten wickets fell to attacking shots.
Brook, who was 8 not out the previous night, was especially responsible for laying the groundwork for a sloppy batting effort. After hitting a wild drive towards Lahiru Kumara, he was given out to the third ball of the day. Although he managed to dispute the caught-behind decision, Asitha Fernando subsequently dropped him severely at deep point on the twelfth delivery of the day, handing the ball to Milan Rathnayake.
He then expressed his annoyance by mockingly taking guard two feet outside off stump, highlighting the restricted line that Asitha in particular was bowling, as Sri Lanka managed to find movement in the cloudy circumstances.
His horrific stay came to an end on 19 from 39 balls when he hit another six to Kamindu Mendis at short cover, setting off a collapse of 7 for 64 from which only England’s eighth-best batsman, Ollie Pope, was able to salvage some form of credit.
“He was frustrated, yes, because we bowled well, with the right line and length,” Jayasuriya said at the close. “We go through each and every batsmen, like they go through our batsmen. We know their very strong areas, and where we can keep them tight and frustrated.
“They love to play their shots. So we just thought of bowling a more tight line and length just outside your off stump. When you keep doing that in these conditions, when the ball is moving, it’s not very easy.”
Michael Vaughan of the BBC became enraged with England’s lacklustre performance and cautioned the team as a whole that they would have tougher tests in the future, especially when they play Australia and India in a five-Test series. Considering the remarkable progress Brook had already made in his career—most notably, his career-defining winter of 2023–2024 when he amassed 809 runs at a strike-rate of 98.77—he singled him out for special criticism.
“England are ultra-aggressive,” Vaughan said. “They go towards the danger. If the ball is swinging away they are not thinking about leaving it. That is their method.
“Just be careful, Harry Brook. That is all I will say to him. He is a brilliant player. He is as good as I have seen. I am going towards Kevin Pietersen-style. He is an incredible player. But don’t take the mick out of the game. Be very, very careful.
“I would ask England, were you on it all day like you would be against India and Australia? If they look themselves in the mirror and say they were, I would say they are lying. They weren’t on it today.
“England delight me a lot in the way they play. But this game has a way of biting you. When you are so far ahead of the opposition, don’t take the mick. Don’t think you can do things no other player has done in the history of the game – dance down the wicket and whack an away-swinger over mid-off.”