Deja Vu as Cook and Trott cash in for England

England v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Cardiff – Day 3 Close

Sri Lanka 400    England 287/2

A DOUBLE-CENTURY stand between Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott put England back into the ascendancy in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Cardiff.

Cook and Trott both made fine hundreds and continued where they left off in Australia (remember their partnership of 329 in Brisbane last year?) with an unbeaten stand of 240 to leave England well placed at 287/2 at the close.

With still eight wickets in hand and just 113 runs behind, England are now in a position where they can score past Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 400 and gain a useful lead – weather permitting of course.  

Play on the third day did not start until the afternoon session after constant drizzle abandoned the morning’s play.

The only real joy for the tourists came early on when Ajantha Mendis dismissed night-watchman James Anderson for his overnight score of 1.

But Cook (129 not out) and Trott (125 not out) did their thing for the remainder of the day against a rather non-threatening Sri Lankan bowling attack.

Without the likes of Chaminda Vass, Lasith Malinga and Muttiah Muralitharan, their attack looks very weak – an issue which new skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan will have to work on during his tenure as captain.

Despite Cook and Trott’s brilliance, the weather still could prove a stumbling block in England’s (or even Sri Lanka’s) quest for victory with more rain and delays in play expected.