England fast bowler Stuart Broad warned Sri Lanka ahead of their second Test in Durham, saying that the hosts are confident about winning the series, though the contest is still open. After a commendable performance from Jonathan Bairstow and James Anderson, England crushed Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs in the Headingley Test and are currently leading the series 1-0.
Broad had picked five wickets in the first Test and destructed Sri Lanka's top-order, sending Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis back for a duck. "Obviously the series is still up for grabs and I think one thing we've probably been average at is in the last Test of the series when we've won, I'm thinking Centurion and the Oval," he said, talking about their defeats in the respective venues against South Africa earlier this year and their 2015 Ashes match against Australia.
"With a Test series up for grabs we're on it and our aim is to have all nine Test trophies and we can make it eight this week. I think Australia and South Africa have done it before. It is not something that has been done a huge amount, so it would be a huge achievement and we're desperate to do that."
Though Bairstow's 140 in the first innings and Anderson's 10-wicket haul made the victory easy for England, there were several mishaps on the field especially while taking catches.
Broad, admitting that they weren't at their best in the first Test, added, "It wasn't the perfect performance at Headingley -- we dropped catches and we didn't bat as well as we'd want to so there are improvements we can make this week."
England will be missing out on the services of their all-rounder Ben Stokes, who was ruled out of the series after an injury, following which they added Chris Woakes as his replacement on Monday. They also have the option of handing over the cap to Nottinghamshire player Jake Ball.
Also read: Stokes devastated on missing Sri Lanka series
"The great thing is that both guys are coming in good form,” he said talking about the two probable replacements.
“Chris Woakes is coming off a nine-for on the day he was told he was called up for the Test squad -- that's a pretty good day -- and Jake Ball has been bowling beautifully all year," added Broad, who has a tally of 781 Test wickets with Anderson, which makes them one of the country's greatest new-ball duo.
Sri Lanka were also forced to make a change, calling Suranga Lakmal to the team after their pacer Dushmantha Chameera was ruled out after sustaining an injury.
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