Watch: In the third Test against Sri Lanka, Chris Woakes turns to a spinner

In cloudy conditions at Kennington Oval, England scored 325 runs mostly thanks to a 154-run toss from captain Ollie Pope. When Sri Lanka batted, they adopted a Bazball-like strategy, but it did not work as they were dismissed to 97/5 in just 18 overs. Known for hitting 150 kmph, England pacer Chris Woakes turned a spinner in between as poor light hindered the proceedings.

Bad light got in the way of Woakes’ seventh over, which he was delivering when he dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne on the second ball. Woakes unleashed his off-breaks with four balls remaining and the umpires deliberating over the matter of poor light. Even though his fans thought the run-up was shorter than normal, the tough pacer let up six runs in just four deliveries.

Here’s the video of Chris Woakes bowling off-spin:  

STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING!

Bad light means Chris Woakes is bowling spin pic.twitter.com/TPYSnwXiEN

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 7, 2024

Both cricket enthusiasts and former players want for Sri Lanka to play fearless cricket. The last Test continued to be a battle for lost respect after losing the series. With his 51-ball 64, Pathum Nissanka made it very evident, and no batter attempted to follow suit. The Lankan Lions jeopardised the team by losing the final five wickets for an only 26 runs.

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The collapse started when Josh Hull, a 20-year-old pacer from Leicestershire who was playing for his first international team, dismissed Nissanka. When he bowled Nissanka out on the 17th delivery of his debut game, the young player lost control of his emotions. Olly Stone and Woakes, who each took one and two wickets, provided him with strong support.