NEW DELHI: An interesting turn of events took place during the third and final England vs Sri Lanka Test at the Kennington Oval when hosts’ pacer Chris Woakes was forced to bowl off-spin on the second day due to bad light.
With skies turning grey and light going drastically down in London on Saturday, Woakes was seen bowling off-spin against the Lankan batters.
The incident took place in the 7th over of Sri Lanka’s first innings when the on-field umpires informed skipper Ollie Pope that the light isn’t good enough for the pacers to operate.
Woakes, who had just got rid of Pathum Nissanka on the second ball of his fourth over, had four more balls to go when the umpires said no more to fast bowling.
This forced Woakes to complete his remaining fours balls bowling off-spin as England bowling coach Jeetan Patel and the players on the field anxiously watched the events unfold.
With skies turning grey and light going drastically down in London on Saturday, Woakes was seen bowling off-spin against the Lankan batters.
The incident took place in the 7th over of Sri Lanka’s first innings when the on-field umpires informed skipper Ollie Pope that the light isn’t good enough for the pacers to operate.
Woakes, who had just got rid of Pathum Nissanka on the second ball of his fourth over, had four more balls to go when the umpires said no more to fast bowling.
This forced Woakes to complete his remaining fours balls bowling off-spin as England bowling coach Jeetan Patel and the players on the field anxiously watched the events unfold.
With a couple of slips, a leg slip and a short-leg, Woakes bowled three off-spinning deliveries, one of which was dispatched to the fence. He then completed the over with an arm ball.
Earlier, bad light also forced early stumps on the opening day of the Test.
Riding on Pope’s 154, England scored 325 before getting all out in the 70th over.
Already 2-0 up in the series, England are eyeing a whitewash against Lanka.
