England have given an interesting turn to 2nd Test, declaring at 335/7 with a lead of 342. England have 58 overs to bowl Sri Lanka out. They would be more optimistic about winning than usual, having won the last Test in a similar scenario, the difference being England winning by an innings at Cardiff, which is not possible now. Earlier today, setting a target of 350 with 60 overs remaining seemed appropriate to me and England came to close to that so I agree with their decision.

Alastair Cook, who made 96 in the 1st innings, struck yet another century. 18th for him. At 26, he is not too far away from scoring most centuries by an England player, 22. One notable positive aspect is Kevin Pietersen's 72. He must not be satisfied and it wouldn't shut up critics but it's always good to see him among the runs. I don't think his critics know, but he averaged 41.55 last year and 60 in Ashes 2010. The former is good for a batsman and the latter great. Though nothing less than the consistency of Alastair Cook (Ashes and this series) and Jonathan Trott (in England and Australia) will be enough for a batsman of his calibre in the eyes of the audience.

England's run rate in the 2nd innings was 4.28, which closely matches their 1st innings run rate of 4.30. In the last decade, 21 matches have been played at Lord's, out of which a win has been obtained in 13 of them. But, either Lord's has witnessed victories by huge margins or draws. During this time, England and Sri Lanka have faced each other twice, both resulting in draws. Though some England fans are positive Sri Lanka won't survive without Dilshan, who had his thumb injured by the bowling of Chris Tremlett, who struck the same area twice during Dilshan's 193, the second time being 192. Tremlett hit the same spot at Cardiff as well.

At the time I'm writing this, 32 overs are left. So the series will probably be levelled at 1-1, the decider will be played at The Rose Bowl.

Earlier, I had to tweet about my blog posts again and again or to different people manually but at least that task has been made easy by scheduling tweets through socialoomph. Apologies to anyone who has been annoyed by this practice of mine! If they are too much to tolerate, do let me know!

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• Rain marred 1st Test is an even battle
• The Preview: Sri Lanka hopes for turnaround; England aim to continue domination
• England Continues to Shock in 2011; Wraps Lanka for 82 to clinch 1st Test