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'They're The Rules': Olly Stone Voices Frustration On England Being Forced To Bowl Spin Due To Bad Light vs SL

Olly Stone remarkable performance (X)Olly Stone remarkable performance (X)

England's hopes of tightening their grip on the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval were dashed late on Day 2 as fading light forced them to turn to spin, which allowed the visitors to stage a strong fightback. 

England's pacers displayed a remarkable bowling effort led by Olly Stone, that led Sri Lanka reeling at 93/5 in the second session. However, an unbroken 118-run partnership between Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva built the way of recovery for the Lankans. 

Olly Stone Voices Displeasure For Light Restrictions

Due to bad light, the hosts were forced to bowl spin in the final session due to the fading light. Olly Stone, who played a significant role in England’s early success, as he scalped two crucial wickets of Angeleo Mathews and Chandimal expressed the team’s frustration at the end of the day.

“They’re the rules, aren’t they? You can’t change those,” Stone said. “It’s taken out of our hands. We’d have obviously loved to have bowled seam there. It’s just one of those things that’s frustrating but has to be done.”

England was forced to bowl 17 overs of spin in the curtailed final session, despite conditions being ideal for seam bowling. 

Stand-in skipper Ollie Pope once again found himself in the spotlight, faced with the tough decision of either continuing with spin or taking the players off the field. 

Earlier in the series, Pope faced criticism for his decision to stay on the field during a similar situation in the first Test at Old Trafford.  However, in the second test match of the series at Lord’s, Pope opted to take the players off early, a decision that was met with criticism. The umpires ruled the light too poor for pace bowling, in accordance with the laws of the game. 

Chris Woakes Forced To Bowl Off-spin Due To Bad Light

There was an unusual moment earlier in the day when Chris Woakes, midway through an over, was forced to bowl spin after the umpires deemed the light unsafe for pace. 

This happened just after Dimuth Karunaratne’s run-out by a direct hit from Stone in the seventh over. Woakes bowled four deliveries of off-spin before England were allowed to continue with seam bowling.

Quick Recap Of The 3rd Test Match So Far

England's Ollie Pope displayed brilliant batting on Day 1 as he scored 154 runs in 156 balls, they were bowled out for 325 with Sri Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya taking 5/73. Despite the late fightback, the hosts will hope to regroup on Day 3 and capitalise on the new ball to break the partnership between Mendis and de Silva.