England have earned themselves a lifeline in the ODI series against Sri Lanka – and gained some encouragement ahead of the World Cup – with a nerve-wracking five-wicket victory in Hambantota with eight balls to spare.
It was not just that England claimed a much-needed victory that sees the series balanced at 2-1 to Sri Lanka with four games to play. It was that the architects of the victory were the younger, less experienced players who showed a skill and composure that their senior colleagues have so obviously lacked.
If an explosive half-century from Moeen Ali – who with five sixes equalled his own record for the most by an England opener in an ODI innings – set the platform for the England chase, the unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 84 in 64 balls between Joe Root and Jos Buttler was almost as impressive.
This was not an entirely positive day for England, though. Their slow over-rate during the Sri Lanka innings – they took 18 minutes more than their allowance – may well result in the match referee taking action against their captain, Alastair Cook. Cook has received a warning previously and faces the prospect of a one-match ban.
Cook’s own form continues to provoke debate, too. England made the controversial decision to drop Ian Bell, the most experienced man in their squad, ahead of this game despite his record of late being somewhat better than Cook’s. Bell averages five more than his captain in ODIs this calendar year and has a strike-rate about 20 runs higher than Cook’s in the same period.
Cook was unable to take advantage of the extra opportunity. He looked in better touch in driving Mathews for a couple of sweetly-timed boundaries and late-cutting Ajantha Mendis for another. But his familiar dismissal – pushing at one angled across him – provided a reminder of his struggles and it is now 43 ODI innings and 30 months since he reached 80. There will be many concluding that Cook receiving an ICC suspension for a slow over-rate would be nothing less than a blessing to England.
Sri Lanka
TM Dilshan c †Buttler b Finn 23
MDKJ Perera c Morgan b Woakes 0
KC Sangakkara c Ali b Jordan 63
SHT Kandamby c Jordan b Woakes 0
AD Mathews c †Buttler b Jordan 37
HDRL Thirimanne not out 62
BMAJ Mendis c Finn b Root 12
NLTC Perera c Ali b Woakes 8
KTGD Prasad st †Buttler b Bopara 21
HMRKB Herath not out 2
Extras (lb 4, w 10) 14
Total (8 wickets; 35 overs) 242
Did not batBAW Mendis
Fall of wickets 1-6 (MDKJ Perera, 1.5 ov), 2-30 (Dilshan, 4.5 ov), 3-31 (Kandamby, 5.5 ov), 4-118 (Mathews, 20.1 ov), 5-150 (Sangakkara, 25.4 ov), 6-175 (BMAJ Mendis, 28.4 ov), 7-202 (NLTC Perera, 31.4 ov), 8-233 (Prasad, 33.6 ov)
Bowling
ST Finn 7-0-42-1, CR Woakes 7-0-41-3, MM Ali 7-0-36-0, CJ Jordan 7-0-46-2, RS Bopara 3-0-24-1, BA Stokes 2-0-28-0, JE Root 2-0-21-1
England
AN Cook c †Sangakkara b Prasad 34
MM Ali run out (Herath/†Sangakkara) 58
AD Hales c BAW Mendis b Mathews 27
JE Root not out 48
RS Bopara c †Sangakkara b Herath 6
EJG Morgan c NLTC Perera b Mathews 1
JC Buttler not out 55
Extras (lb 1, w 5, nb 1) 7
Total (5 wickets; 33.4 overs) 236
Did not batBA Stokes, CR Woakes, CJ Jordan, ST Finn
Fall of wickets 1-84 (Cook, 11.4 ov), 2-103 (Ali, 14.5 ov), 3-144 (Hales, 21.5 ov), 4-151 (Bopara, 22.3 ov), 5-152 (Morgan, 23.1 ov)
Bowling
AD Mathews 7-0-34-2, TM Dilshan 4-0-31-0, NLTC Perera 3-0-18-0, BAW Mendis 5.4-0-53-0, BMAJ Mendis 2-0-9-0, KTGD Prasad 6-0-49-1, HMRKB Herath 6-0-41-1
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – Sri Lanka, who chose to bat
Series – Sri Lanka led the 7-match series 2-1
Player of the match – tba
Umpires – SD Fry (Australia) and RSA Palliyaguruge
TV umpire – SJ Davis (Australia)
Match referee – DC Boon (Australia)
Reserve umpire – RR Wimalasiri
