Sat, 09 July 2011 - England vs Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Tour of England 2011, 5th ODI - Bulletin

England clinch series in humdinger

After four lop-sided encounters that had the series in balance at 2-2, the final match proved to be a see-saw battle and England held their nerve at the end to seal the series with a thrilling 16 run victory against Sri Lanka at the refurbished old Trafford. England on the back of some solid top order contributions stumbled to 268 while as the visitors nearly collapsed at the start only for the lower order to stage a remarkable rear guard but in the end the total proved beyond their spirited fight back.

The Lankan chase needed a good start on a pitch that had a little bit of sub-continent feel, low and slow with lots of turn for the slow bowlers. That, however did not happen as opener Karunaratne became come back man Tim Bresnan’s first victim. The burly pacer made it two in his next over, captain Tillakaratne Dilshan’s hook flew straight down fine leg’s throat as his team was stuttering at 12 for 2. Old mates and Lanka’s best bet in such situations, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene briefly steadied the ship before Jayewardene was dismissed for 9 by James Anderson.

That brought promising talent Dinesh Chandimal to the crease and he along with Sanga began the rebuilding with minimum of fuss. The two not only took the team out of a precarious position but added some momentum as well to the innings. Chandimal’s battle with ace off spinner Gram Swann was the highlight of the stand. The left and right hand combination added 94 runs in quick time before the youngster was sent back by his nemesis Swann after scoring a crucial 54. Sangakkara’s dismissal soon after had Lanka once again struggling to get the runs, as a result the asking rate began to climb.

All-rounders Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis then set about the recovery in a remarkable manner. The two first were content on collecting the ones and twos, but accelerated towards the end to give the hosts a real scare. Their 102 run stand for the sixth wicket brought back their side into reckoning. They hit ten boundaries between them to quicken the pulse of a near packed house; only 36 were required of 24 balls at one point, with the batting team well in ascendancy.

With the equation tilted in favour of the batting side, England had to pick up wickets and they did exactly that. Mendis’ dismissal on 233 started the slide. Kulasekara and Randiv fell while trying to accelerate and the final nail came when Mathews fell to a Dernbach slower one for 52. The hosts sealed the match as well as the series with last man Lasith Malinga’s furniture disturbed, Sri Lanka all-out for 252 in 48.2 overs.

Earlier, the English batting effort was marked with two vital partnerships and as many collapses. Both the stands preceded England clutter of wickets as Sri Lankan managed to keep the home under check after it put itself in a good position to make a big total. England managed to reach a respectable total largely due to breezy 85-run opening stand and fourth wicket partnership of 118 between Johnathan Trott and Eoin Morgan. Off-spinner Suraj Randiv was a hero with the ball snaffling his maiden five wicket haul to peg back the home when they appeared on the course for a score around 300.

Having pitch conditions in the mind England dispensed with fast bowler Stuart Broad making way for left arm spinner Samit Patel and had no hesitation to have a first use of the strip expected to assist spin bowlers in the second half. And, it didn’t take long for English openers Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter to make a move on. The pair started from where they had left in Trent Bridge making full use of first powerplay. All of 75 runs were scored including eight fours and a six as Sri Lankan bowlers helped England by bowling too much on the leg-side. Dilshan opened the bowling but was scored off freely and Nuwan Kulasekara dished up some hittable stuff to Kieswetter who madefull use of opportunities.

Under assault from English openers Sri Lankan opted against the bowling powerplay but England looked to press home their advantage by taking the Batting Powerplay in the 13th over. England’s poor show in batting powerplays was witnessed yet again. Sri Lankans were the beneficiaries this time. Randiv’s big turner got past charging down the wicket Cook to have English skipper stumped for a well made 31. Things got better for the tourists as Damikka Prasad, Suranga Lakmal’s replacement, bowled one that didn’t get up much to have Kieswetter’s stumps rattled. The England wicketkeeper went for nearly a run a ball 43 including half a dozen fours and a six. Prasad added to England’s woes finding outside edge from Kevin Pietersen as home team slumped to 85 for no loss to 95 for three in the matter of 19 balls.

England looked down the barrel but Trott and Cook stabilized the innings. Not only the pair looked to keep the scoring board ticking over, it made sure England didn’t lose wickets in the middle overs. The pair went on to their business without much of fuss hitting gaps and run hard between the wickets and didn’t try to do anything silly in the middle.

Without many boundaries they reached their half-centuries with Trott first to go past the landmark on 63rd ball he faced and Morgan on his 54th. England were on top with score reading 213 in 40th over. Dilshan gave his side an opening by getting Morgan out stumped for 57 and Randiv was on a roll after that. Bell chipped one in the air from theoff-spinner straight into long-on hand and had some luck to have Trott bowled after an innocuous delivery ricocheted from the right-hander’s thigh pad. Trott went for a solid 87-ball 72 punctuated with only three boundaries.

England lower order didn’t help the matters going for big shots without getting their eye in. Randiv accounted for Samit Patel who sliced one straight to the cover fielder and go his fifth when Bresnan top-edged a pull as England lost the plot after being given a solidlaunching pad. Anderson and Jade Dernbach made sure England didn’t lose all their wickets and added 15 runs for the last wicket.