PALLEKELE, Wednesday – Skipper Eoin Morgan scored his 41st half-century and his seventh against Sri Lanka to guide England to an easy seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a rain-truncated third ODI reduced to 21-overs a side at the Pallekele International Stadium yesterday.
Morgan finished on 58 not out scored off 49 balls (7 fours) and with Ben Stokes who scored 35 not out off 24 balls (2 sixes, 1 four) put together an unbroken partnership of 73 off 57 balls to chase down a target of 151 with 15 balls to spare.
With four required for victory Stokes put an end to Sri Lanka’s agony by coming down the track to Amila Aponso and hoisting him for a straight six.
Despite losing wickets at regular intervals England continued to maintain a run rate in excess of eight an over which enabled their later batsmen to push for victory quite comfortably without taking any undue risks.
For that they had to thank dashing opener Jason Roy who’s 41 off 26 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes) set the tone for the rest of their run chase.
With the win England assured themselves they can’t lose the series. They can either draw it or win it.
Sri Lanka squandered a blazing opening stand of 57 off 32 balls by Niroshan Dickwella (36) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (35) to be restricted to a total of 150-9 off 21 overs after being invited to bat first.
Sri Lanka looked in good nick for a score close to 200 which would have given their bowlers some breathing space to set attacking fields, but England came back strongly after Tom Curran had broken the opening stand by dismissing Dickwella for 36 scored off 20 balls (8 fours).
From there onwards England took control of the game as Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals with Curran and leg-spinner Adil Rashid causing most of the damage by capturing seven wickets between them.
Dinesh Chandimal tried his best to build up partnerships by holding up one end with a steady innings of 34 off 42 balls but the only support he got was from Samarawickrama who helped him add 35 for the third wicket and one of 28 for sixth with Dasun Shanaka who hit a rapid 21 off 10 balls with two sixes and a four.
Sri Lanka’s weakness against leg-spin was exposed with Rashid picking up four of the wickets to take the Man of the Match award.
Kusal Mendis returning to the Lankan ODI side as replacement for the injured Kusal Perera collected his third consecutive duck when he was dismissed first ball by Rashid. He was earlier out without scoring in the Asia Cup matches against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
CHANDIMAL SUFFERING FROM CONCUSSION
Skipper Dinesh Chandimal left the field during the England innings and was not present for the award ceremony.
“Chandimal is not feeling well. He is a bit concussed and he is undergoing treatment,” said Sri Lanka manager Charith Senanayake.
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