England beat Sri Lanka by 31 runs on DLS method after rains hits Dambulla ODI

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Will Macpherson13 October 2018

This was just what England needed as their tour of Sri Lanka finally got underway in earnest: a hard-fought, gritty win - workmanlike with the bat and destructive with the ball (not least new man Olly Stone) - completed just before the arrival of the rain that had washed out Wednesday’s opener.

Fears that this series could end 0-0 have at least been quelled, although we may not see the full 100 overs in any of the five matches.

This despite Lasith Malinga, Sri Lanka’s talismanic, recently-recalled fast bowler, picking up figures of five for 44 with a series of superb slower balls that put the skids on England when another score of 300 looked in reach.

Their 278 for nine was still a decent effort on a sluggish pitch having been asked to bat first, and they left the field pleased at halfway. They had recovered from a wicket lost in the opening over, been patient, shown the value of their depth, and continued to accumulate in the face of tumbling wickets against fine bowling.

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Within nine overs of Sri Lanka’s chase, with four of the top five gone for single-figure scores, the outcome of the match was clear – so long as the rain stayed away long enough to allow 20 overs to be bowled (the minimum required to constitute a completed match). A reserve day was available, but who knows what weather that would have thrown up.

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Chris Woakes did most of the damage with a wicket in his first over – as he so often seems to in this format – and two more in the powerplay, but Olly Stone’s first bowl in international cricket brought the more eye-catching intervention.

His seventh ball reared up at Niroshan Dickwella, who could only fend a loopy glove behind. Stone touched 90mph regularly in his first international spell (4-0-7-1), one of real promise that will leave other bowlers in contention for next summer’s World Cup looking over their shoulders.

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That left Sri Lanka not only in a mess at 31 for four, but a long way behind on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, too. Even as Kusal Perera, who was caught at midwicket off Liam Dawson, and Dhananjya de Silva put on 43 by milking than spinners, the sense was that England just needed to get to 20 overs to win.

When that point was reached (after some conspicuously swift overs from the spinners), Sri Lanka were 95 for five, 66 behind on DLS. Heavy rain was visible over the hills around the ground; the ground staff crouched poised by the covers.

They remained there for nine more overs as the light worsened, with rain skirting round and Thisara Perera’s industrial hitting narrowed the gap.

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When Moeen Ali completed 10 tidy overs for 47, the heavens opened – at 3.47pm, five minutes later than it had on Wednesday, a day-nighter – and on came the covers with Sri Lanka winning by 31 runs on DLS. The abandonment was inevitable, but took around an hour to arrive.

Sri Lanka had been as optimistic as England at the interval, because of Malinga’s brilliance. Four of his five wickets came with slower balls, the exception being Jason Roy, caught at midwicket in the day’s first over – a wicket maiden as England took two overs to score a run off the bat.

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England’s next three partnerships were worth 72, 68 and 50 before Malinga got back to work. The first stand was between Jonny Bairstow, who lacked fluency but became the first man this year (and sixth Englishman ever) to 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year, and Joe Root, who came together with Eoin Morgan when Bairstow missed a straight one from Thisara Perera.

Root and Morgan busily built a backbone to England’s innings, with both making fifties. They were grinding to a halt when Root – who at one stage went 54 balls between boundaries and was dropped badly on 48 – got a leading edge to cover in the third spinner de Silva’s first over of the match

Root had to go for 71, meaning he had the largest run between dismissals in English ODI history. His 309 runs – which includes two centuries against India in July – bettered Graeme Hick’s 301 in 1999.

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Morgan ploughed on unperturbed, taking 31 from his next 18 balls with some sensational hitting to swell his partnership with Ben Stokes. Even when Stokes failed to pick Akila’s Dananjya’s googly, England looked ready to launch, with 190 on the board and 13 overs remaining. Morgan was well set, and had Jos Buttler with him.

Malinga put paid to such thoughts with a spell of fading, dipping slower balls. Morgan went first for 92, caught, bowled and comprehensively fooled, then Moeen Ali was bowled next ball. Chris Woakes was pinned in front, then Liam Dawson bowled with the final ball of that over – all after the umpires had mistakenly called an end to the over after five deliveries.

Between times, Nuwan Pradeep had bowled Buttler with a straight full toss, and it was left to Adil Rashid and Olly Stone – who put on 24 for the final wicket – to make up the slack. With the groundwork done, England faced a race against the rain, which they were relieved to have won.

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