Sri Lanka and England have put up astonishing cricket but at the same time records have been tumbling during the first four ODI matches played during the final week of May. The five-match ODI series will be decided at Edgbaston on June 3rd.
In India the Kolkata Knight Riders have qualified for their 2nd final in 3 years while Kings XI Punjab has reached the IPL final for the first time.
England triumph in the rain hampered series opener –
Brutal batting and aggressive bowling combined together ensured England beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain interrupted first one-day international at the Oval on 22nd of May.
England smashed 247 runs in 39 overs with half centuries from Ian Bell and Gary Ballance. Chris Jordan cracked 38 runs in 13 balls to lift their run-rate above 6. Sachithra Senanayake was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets for 30 runs. The Sri Lankans failed to counter the swinging and accurate bowling spell of the English bowlers as they were bowled out for only 144 runs inside 28 overs. Mahela Jayawardene top scored with 35 runs while Chris Jordan won the man of the match award by taking 3 wickets to complete his brilliant all-round game.
Sri Lanka retaliate at Chester-le-Street
Sri Lanka came up with the perfect response to their defeat in the first ODI against England as the visitors swept aside the home team by 157 runs in the second meeting of their five match series at the Riverside on 25th of May.
TM Dilshan led the way for Sri Lanka as he mustered a well compiled 88 runs in 101 deliveries to steer the Lankan inning to a reasonable total of 256 for the loss of 8 wickets in 50 overs. Ashan Priyanjan stroked a quick 33 ball 43 run blitz while left arm seamer Harry Gurney picked up 3 scalps for England. The match was effectively settled inside the first seven overs of the England reply as they lost top 4 batsmen to the stunning seam bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara and Lasith Malinga. England was eventually bowled out for 99 runs which will go to the record books as their fifth lowest in ODI cricket. Sachithra Senanayake ripped through the middle order with his career best figures of 4 for 13.
Sri Lanka bundled out for 67 by England
In a yo-yo battle England and Sri Lanka went head to head as Chris Jordan took five wickets when Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 67 and lost the third one-day international by 10 wickets against England at Old Trafford on 28th May.
Sri Lanka batting line up displayed a horrifying appitude as they failed to cope up to the seaming balls of James Anderson and Chris Jordan. Kumar Sangakkara top scored with only 13 runs while 8 batsmen flunked from reaching double figures. Sri Lanka’s score of 67 was their third lowest score in ODI cricket and the lowest total in an ODI game at Old Trafford. Ian Bell and Alastair Cook scored the runs required in less than 13 overs to finish off a complete disaster for the South Asian islanders.
Sri Lanka survive Buttler scare
Sri Lanka held their nerve to win the 4th one day international game by 7 runs and level the series after Jos Buttler scored the fastest English hundred to scare the visitors on 31st of May at Lord’s.
Kumar Sangakkara got a standing ovation from the Lord’s crowd for his 19th ODI century as he together with TM Dilshan helped Sri Lanka post a satisfactory score of 300 to defend and stay alive in the series. The 36-year-old Sangakkara took 13 balls to get off the mark but he looked calm and composed from there onwards. Dilshan and Sangakkara’s partnership of 172 for the 2nd wicket was invaluable for Sri Lanka as Harry Gurney took 4 wickets. England’s pursuit of victory target of 301 was rocked immediately when Lasith Malinga reduced England to 10 for two by removing Captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell. But Jos Buttler, who came in with England in dire straits at 111 for 5, brought the hosts back into the match with a brilliant maiden ODI hundred, the fastest ever scored at Lord’s. Sri Lankan death overs specialist Malinga bowled a terrific final over ( 4 runs) to seal the victory for Sri Lanka.
Gambhir returns to the Indian fold
Veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir has been recalled to the India squad for their tour of England in July. Gambhir, who has not featured since India’s home defeat by England 18 months ago, is part of an 18-man squad selected for the five-Test series which starts in July.
Full Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Varun Aaron, Pankaj Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishwar Pandey, Stuart Binny.
Raina to lead India
Suresh Raina has been named India captain for the short ODI tour of Bangladesh in June. Regular captain MS Dhoni has been rested along with Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma. India will play Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series starting in Dhaka on June 15.
Full Squad: Suresh Raina (captain), Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra.
Saeed Ajmal refuses Pakistan T20 captaincy
Right arm off spin bowler Saeed Ajmal has declined an offer to captain the T20 side because he wanted to be “relaxed” about his cricket. “I don’t want to put myself forward for captaincy. I think I am better as a team player. I do think about being captain of Pakistan, but I am reluctant too, because captaincy in Pakistan is not easy. “ Ajmal has stated in an interview recently.
Kolkata Knight Riders will play Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 7 final
The Indian Premier League season 7 will draw the curtains down with the final on June 1st between 2012 champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab. KKR led by Gautham Gambhir cruised their way into the finals beating Kings XI Punjab by 28 runs in the 1st Qualifier on 28th May while Chennai Super Kings booked their place in the 2nd qualifier beating Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in the Eliminator.
Kings XI Punjab made sure they fended off the strong Chennai challenge in the 2nd qualifier as two-time champions, CSK bowed out of the tournament as they lost by 24 runs in a high scoring T20 game which saw both teams reaching the 200 run mark.
‘Freddie’ Flintoff returns to competitive cricket
Andrew Flintoff, the former England all-rounder and captain, has come out of retirement to play for Lancashire in the Natwest T20 Blast. Andrew Flintoff makes a return to competitive cricket after five years. Flintoff signed off his England career following their Ashes win in 2009 and it was also his last domestic season.
