Sri Lanka defeated in rain shortened game

Chris Jordan starred with both bat and ball as England defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs via D/L method in a rain affected match in the first ODI at Kennington Oval in London. A new-look England unexpectedly gave Sri Lanka its first defeat in a one-day international this year.

Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews won the toss and put England to bat in an overcast evening with the intention of letting his faster bowlers exploit the conditions. Sri Lanka got their first wicket as Kulasekara induces Cook to an edge to the wicket-keeper Sangakkara after a steady start by Cook and Bell for the first five overs. Left handed Gary Ballance and Ian Bell scored half centuries to resurrect the England inning with sensible batting as Lankan bowlers failed to live up to expectation. Bell’s fine knock of 50 runs in 52 balls came to an end when Lankan skipper Mathews got a slower ball to deceive Bell who offered a simple catch to Malinga. Soon after Bell’s dismissal heavy showers stalled the match for over 150 minutes.

After the resumption, the game was limited for only 39 overs per side. England T20 captain Eoin Morgan was clean bowled by Senanayake but Gary Ballance steadied the ship with a stable 64 runs but he was caught easily by Chandimal at deep mid-wicket region off Sachithra Senanayake. Ravi Bopara missed a sweep shot as Sachithra trapped him right in front of the stumps to claim his third wicket and halt the England surge. Joe Root and Joss Buttler patiently kept on with their high run-rate with sensible batting knocking singles around and scoring off the loose deliveries. Root and Buttler added 41 runs in 25 balls for the 6th wicket as Root was dismissed by Kulasekara for a well compiled 45 runs. 

Barbados-born 25-year old all-rounder Chris Jordan joined Buttler and the pair bludgeoned the Lankan bowling attack to all parts of the ground as they slashed of 54 runs in the last four overs to give England a challenging total of 247 runs in their allocated 39 overs. Jordan remained unbeaten on 38 runs in just 13 balls with five fours and two maximums while Buttler accompanied him with a 20-ball knock of 26. Right arm off spinner Sachithra Senanayake was the most impressive bowler taking 3 wickets for the visitors. Other Lankan bowlers failed as they were not bowling to take wickets persisting with a defensive line.

Chasing 259 runs in 39 overs to win according to the D/L method, Sri Lanka’s reply got off to the worst possible start with James Anderson claiming the wicket of Lahiru Thirimanne inside the first over as the Lankan vice-captain was trapped plumb in front perfectly while star batsman Kumar Sangakkara was dismissed dragging an outside the off-stumps ball to hit the timber for just eight by Harry Gurney who played his debut ODI game.

Experienced Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan fashioned a recovery as they played with great grit to counter the swinging English ball but the rains returned. After a second rain delay Sri Lanka were set a revised target of 226 from 32 overs. Dilshan was sent back to the pavilion by Chris Jordan after the ball flew to the third man off Dilshan’s bat and the 37 year-old Lankan opener was dismissed for 33. Top scorer Mahela Jayawardene failed to resist much as he flicked a James Tredwell delivery to Eoin Morgan at short mid-wicket to be dismissed for a 41 ball 35 runs. 

Chris Jordan returned to haunt the Lankans in the 21st over as Dinesh Chandimal was caught behind off Jordan and three balls later Nuwan Kulasekara lifted the paceman to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 108 for 6. England skipper took a brilliant catch to dismiss his Sri Lankan counterpart as the Lankan lower order struggled to find ways to chase down their target which was way above 9 runs per over at one stage. James Tredwell and man of the match Chris Jordan were at their best especially after the second stoppage as they claimed three wickets each to run through the middle and lower order. Gurney was the other notable bowler to claim two wickets as the Lankans were bundled out for 144 in 27.5 overs handing a comprehensive 81 runs win for the hosts.

Sri Lanka was completely out of their depth facing a disciplined but an accurate bowling attack which had more refinement than the visitors. In the batting department England smartly rotated the strike keeping at 4+ and 5+ runs per over easily to escalate at the end, while the visitors displayed unimaginative captaincy going through the motions of letting England cruise at their pace.  Yet, it was the last 4 overs that made Sri Lanka lose control.  In return England kept the superior Lankan batsmen completely subdued and the pressure undid the visiting batsmen.

England leads the five match ODI series 1-0.