Published: Dec 07, 2014, 01:38 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 08, 2014, 11:16 AM (IST)
Dec 7, 2014
A career-best 90 from James Taylor helped England reach 265 against Sri Lanka in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Colombo on Sunday. Rangana Herath took three for 36, as a total could have been bigger was thwarted by the Lankan spinners, who took wickets at regular intervals.
England were off to a terrible start, with Alex Hales attempting a drive off Dhammika Prasad first ball, only to see the outside edge go to the safe hands of Mahela Jayawardene at slip. Moeen Ali could only manage 19 runs, though he was batting well. He was drawn out of the crease by Tillakaratne Dilshan and edged behind to Kumar Sangakkara, who also had the stumps out in a flash to get Moeen out in two different ways off the same delivery.
That brought in Joe Root to join Taylor — who had come in to bat at No. 3 — and the pair steadied England’s ship. The pair put on 93 runs in good time to put England on top. Taylor started slowly, but soon got into his stride and played some attractive shots. One six stood out in particular: stepping out off Thisara Perera, he played something of a short-arm pull to send the ball over long-on. At the other end Root continued his form from the last game, hitting just one four and one six, but running well between the wickets.
Root was knocked over by the wile and guile of Herath, who pushed one through quickly and beat the attempted drive to upset Root’s stumps. Ravi Bopara and Taylor then added a crucial 48 before Taylor, cramping due to the heat and humidity, played a tired lofted shot that was caught at covers. Bopara was bowled by one that kept low in the very next over, as England’s charge was derailed during the batting Powerplay.
Eoin Morgan’s excellent half-century and Jos Buttler’s late strikes toward the end of the innings boosted the total past 260, but regular wickets kept pegging England back. Herath and Ajantha Mendis took three wickets apiece as England, after looking set for a huge total, huffed and puffed to a middling score.
Earlier, England won the toss and elected to bat first. James Taylor got to play only his third ODI at the cost of the suspended Alastair Cook, who had to miss out due to a slow over rate in the last game, while James Tredwell continued to miss out. Jayawardene came back into the side after missing the last game due to personal reasons.
Brief scores:
England 265 in 50 overs (James Taylor 90, Eoin Morgan 62; Rangana Herath 3 for 36, Ajantha Mendis 3 for 56) vs Sri Lanka.
