Jason Roy smashed a blistering 162-run knock to help England beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (DLS) in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) and seal series 3-0. In a rain-affected encounter, Sri Lanka posted 305 for 5 in 42 overs on a pitch that offered very little to the bowlers. Given the clouds were looming over London’s Kennington Oval, England captain Eoin Morgan invited Sri Lanka to bat first. The decision gradually turned in the visitors’ favour, as Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis stitched a 128-run stand for the third wicket and put Sri Lanka in a commanding position. England bowlers, on the other hand, tried many variations but failed to contain the onslaught. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: England vs Sri Lanka 2016, 4th ODI match at London
To make matters worse for the hosts, star batsman Dinesh Chandimal and captain Angelo Mathews scored stunning half-centuries and helped the islanders post 305 on the scoreboard. In the pursuit of defending a mammoth total, Nuwan Pradeep made early inroads by dismissing the belligerent Moeen Ali in the third over. However, the duo of Jason Roy and Joe Root made sure they don’t bog down, and took the Sri Lankan bowlers to the cleaners. Root churned out 65 runs before he top-edged a length ball to fine leg.
Roy, on the other end, continued the rampage and brought up his second hundred of the series in just 74 balls. Captain Morgan and Jonny Bairstow complemented the young Roy and kept the scoreboard ticking. Read – BAN vs ENG 2016: ENG to play 3 warm-up ties
Eventually, Roy went on to score 162 runs off just 118 balls, which is the second highest individual score by an English batsman in ODI. This blistering innings of his was studded with 13 fours and 3 sixes.
Despite losing the in-form Roy, Bairstow and Jos Buttler went full blast and achieved the target with 11 balls remaining, to register England’s second highest successful run-chase in ODIs.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 305 for 5 in 42 overs (Kusal Mendis 77, Angelo Mathews 67*; Nuwan Pradeep 2 for 78, Danushka Gunathilakha 1 for 30) lost to England 309 for 4 in 40.1 overs (Jason Roy 162, Joe Root 65; David Willey 2 for 58, Adil Rashid 2 for 57) by 6 wickets via Duckworth-Lewis Method.
(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)
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