Published: Dec 07, 2014, 06:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 08, 2014, 11:15 AM (IST)
Dec 7, 2014
Kumar Sangakkara ensured Sri Lanka chased down England’s total without much of a stutter in the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Colombo on Sunday. Sangakkara’s 86 came off 105 deliveries, and in partnership first with Mahela Jayawardene and later Angelo Mathews, he laid the groundwork for an easy victory.
Sri Lanka’s chase started on a decent note, as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kusal Perera put on 28 in good time before Dilshan top-edged one to covers off Chris Woakes. Perera was the next man to be dismissed, edging Moeen Ali to slip for 31 to leave Sri Lanka at 69 for two in the 15th over.
However, that united Sri Lanka’s trusty duo of Sangakkara and Jayawardene, who proceeded to do what they have done innumerable times over the years. Neither man put a foot wrong in their 96-run alliance till Jayawardene inside-edged an attempted drive onto his stumps off Chris Jordan. By this point, Sri Lanka were well on their way to a comfortable victory.
Mathews, batting at his usual No. 5 spot, then put on 49 with Sangakkara before the latter was dismissed to a lazy shot. Jordan dropped one short, and Sangakkara looked to play a square drive over point but failed to clear the fielder. His 86 contained seven fours. Lahiru Thirimanne then came in and played a useful cameo. Though England took the match to the final over, the Lankans were never really in any trouble, and proceeded to go 3-1 up in the series.
Earlier, a career-best 90 from James Taylor helped England reach 265 after Rangana Herath took three for 36. 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 could only manage 19 runs, though he was batting well. He was drawn out of the crease by 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.
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, Dilshan, 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. 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) lost to Sri Lanka 267 for 4 in 49.3 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 86, Mahela Jayawardene 44; Chris Jordan 2 for 35) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Kumar Sangakkara
