Published: May 25, 2014, 08:20 PM (IST)
Edited: May 25, 2014, 08:21 PM (IST)
By John Wardle
Chester Le Street: May 25, 2014
Tillakaratne Dilshan made a crucial contribution of 88 runs as Sri Lanka finished on 256-8 after being put in to bat for the second successive one-day international against England on Sunday.
Dilshan was involved in an intriguing battle at the start of the innings at Chester-le-Street with James Anderson, who was the pick of the England bowlers as he took two wickets, including his 250th in ODI cricket.
Ashan Priyanjan added an important 43 runs for the tourists and there were three wickets for Harry Gurney near the end of the innings.
It was not surprising that Eoin Morgan, captaining England in place of the injured Alastair Cook, decided to field when he won the toss.
Sri Lanka knew they would face an early examination from test from England’s seamers in the cloudy conditions.
Anderson, in particular, posed problems for the opening batsmen Dilshan and Lahiru Thirimanne and the latter faced 18 balls before finally getting off the mark.
Anderson claimed the wicket his excellent opening burst deserved when Thirimanne was caught at slip by James Tredwell after scoring only ten in nine overs.
Dilshan was in fine form, however, and after almost being run out in the 16th over went on to score his 35th half-century in ODI cricket.
Few of the previous 34 would have been quite as diligent and restrained, with his 50 coming after 63 balls and featuring only four boundaries.
It was invaluable for Sri Lanka, however, and his partnership with Kumar Sangakkara provided a solid foundation as they finally lifted the run rate above four an over nearly halfway through the innings.
The partnership added 96 runs before Sangakkara, who hit only two boundaries in his 40, hoisted a Tredwell delivery high into the air and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler took the catch.
The new batsman, Mahela Jayawardene, survived only eight deliveries before he was run out for two by an excellent throw from Gary Ballance.
By now, Anderson was back in the bowling attack, but the conditions were no longer as helpful and Dilshan was threatening to increase the run rate until Chris Jordan produced a superb delivery.
Dilshan was 12 short of a deserved century when Jordan, the star of England’s success in the opening encounter at The Oval, found movement off the pitch to hit the top of his off-stump. It was a delivery that could only enhance his prospects of a Test call-up this summer.
Priyanjan now emerged as the main threat to England. He struck two sixes from Tredwell’s final over after being dropped by Harry Gurney at third man in the previous over.
His partnership with Angelo Mathews reached 50 in 44 deliveries before Mathews again benefited from poor fielding when Ravi Bopara failed to take an easy catch at deep midwicket.
Bopara did succeed when Mathews offered another chance off the bowling of Harry Gurney, ending a fifth-wicket partnership of 66 at better than a run a ball.
Priyanjan soon followed him for 43 as a catch by Morgan gave Anderson is 250th wicket in ODI cricket, while Dinesh Chandimal and Nuwan Kulasekara soon followed.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka 256 for 8 in 50 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 88, Ashan Priyanjan 43; James Anderson 2 for 38, Harry Gurney 3 for 59) vs England.
