England beat Sri Lanka by 18 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after another ODI was hit by rain
Here’s Ali Martin’s report from Pallekele - and with that, I’ll head off. Thanks for reading!
Related: Joe Root and Eoin Morgan clinch England series win amid Sri Lankan rain
Morgan says England will be “trying their nuts off” to win the final game of the series, but says they may make some changes to have a look at a few other players. That match is on Tuesday in Colombo.
There are some men with giant cardboard cheques stood in an empty room somewhere in the stadium, escaping from the lashing rain outside, and they’re desperate to hand them out to some of today’s players.
Dinesh Chandimal, the Sri Lanka captain, is first up - he talks about how many mistakes his team have been making, but accepts they they’re young and will learn. On Joe Root: “That’s our mistake, if it hadn’t been a no ball, we might have won this game.” He seems quite calm about it, but then I suppose it was his mistake so he might not want to go too hard on himself.
What have we learned from this series? Sri Lanka are in a bit of a mess. England are still a very good one-day side. Moeen Ali looks good on a turning pitch again. Players should maybe think about not having games of football as warm-ups. And it rains in Sri Lanka during monsoon season. Worth the effort, surely.
And that’s that! This match has been called off: England have beaten Sri Lanka by 18 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in the fourth one-day international in Kandy and have an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
So all four ODIs in this ludicrous series have been dramatically affected by rain and, though the ECB has defended its decision to tour Sri Lanka during monsoon season saying it had “very little wiggle room” in the calendar. They really do need to look at themselves. Given how much cricket is being played by international players these days, is it really in anybody’s interests to be sending them halfway across the world to watch it rain from hotel rooms and dressing rooms? Surely, this was an ideal opportunity to give a number of players a breather – Root, Bairstow, Buttler, Moeen and Rashid have played a lot of cricket, Woakes is just back from injury, Stokes had an enforced breather but surely a bit more rest isn’t going to do him too much harm.
Also, and while I acknowledge a number of people may be reaching for tiny violins at this point, there are the journalists and broadcasters to think about too. A number of them have been writing/talking solidly for almost exactly a year now - from the start of the Ashes (which followed a busy summer), through the tour to New Zealand, the Pakistan series, the odd Australia ODIs, the India series and now straight to Sri Lanka. It sounds a strange thing to complain about, as I’m aware many would kill for the job - but how many other jobs involve quite so much time away from home? It’s not as though Test series in the UK always allow journalists to return home each night. And next year, it gets even busier.
It has gone a bit better for Australia’s women against Pakistan than it did for the men’s team, where a century from captain Meg Lanning has spearheaded their 150-run ODI victory over Pakistan in, er, Malaysia. You can read all about here:
Related: Meg Lanning fires Australia to ODI series victory over Pakistan
Heavy claps of thunder, flashes of lightning, torrential rain and full covers across the ground suggest we’re not getting any more play today. But keep with us, we’ll update you if we do.
For those who may have missed it, Adam Collins wrote a fascinating piece earlier in the week about how he and his friend Geoff Lemon bought the broadcast rights to the Pakistan v Australia series when they noticed nobody else had picked up, then set about calling the series on a wing and a prayer ...
Related: From living-room commentary to buying radio rights for Australian Tests | Adam Collins
A strident email arrives from Abhijato Sensarma on the Sri Lanka error that reprieved Joe Root.
“What an atrocious mistake! The Sri Lankans were getting a free wicket off a soft shot and a terrible delivery, but they waste the opportunity because they have exceeded the limit of fielders. I know these mistakes happen sometimes, but getting a wicket off them puts a spotlight on the lack of awareness. I think that I am not overreacting when I say that the Sri Lankans have been unprofessional to say the least - misfields are the order of the day; eight runs off byes were given before the batsmen got off the mark today; dropping catches and missing run-out chances are seemingly written in their contracts. While the team is talented, their skills are not getting translated into results. Yes, there are administrative and selection problems, but their fielding blunders do not help them. As a person who admires the Sri Lankan cricketing spirit, their loss of form and professionalism has been a cause of worry for me and word cricket in general.”
It’s not just raining in Kandy, they’re building arks and pairing up animals two-by-two. This doesn’t look promising.
Meanwhile, it’s not cricket, but here’s an interesting piece you may have missed from earlier in the week:
Related: ‘It’s changed their lives’ – England amputee footballers target World Cup glory
While Scott Murray has coverage of Chelsea v Manchester United here as the Premier League returns
Related: Chelsea v Manchester United: Premier League – live!
While we wait for news on when or if play will restart, there’s much else going on. You can join Tony Paley and Greg Wood at Ascot for live horse racing from Champions Day here
Related: Champions Day: Cracksman, Roaring Lion and more at Ascot – live!
It’s absolutely sheeting it down but we do have a match, given the second innings has gone past 2o overs. England will win the match and the series if this doesn’t let up and they can will be pleased with their innings so far - well, perhaps Hales will have felt he could have done a bit more to impress on his return to the team. They’ve never looked under pressure, and Morgan’s calm assurance at the crease has been impressive.
That’s that - the covers are called on, with England at 132-2. DLS is 114, so England are well ahead.
27th over: England 132-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 31, Root 32) The crowd scatter for cover but they stay out on the field. De Silva must be tempted to bowl Root another full toss to see if he chips it up for another catch but elects for his more standard variations. Root works a single, before Morgan cubs a four to cow corner.
26th over: England 127-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 27, Root 31) Root flicks Malinga off his toes, before Morgan prods him off the back foot into the off side to bring up this pair’s 50 partnership. Morgan and Root know they don’t need to take any chances, given the state of the game, so aren’t to concerned when Malinga pins Morgan back with a series of short balls.
The ground staff are still hovering, the dark clouds still looming and the rain is apparently still imminent
25th over: England 124-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 26, Root 29) Dot, single, single, single, single, single as the batsmen milk De Silva. It leaves them needing 150 from 150 balls.
24th over: England 119-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 24, Root 26) Malinga returns as Chandimal searches for a (legitimate) wicket. He bowls an absolute ripper to Morgan, the ball flying up past the England captain’s nose as he struggled to get his bat out of the way. Three singles from the over.
Bad news – it’s very gloomy at the ground as dark rain clouds hover overhead. England are ahead on DL at the moment but a wicket would even things up
23nd over: England 116-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 23, Root 24) Root gets a hell of a let off. De Silva bowls a loose full toss, Root edges it straight up in the air to short fine leg, where it is pouched. But the square leg umpire has called a no ball. It can’t be for height, as the ball was barely above knee height, so it must be for the number of fielders in the ring. What a let off! What a howler from Sri Lanka! What a pie, frankly, from De Silva too - and Root would have been cursing if he’d got out to that.
22nd over: England 112-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 22, Root 22) Morgan’s calm, productive arrival has prompted Root to accelerate his slowish scoring - though not in this over. Dananjaya starts his seventh , and England will be delighted if they can see him off as he’s been the pick of the bowlers so far. As if to prove it, he gives up only two runs.
21st over: England 110-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 21, Root 21) De Silva replaces Aponso, who has bowled like a drain. As he does so, the ground staff trot out around the boundary with one eye on some looking dark clouds. De Silva gives up four singles in his first over. The DL par score is 96, so England are ahead if the rain arrives.
20th over: England 106-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 19, Root 19) England bring the 100 up with a tight two, with Rot hustling in that awkward stiff-backed way of his up and down the wicket. Dananjaya is mixing things up, finding flight, dropping in wrong ‘uns, varying length. Morgan’s not fussed, he pulls the spinner for four after the ball is dropped a touch short.
19th over: England 98-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 14, Root 16) Root reaches forward and scoops Aponso over his own and the keeper’s head for two. The shot is described as “very low risk” by the commentators, which tells you something about how cricket has changed. Morgan takes a more traditional route to the boundary, clubbing the spinner straight down the ground for six. A couple of singles mean 10 runs come from the over.
18th over: England 88-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 7, Root 13) Dananjaya continues, and Morgan whips out the reverse sweep, sending the ball past backwards point for four to with a series of singles.
“This series may not have been the best quality-wise, but it does feature some of the most lustrous stadiums in the world,” suggests O.B. Jato. “There is a unique feel to the Sri Lankan stadiums which lacks in the other subcontintal stadiums. Seeing the matches live must be a rewarding experience in Sri Lanka. The heat can be too much, the rain even more, but if play’s not held in the monsoon season, then the visitors are treated to good scenes. If Sri Lanka make a match out of this, it will be even more pleasant for those fans present at the stadium today.”
17th over: England 81-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 2, Root 11) Aponso, who was poor when he opened the bowling, returns and the England batsmen have no problem working him for a series of singles - five in total from the over. And that’s drinks.
16th over: England 76-2 (target: 274) (Morgan 0, Root 8) It was Dickwella who insisted that needed to be reviewed, and what a review it was - in truth, it was a poor decision not to give it. Dananjaya has bowled excellently and deserved that, and will be delighted to see Roy - who was looking solid - go. It brings in the left-handed Morgan, which brings the footmarks into play.
Dananjaya drops in a surprise leg spinner, which catches Roy in front of the stumps. The umpire doesn’t give it, but Sri Lanka review and the three red lights pop up.
15th over: England 74-1 (target: 274) (Roy 44, Root 7) Roy’s eyes light up when he sees a leg stump half volley, and he duly clips Rajitha to the boundary for four, then he takes advantage of a misfield for a single. Root works a single, then Roy clubs uppishly, but safely, through point. He’s 44 off 47 balls, with Root going at more of a Test pace at the moment (7 of 20)
14th over: England 67-1 (target: 274) (Roy 38, Root 6) The scoreboard continues to tick as Root and Roy pick Dananjaya off for singles - four of them, in fact, from the over.
13th over: England 63-1 (target: 274) (Roy 36, Root 4) England deal in singles for the first three balls of the over, with the third a little tight but made simpler by a wild throw. Root plays and misses at the fourth as Rajitha plays around with his angles, delivering from either wide of the crease or close to the stumps, before England take another comfortable single.
12th over: England 59-1 (target: 274) (Roy 34, Root 2) Dananjaya is getting some big turn, tweaking one into Roy’s pads to prompt an ambitious appeal from Sri Lanka. His third delivery turns so much it is called a wide, prompting a leg slip to sot into position. Roy milks him to long on
11th over: England 57-1 (target: 274) (Roy 33, Root 2) We’re into phase two of powerplay, and Roy angles Rajitha to third man for a single. Root follows suit, before Roy takes a more aerial route over the covers for another.
“Rain is lurking around the corner. There are showers predicted after 4.00 pm. Maybe there’s a case for the spinners to start the squeeze, restrict the runs, cause pressure and fall of wickets?” wonders Abhijato Sensarma. “Most importantly, it will help in keeping England behind the DL par score. And just as I type that, Dananjaya comes into the attack and takes a wicket! Come on Sri Lanka, as neutral fans, we desperately want you to win.”
10th over: England 54-1 (target: 274) (Roy 31, Root 1) Hard to judge how Hales did - he was still just taking a look, and hadn’t had time to accelerate. Still, it was a fiercely sharp piece of work behind the stumpt from Dickwella, a really rapid stumping. A good opening over from Danajaya that.
Time for mystery spin as Dananjaya comes into the attack, and Dickwella thinks he has Hales first ball. He appeals for a stumping, it’s referred and Hales’s has to go - his foot was just over the line.
9th over: England 52-0 (target: 274) (Roy 30, Hales 12) Some brilliant fielding by Shanaka at midwicket, diving to stop the ball one-handed, denies Roy four. He chips him a few balls later, for two, then punishes a short wide ball from Rajitha to bring England’s 50 up with a boundary.
8th over: England 44-0 (target: 274) (Roy 22, Hales 12) Undeterred by being clubbed for 13 in his last over, Aponso continues – and continues not to find any real turn. The footmarks aren’t helping him, given these two batsmen are right handers, so perhaps he’ll be more effective against the left handers. Roy has a wild hack, the ball blurting to midwicket, who shies at the bowler’s end and nearly has Hales struggling.
7th over: England 42-0 (target: 274) (Roy 21, Hales 11) Rajitha – tall, whippy, seam up – replaces Malinga, and Roy treats him with caution. He slips in a wide, but is otherwise very solid … until he allows Roy to drive him for four through mid on.
Hales in ODIs (with Roy in the Playing XI)
Innings - 50, Average - 42.2, Strike Rate - 98.1
Hales in ODIs (without Roy in the Playing XI)
Innings - 14, Average - 25.3, Strike Rate - 84.6.#SLvEng
6th over: England 37-0 (target: 274) (Roy 17, Hales 11) Roy has had enough of the dot balls too, thumping Aponso back over his head for a four, then a straight six. Hales is nearly caught out by some extra bounce, edging through gully, before he and Roy milk some singles
5th over: England 24-0 (target: 274) (Roy 5, Hales 10) Hales could be in danger of getting a bit bogged down. He defends the first couple of deliveries, then attempts a hoick to leg but mistimes the ball. A slow, dipping full toss nearly catches him out, before Malinga serves up the gift of a full wide one, allowing Hales to smear him to the point boundary.
4th over: England 20-0 (target: 274) (Roy 5, Hales 6) Hales is just taking a look at Aponso, not trying to hit him too hard, allowing the dot balls to mount up. He works the spinner to leg from the final ball of the over for a single.
3rd over: England 19-0 (target: 274) (Roy 5, Hales 5) Roy thinks he has four with the first ball of the over, but his back foot bludgeon is stopped by Shanaka at point. Malinga offers him width with the first two balls of the over before straightening his line but Roy cannot penetrate either the covers or the leg side field, Malinga is set to deliver a maiden before sliding one down the leg side for a wide.
“Sadly, I must disagree with your correspondent John Starbuck. I would like to see England score 274 without the loss of a wicket,” reckons Austin Baird. “It might not be for the good of the game as John says but it would do wonders for my Saturday.”
2nd over: England 18-0 (target: 274) (Roy 5, Hales 5) It’ll be spin to start at the other end, with Hales facing Aponso in his bat in the middle since August. He’s off the mark first ball with a push to long on. Roy follows suit, before Hales blocks the rest of the over - until gliding the final delivery through the covers for four.
1st over: England 12-0 (target: 274) (Roy 4, Hales 0) Malinga’s second ball shoots along the floor, beating Roy and wicketkeeper Dickwella for four byes. His third, skids through and takes off from a length, also beating Dickwella - leaping high into the air - for four byes. A peculiar way to get off the mark for England. Roy decides he ought to get bat on one, and swipes a wide-ish delivery off the back foot through the off side for four.
“One would hope for a Sri Lankan win here, to stop England getting too much above themselves and making them work harder, which is the best for the game,” Emails John Starbuck. “If the SL spinners justify themselves, England could struggle anyway.”
Alex Hales and Jason Roy wander out onto the pitch, with one in decent nick and the other ... who knows? Roy will face the first ball from Malinga.
While we wait for the second innings, here’s Ali Martin on what could be the future for England:
Related: Clare Connor and Nathan Leamon may vie to be ECB’s director of cricket
I wonder how much the run out of Shanaka may have an impact. He was so well set, you wonder whether he would have been worth another 20 runs to the Sri Lanka score - 20 runs that may have put this out of England’s reach. Thaat said, this will be a good contest from here.
A very decent score for Sri Lanka in the end, enough over par to be pretty competitive, after they hit 83 in the last 10 overs. That could well give England a decent test on a turning track. The sun is out, for perhaps the first time this series, and it’s hot enough to make batting uncomfortable, all of which could play into Sri Lanka’s hands - who may have a think about opening up with a spinner to give Alex Hales something to think about.
And with that, I shall hand over to Tom Bryant, who will take you through the England chase. Direct your emails to Tom.Bryant@theGuardian.com, or tweets to @TomBry.
That’s a decent effort from Sri Lanka considering the position they were in at one stage. Instinctively you’d say England will be able to chase it down, but without one of their better players of spin in Bairstow, on a track which has taken plenty of turn and hasn’t been especially easy to score on, it won’t be straightforward.
50th over: Sri Lanka 273-7 (Akila 32, Malinga 4) The old boy Malinga is in to swing from his toes from the last ball...but it’s not quite the last ball as Woakes bowls a big wide. Then it’s actually the last ball, and Malinga connects, sending a nicely-timed drive wide of long-off to close the innings with a boundary.
Final over, and Akila takes ten from the first two balls, to different parts of the leg side: the first a six boomed over wide long-on, the second a four between fine and deep backward square leg. Woakes then smartly goes for an offside wide full one, which he can’t reach. A dug-out single, then Perera tries to go large but only gets to Stokes on the mid-wicket boundary, and his traction engine of an arm cuts a labouring Perera out as he tries to come back for a second.
49th over: Sri Lanka 256-6 (Perera 43, Akila 21) Curran in again. Slightly surprising Stokes has (and probably now will) only bowl four overs: he’s been a touch expensive, but surely worth more of a go. Still, Curran frustrates the batsmen with his diet of variations and slower balls, until the fourth ball of the over, a shorter one that Akila plays a pretty ugly shot to, but cross-bats it over wide mid-off and to the boundary. Singles, then two from the final ball of the over as Perera flicks one off his toes. Decent penultimate over.
48th over: Sri Lanka 246-6 (Perera 39, Akila 15) Here’s Woakes, round the wicket to these two lefties. Akila throws plenty at one outside off stump and it skews up in the air, but lands just short of Stone at third man. Five other singles from the over, plenty of full balls and variations from Woakes.
47th over: Sri Lanka 240-6 (Perera 36, Akila 12) Moeen lets a push to point bobble through his legs, turning one into two: England’s fielding has been uncharacteristically a bit ragged today. Perera takes those fielders out of the equation by hitting a lovely, flowing, whipped shot off his shins, way over fine-leg for six.
46th over: Sri Lanka 229-6 (Perera 30, Akila 8) Perera tries to flay a wide one from Stone over point, but doesn’t time it and picks up two where he might have got double that. Akila chips over wide mid-wicket but again only for two: all well and good, but Sri Lanka could do with some boundaries - none since that assualt by Shanaka at the back end of the 42nd over.
45th over: Sri Lanka 223-6 (Perera 27, Akila 5) Akila plays a weird shot, trying to ramp a slow bouncer over the keeper, but it ends up nearer fine leg, and it has enough pace only for a single. There are four more, less interesting singles from the over, and a near run-out as Morgan goes whisker close with a throw from the covers.
44th over: Sri Lanka 218-6 (Perera 24, Akila 3) Perera puts one straight up in the air, but it lands exactly - but exactly - in the middle of three converging fielders. Hales then throws the ball in to nobody, but Sri Lanka miss out on an overthrow because Perera was dozing/contemplating the enormity of existence. Morgan gives away a single with some careless fielding at point. Not the best cricket in that over, all told.
43rd over: Sri Lanka 213-6 (Perera 22, Akila 0) A proper kick in the pants that. If Shanaka had stayed in Sri Lanka would have been looking at high 200s, but now...
Oh boy. Just as Shanaka was starting to loosen his shoulders, some brainless running sees him gone. And it was his fault too, charging up the track after Perera hit a leading edge more or less straight to Morgan in the covers. The England skipper flips the ball to Woakes, who throws down the stumps and Shanaka is a foot or so short trying to get back. He just seemed incredibly slow to hear the screamed “NO” shout from Perera.
42nd over: Sri Lanka 212-5 (Shanaka 66, Perera 21) Stone is here for his first bowl since the eighth over. He starts with a wide down leg, then sends another the same route. Perera goes for a big drive but only gets a thick edge down to third man for a single. Then Shanaka throws the sink, the dishwasher, the waste disposal unit, fridge and anything else he can find from the kitchen at a length ball, sending it way over cow corner. After a third wide of the over, Shanaka takes him deep again, this time straight. 17 runs from a nine ball over: exactly what Sri Lanka need, but file under ‘not ideal’ for England.
41st over: Sri Lanka 195-5 (Shanaka 53, Perera 20) Woakes in again. Perera tries to open his arms and go for the big inside-out shot over the covers, but doesn’t get all of it and it just drops safe with Olly Stone in the postcode. Buttler drops one after Perera wafts outside off: don’t think there was an edge there, but chances are Woakes would be too polite to mention it if there was.
40th over: Sri Lanka 190-5 (Shanaka 51, Perera 17) And there’s another, Shanaka jumping all over a short one from Stokes and slapping it with extreme prejudice to the square leg fence. Then after a couple of plays-and-misses, he goes to 50 by battering a cover drive just wide of mid-off.
39th over: Sri Lanka 181-5 (Shanaka 42, Perera 17) Bowling change, and it’s Chris Woakes back with the ball. Shanaka takes a step or two down the pitch, waits for the slower ball and with a lovely flourish and dainty flick of his back leg, whacks the ball wide of mid-off and to the boundary. He’s batted well, but again having taken 53 balls for his 42 runs, he’ll need plenty more of those shots to justify the time taken over setting the base.
38th over: Sri Lanka 175-5 (Shanaka 37, Perera 16) Perera absolutely nails a back-of-a-length ball from Stokes, middling a cross-batter straight back down the pitch, a shot that would have brained umpire Lyndon Hannibal had he not ducked at just the right time. A slower ball slips out of Stokes’s hand a little, but Perera can’t take full advantage of the full toss.
37th over: Sri Lanka 166-5 (Shanaka 36, Perera 8) Shanaka scandalises anyone with Victorian sensibilities, as either by accident or design his left trouser leg is scrunched up behind his pad, EXPOSING his calf muscle. Someone fan me down, all this flesh on display. The cricket action isn’t nearly as thrilling in that over, just three singles coming from it.
36th over: Sri Lanka 163-5 (Shanaka 35, Perera 6) Stokes doesn’t escape the wide call this time, one really no higher than the ball in his last over getting the airplane arms. Then a classic overcorrection, going straight and full but too full, Perera flicking the half-volley between mid-wicket and mid-on, to the boundary.
35th over: Sri Lanka 156-5 (Shanaka 34, Perera 1) Despite comfortably taking that catch, Buttler has been having some problems with his left hand. Could just be the large amounts of taping keepers tend to have, could be some pain in his thumb, but this is the second time in the last half hour or so he’s removed his glove for some attention. Still, he’s all taped up and ready to go now. Last time out Perera smacked his first ball up in the air, but on this occasion rather more sensibly takes a single off his hip.
Curran drifts onto De Silva’s pads and he duly flicks a boundary down to the fine-leg boundary, but that’s a brief moment of batting satisfaction. He plays a profoundly odd shot, shuffling down the pitch before realising the ball wasn’t as full as he would’ve liked, but reacts by just absently jabbing at it. The feather edge carries through to Buttler.
34th over: Sri Lanka 150-4 (De Silva 13, Shanaka 33) Here’s Ben Stokes, on point straight away with a short one that hops up and Shanaka just avoids edging. Then he gets away with an even shorter one, high and down leg side, not called a wide for reasons passing understanding. Shanaka breaks a run of 13 balls without a run by dabbing carefully to third man for a single, De Silva pushes another out to the sweeper but that’s still only three runs from the last three overs. Easier said, etc and so forth, but they need to get a wriggle on.
33rd over: Sri Lanka 148-4 (De Silva 12, Shanaka 32) Deciding not to score runs off Rashid’s final over is fine, but it does mean Sri Lanka have to give the quicks some tap. Easier said than done when Curran is keeping things tight: that’s a maiden, which in the 33rd over of a limited overs game in 2018 is...unusual.
32nd over: Sri Lanka 148-4 (De Silva 12, Shanaka 32) Here’s Rashid in for his final over. And the batsman just look like they want it out of the way, barely playing a shot so there’s a only a single from it. Rashid ends with 10-0-36-1.
31st over: Sri Lanka 147-4 (De Silva 11, Shanaka 32) Back to pace for England now, and it’s Tom Curran. Interesting that Stokes hasn’t bowled yet: Morgan may well be saving him for the last overs now that he only has one frontline spin over left. Morgan nips round from cover and throws the stumps down as they go for a quick single, but De Silva was in fairly comfortably. After a loose first two, that’s a tight comeback over from Curran, only two runs from it.
30th over: Sri Lanka 145-4 (De Silva 10, Shanaka 31) Shanaka goes BIG off Rashid, a top-edged slog-sweep going high in the air. Hales is underneath it, but misjudges his feet: he stopped a couple of steps before the boundary, not realising he had more room, the ball bursts through his hands and over the rope for six. Had he taken one or two steps back, which he had room for, he might well have taken a comfortable catch.
29th over: Sri Lanka 138-4 (De Silva 10, Shanaka 24) Mo is bowling through, he begins his final over, which is a bit ragged, featuring two legside wides. Still, not as ragged as my attempt to complete the ostensibly straightforward task of drinking tea: my plain blue t-shirt is now no longer plain. Mo ends with 10-0-55-2. Solid stuff.
28th over: Sri Lanka 131-4 (De Silva 7, Shanaka 22) Rashid on for his eighth over, and he succeeds in stemming this nascent assault, keeping Sri Lanka to a pair of singles.
it's now an episode of Challenge Shanaka
27th over: Sri Lanka 129-4 (De Silva 6, Shanaka 21) Sri Lanka getting on with it now: De Silva cuts nicely to the cover fence for a boundary, then if Shanaka nailed that six in the last over, he nails this one, waaaaaaaay over cow corner. 12 from the over, and these two have decided that messing around is not an option.
26th over: Sri Lanka 117-4 (De Silva 1, Shanaka 14) Bosh! Shanaka shifts his left leg out of the way and launches one over mid-on, dropping just over the ropes for the first six of the innings. Maybe he’s going for a death or glory approach. It’s nearly death next up, as a running mix-up leaves De Silva stranded, and only a bad throw from Buttler to the bowler’s end saves them from a comical run-out.
25th over: Sri Lanka 110-4 (De Silva 1, Shanaka 7) Turn all over the shop here, but Shanaka gets himself four runs with a beautifully executed reverse sweep, zooting through third man to the boundary. These two have bowled 14 overs on the bounce now.
24th over: Sri Lanka 103-4 (De Silva 0, Shanaka 1) Rashid greets Shanaka with an absolutely sensational leg break, the sort the batsman just has to shove his bat at, close his eyes and hope for the best. The best in this case was the ball turning safely past the outside edge.
House of cards time now: the collapse is on. Mendis goes back to a length ball from Rashid, it strikes him in front of middle-leg and the finger goes up. Could have been a bit high but the review was burned three balls earlier, and Mendis has to slink off.
23rd over: Sri Lanka 102-3 (Mendis 5, De Silva 0) Oh mercy! De Silva, for reasons best known to him, decides to dance down the track to his first ball, runs past it but Buttler drops the ball and can’t complete a simple stumping.
That actually hit Dickwella on the elbow, but that still counts. The review suggests the ball was heading for the top of middle, and Dickwella is gone.
Dickwella goes for the sweep again, misses, and it looks very lbw. Only doubt might be how far he was down the pitch when struck. He goes upstairs just in case...
22nd over: Sri Lanka 100-2 (Dickwella 51, Mendis 4) Sun! There’s sun! It’s sunny! First time we’ve seen that for a while. Mendis looks slightly less nervous, but only slightly, keeping out Rashid semi-confidently. Dickwella brings up Sri Lanka’s 100 with - ho! What’s this? - a sweep.
21st over: Sri Lanka 98-2 (Dickwella 50, Mendis 3) More sweeps, both reverse and conventional, from Dickwella, bringing him two then one. Cat On A Hot Tin Mendis gets himself away from strike, then another sweep means 50 for Dickwella. Solid innings so far, but not at great pace: he’ll need to kick on to make this foundation count.
20th over: Sri Lanka 92-2 (Dickwella 46, Mendis 1) Dickwella looks hugely fond of a sweep: he gets two singles with top-edges from that shot. An extremely skittish Mendis manages to get off the mark with a drive down to long-off, but he’s jumping around the crease like a man who hasn’t slept in two days and has just nailed seven espressos.
19th over: Sri Lanka 89-2 (Dickwella 44, Mendis 0) Kusal Mendis is the new man, and to say he needs a score is a flamboyant understatement. A quite literal statement too: he hasn’t notched a single run in his last three ODIs, lasting a total of four deliveries. The home crowd do wonders for his confidence by heartily cheering as he survives his first ball.
Just as I was typing that these two are batting very nicely, Chandimal comes down the track, is stitched up royally in the flight, misses his big drive and slouches off after the ball thunks into off stump.
18th over: Sri Lanka 85-1 (Dickwella 43, Chandimal 30) Rashid gets down on his knees, beggin’ the umpire please give lbw against Dickwella. Understandably too: that was heading straight for middle stump, but hit the pad a touch outside the line of off. Chandimal flips himself around to try an extravagant switch-hit but looks massively awkward, like a drunk crab, and only gets a single. Dickwella then gets four via more conventional methods by stepping down the track and launching Rashid over mid-off for four.
17th over: Sri Lanka 79-1 (Dickwella 38, Chandimal 29) Smashing delivery from Mo, nice flight, nice bounce, nice turn past Dickwella’s edge and Buttler whips off the bails: they go upstairs to check the stumping, but despite the opener having toppled forward a touch, his foot remained grounded behind the line for the appropriate period. Dickwella tries a big reverse sweep, completely misses but the ball flicks off his knee and skips down to the fine leg boundary, which Morgan can’t quite stop is reaching. And that’s drinks.
16th over: Sri Lanka 73-1 (Dickwella 37, Chandimal 28) There’s lengthy discussion of Rashid’s variation on the commentary, but he a near-perfect leg-spinner - middle and leg, turn away, and it gets just enough of the edge for the batsman to be safe. These two haven’t exactly looked in huge peril, but equally they haven’t scored a boundary since the first ball of the tenth over.
15th over: Sri Lanka 69-1 (Dickwella 34, Chandimal 27) Dickwella goes for another hard sweep: the frequency of that shot, off Moeen in particular, suggests the batsman trust the bounce on this pitch. Moeen gets one to turn too far, the ball zipping down leg for a wide. Incidentally, if you fancy chipping in with some correspondence, the email is Nick.Miller.casual@theGuardian.com, and the Twitter is @NickMiller79.
14th over: Sri Lanka 62-1 (Dickwella 31, Chandimal 24) Here is Adil Rashid, replacing Curran. He mixes up his pace, flight and spin, and delivers a drum tight over for just the three runs.
13th over: Sri Lanka 59-1 (Dickwella 30, Chandimal 22) Stokes is extremely fine at slip to Moeen (when Chandimal is on strike anyway), to the point where you wonder if it’s a little pointless. If any edges that thin make it to him, he’ll be obscured by the wicketkeeper. Anyway, five singles taken from the over.
12th over: Sri Lanka 54-1 (Dickwella 28, Chandimal 19) Curran not quite on it so far: his pace looks friendly, and his line hasn’t been consistent. Sri Lanka don’t exactly take him to the cleaners, but they do collect seven quite simple runs from the over.
11th over: Sri Lanka 47-1 (Dickwella 24, Chandimal 16) Double bowling change, as Mo replaces Woakes. Dickwella decides the sweep is the way to go, but misses with a lap first from one that rips a mile, then top-edges (just safe) second. Mo has a big lbw shout to Chandimal that looks extremely close, but might have hit the batsman a shade outside the line of off stump.
10th over: Sri Lanka 44-1 (Dickwella 23, Chandimal 14) A bowling change, Tom Curran replacing Stone, and Chandimal spanks his loosener to the cover boundary. A two to third man and a single, and that’s a productive over for Sri Lanka from a so-so first set from Curran. As an aside, where Sri Lanka haven’t a single century in 2018, England have 13.
9th over: Sri Lanka 37-1 (Dickwella 23, Chandimal 7) More good lines from Woakes, just three singles from the over, one via a thick outside edge. On the commentary, Mahela Jayawardene points out that no Sri Lankan batsman has an ODI century this year. Which is pretty grim.
8th over: Sri Lanka 34-1 (Dickwella 22, Chandimal 5) Better areas from Stone, who pints Chandimal back with a nice tight line and one very well directed short one. After a single the last ball spoils things slightly, Dickwella picking up four with a nice on-drive, despite the best efforts of a scrambling Dilly Rashid.
7th over: Sri Lanka 29-1 (Dickwella 18, Chandimal 4) Dickwella has a look at Woakes’s figures and takes matters into his own hands, striding down the pitch and flicking the ball delightfully over mid-wicket and to the boundary. That’s more like it: a bit of gumption and positive intent. Alas, he reasons one big shot is quite enough attacking for the over, and carefully dabs away the rest of the over.
6th over: Sri Lanka 25-1 (Dickwella 14, Chandimal 4) Stone invites Chandimal to get his innings going in most polite fashion, a very ropey leg stump half-volley flicked gratefully to the mid-wicket boundary. Some decent pace from Stone but the direction is a bit off, a point emphasised by a leg-side wide. Woakes has conceded a single run in each of his three overs, while Stone’s figures currently read 3-0-17-0.
5th over: Sri Lanka 19-1 (Dickwella 13, Chandimal 0) Skip’s in, and Dinesh Chandimal could do with injecting a little purpose into this innings so far. Early days, but they’ll get nowhere if they continue to bat like Samarawickrama did. Woakes goes nice and full to Chandimal for the remainder of the over, and there are no further runs.
Woakes continues, under what looks like thinning cloud, but that doesn’t help Samarawickrama who plays a poor shot to one outside off stump, jabbing at it rather pointlessly. Pointlessly for him: England are delighted as he edges and gives Buttler catching practice.
4th over: Sri Lanka 18-0 (Dickwella 12, Samarawickrama 1) While Woakes has been clean as a whistle, Stone has been a bit all over the place: he sends down successive deliveries, one short and wide that Dickwella batters to the wide third man boundary, and one much tighter that moves in just a little, and cuts the batsman in half.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 13-0 (Dickwella 7, Samarawickrama 1) A run for Samarawickrama, shoved into the covers and they dash through for one, just surviving a rapid throw from Morgan. Only one more from a Woakes over as tidy as the room of a child told to clean up otherwise there’s no Fortnite for a week.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 11-0 (Dickwella 7, Samarawickrama 0) It’s young Oliver Stone from the other end, and his first ball is back and to the left (of Dickwella’s bat), beating his edge. He takes a couple with a nudge through the platoon of fielders in the mid-wicket region, then gets four with a brilliant shot from a short ball, ramping the thing way over the wicketkeeper’s head and it bounces just before the ropes. And then, another boundary, flicked off the hip and it goes fine to the boundary for leg-byes, despite the best efforts of Curran. A natural born killer (of wayward deliveries).
1st over: Sri Lanka 1-0 (Dickwella 1, Samarawickrama 0) Woakes gets Dickwella groping at one that moves away just so. The batsman does the universally recognised face/intake of breath for ‘that boiler needs replacing, it’ll cost you mate/good ball, bowler sir.’ Sri Lanka get off the mark with a beautifully timed drive that Morgan dives superbly to his left to stop. Just the one run from a tidy over.
The teams are out: Niroshan Dickwella and Sadeera Samarawickrama will open the batting, and looks like Chris Woakes has the ball for England.
Despite the start time being listed as 5.30 BST (10am local), it looks like they’re about to get underway in a few minutes. Get all the cricket in they can in a rare window when it’s not raining. Seems shrewd.
The good news is it’s dry out in Kandy. For now. But the forecast looks extremely grim. So let’s enjoy the cricket while we can, eh? Very humid though, so Eoin Morgan’s decision to bowl first isn’t a surprise.
A change apiece then: as expected, Jonny Bairstow misses out thanks to a ankle banjaxing suffered while playing football (causing significant huffing from people who like to huff about these things), so Alex Hales comes in. For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Pradeep is replaced by Kasun Rajitha.
Dickwella, Samarawickrama, Mendis, Chandimal, de Silva, Perera, Shanaka, Dananjaya, Rajitha, Aponso, Malinga
...and will bowl.
There’s a certainty to this England team at the moment. And really has been for the last couple of years. The days have long since gone when there was a resignation that things were just going to go wrong. Now, you simply don’t expect England to lose many ODIs. Since the 2015 World Cup England have completed 71 ODIs, and they’ve won 50 of them, with 20 defeats and one tie. They’re really, really, really good.
Still feels a bit weird. Sri Lanka on the other hand are in flux, a few talented cricketers in their team who seem keen to sabotage themselves. Kusal Mendis is a prime example, a batsman with quality but who has three ducks in a row now and might well find himself out of the team for this one.
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