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England take lead in Sri Lanka ODI series

Captain Eoin Morgan's 92 has given England a win over Sri Lanka under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in a rain-hit second one-day international in Dambulla.

Eoin Morgan

Eoin Morgan's 92 has given England victory over Sri Lanka in a rain-hit 2nd one-day international. (AAP)

Eoin Morgan has paved the way for a comfortable England victory over Sri Lanka with a captain's innings of 92 in the second one-day international in Dambulla.

The series opener was washed out and, although heavy rain again forced a premature end at Ranjiri Stadium, the tourists won by 31 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.

Olly Stone will remember his debut fondly, with a rapid spell of fast bowling and taking his first international scalp with a bouncer that left Niroshan Dickwella flailing.

England's 9-278, built around Morgan and Joe Root's 71, proved plenty despite a nostalgic spell from Lasith Malinga.

The 35-year-old rolled back the years to claim 5-44 but England seamer Chris Woakes also took three quick wickets that left the reply in tatters.

After being sent in, England suffered their first setback before a run had been scored, Jason Roy turning Malinga's fourth ball to mid-wicket.

Jonny Bairstow and Root put on a stand of 72. Root clipped five of his first 15 deliveries to the boundary including three in a row from Malinga.

Bairstow never quite found his feet. The opener became only the sixth Englishman to score 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year but, when he lost his off stump to Thisara Perera, it was no great surprise.

Root, already dropped on 48, had begun to tire when he chipped Dhananjaya de Silva to cover via a leading edge - 309 runs and four games since his last dismissal.

Morgan put the pressure back on Sri Lanka and an 11th century was calling when Malinga intervened, drawing a mis-hit and gathering the return catch.

Malinga's trademark yorkers went on to account for Moeen Ali, Woakes and Liam Dawson as Sri Lanka battled back to take 5-69 in the last 10 overs.

Hopes evaporated almost instantly as their experienced top order were blown away.

Woakes started finding edges, Upul Tharanga and Dasun Shanaka nicking behind and captain Dinesh Chandimal playing on.

The contest was effectively lost at 4-31 and, although Thisara (44no) led a middle-order revival, their 29-over score of 5-140 was nowhere near enough when the rain came.

"Sri Lanka came back beautifully and we got just above a par score," Morgan said.

"We'll take a win, we've done enough to get one."


3 min read

Published

Source: AAP


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