The Sri Lankan team is back
at home now and they are slowly starting to play the kind of cricket for which
they are known. They won the second game on the bounce against England in
Colombo and took a lead of 2-0 in the ODI series. The last series that Sri
Lanka had played in India, it was a complete embarrassment for them as they
lost all the matches and the margins with which they were beaten, to be very
fair; they looked a minnow team. They were very, very ordinary, but, as soon as
they have got onto their home soil, there’s lift in their game.
The Sri Lankans had batted
first in the previous game against England and had put on a huge score of 317.
But, they were not lucky with the toss yesterday. The fall of the coin was
against them and they had to bowl first. Two part time bowlers shared the new
ball for Sri Lanka out of which one was the captain himself i.e. Angelo
Mathews. It was a sort of unusual move, but, worked as a couple of wickets fell
in the power play with Dilshan dismissing both the openers in his first spell.
Root and Bopara played
fighting hands in the middle order, but, with a lot of damage being done up
front, a partnership of more than hundred was required which did not come.
England, however, got close to 200 and with the possibility of the ball moving
around a little bit under lights in the evening, the visitors were in the
game.
England, unlike the other
day, got the opening partnership of Sri Lanka split quite early as Finn sent
Kusal Perera back to the hut. Dilshan did not take too long to depart either,
but, thereafter, it was again that good, old pair of Sangakkara and Jayawardena
which took the responsibility and got Sri Lanka over the line.
