England outsmart Sri Lanka with a tactical master-class performance to grab game two.Joe Root continues his dominance over spin.
BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports Editor).
Sri Lanka’s first game euphoric celebration dissipated as quickly as it started when England turned in a carefully planned counter attack to take game two and level the one-day series at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s domination in this format at home, suffered a demoralising setback when they chose to bat first, but were corralled by some disciplined and crafty bowling by the English attack to keep them to an under par 219 all out in 49.3 overs.
The effort by the bowlers led by paceman Steve Overton and backed by the spinners, paved the way for England’s batters to chase down the target with ease setting the game three decider with plenty of questions over the host teams batting woes and inconsistency.
Kamil Mishara, Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis, squandered any early opportunity to put the Englishmen on the backfoot putting pressure on the middle order and tailenders to give them a defendable total which as usual was mediocre, underlining the Sri Lankans lack of batting depth.
Sri Lanka’s woeful batting has some serious issues of pre planning and batting strategy against the opposition, and their inability to counter a two- paced wicket offered at R. Premadasa with England’s mostly clever pace off bowling.
This was highlighted by Dhananjaya de Silva in his post match comments which clearly cast a shadow and suggested they did not have contingency plans for all possibilities.
All of the above should not in any way devalue the clever planning and maximum use by England’s coaches who trumped the home team in their backyard.
After Sri Lanka’s mediocre effort with the bat, England veteran Joe Root continued to underline his dominance of spin as he produced another match winning effort that steered the Englishmen to a stirring win.
Root top scored with a dominant 75 off 90 balls and then grabbed 2 for 13 with his gentle off spin to grab the Player-of-the-match award.
In slow, low turning conditions, Root has shown better temperament with his experience in unfamiliar territory.
Sri Lanka chose to bat and list Mishara with the total on 16 and things did not get better when Nissanka who was looking comfortable departed followed closely by Mendis was brilliantly run out at to have them 3 for 68.
Dhananjaya de Silva and skipper Charith Asalanka then got about staging a rescue effort of sorts with a fifth wicket stand that yielded 66 before being parted.
But at 6 for 179, the wheels fell off the Sri Lankan charge as they lost wickets at regular intervals limping to 219 all out with 3 balls remaining.
England’s chase was as less flattering losing their furst wicket for 20. But Ben Duckett and Joe Root steadied the ship with a 68 run stand .
This was followed by 81 between Root and skipper Harry Brooke, 42 off 75 balls and England closed out the game when Jis Buttler joined the party with a quickfire 33 off 21 to complete Sri Lanka’s demise.
England coasted to the target making 223 for five off 46.2 overs with 24 balls to spare.
The wicket at R. Premadasa Stadium has shown what is possible and has a clear suggestion of what a par total looks like.
But negotiating it on a similar surface calls for strategisising to outdo the opposition. England has done that better in game two.
