Kusal Mendis and Dinuth Wellalage spearhead Sri Lanka’s first game win over England BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE (eLanka Sports Editor)
Kusal Mendis anchored Sri Lanka’s batting and the spinners aided by pacemen Pramod Madushan and Asitha Fernando paved the way for Sri Lanka’s 19-run win over England in the first one-dayer at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Mendis was subdued but controlled in his superb unbeaten knock of 93 off 117 balls, as Sri Lanka negotiated a par total of 271 for 6 in their allotment before containing England’s batters, before bowling them out 19 runs short of the target.
Former Sri Lanka Under-19 skipper Dinuth Wellalage starred with an allround effort , scoring a quickfire 25 off 12 balls, then grabbing two wickets for 41, to not just cement his place in the side, but also earned him the Player-of-the-match award in game one of the three-match series.
Sri Lanka’s one-day form in the recent past has been promising, so the win over the Englishmen came as no surprise.
England’s recent disastrous Ashes tour in Australia, has certainly shaken them up and dented more than their pride as the struggle to reassert their perceived dominance till now.
The next two games will indicate if they are able to claw their way back and be a force to be reckoned with in the T20 World Cup that follows the Sri Lankan tour.
They’ve got three T20 games against the Lankans to turn things around before heading to India to launch their campaign. They have no games in Sri Lanka in the limited fixtures the Island nation will host and the wickets in India will be slightly different.
Sri Lanka will dwell on the sudden inconsistency of opening batter Pathum Nissanka whose recent form slump by his lofty standards is worrying. But he should hopefully regain it when it matters in the World Cup that follows at home.
When on song, Nissanka is a delight to watch. Up the order with consistent Kusal Mendis, they form a potent top order combination in world cricket.
Batting first, Nissanka and Kamil Mishara posted a 50 opening stand at a reasonable rate before Nissanka fell to England paceman Sam Curran.
Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter until Mendis and emerging batter Janith Liyanage 46 off 53 balls put together an important 48 run liaison fir the 6th wicket.
Mendis then had support from young Wellalage who smashed 25 off 12 deliveries as tge pushed the total to a defendable 271 for 6.
England began their chase losing Zac Crawley early with the total on 12.
But Ben Duckett and seasoned Joe Root set the target back on course with a 127-run stand for the second wicket raising hopes of an important start to the tour.
But speedster Madushan, was well supported by Sri Lanka’s spinners led by Dinuth Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay who both grabbed two wickets each supported by skipper Charith Asalanka as they stifled England with their guile to pull off an important win.
What Sri Lanka needs to establish right now is consistency in the batting if they plan to create an impression. Their bowlers are in great nick and are capable of containing the best batters in the world.
Apart from Mendis and Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, recalled Sadeera Samarawickrema, skipper Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage and the all-rounders in the side have got to contribute to the cause, especially if there is a top order collapse. This has sadly not been forthcoming in their recent past, and contributes to the lack of success.
As ciach Sanath Jayasuriya makes way for his successor after the T20 World Cup, the progression plan at this stage is only known to the controlling body. Most fans will be keen to know what plan B reveals.
