Sri Lanka’s England tour starts off with a shocker.
Dominant England thrash visitors by 119 in Southampton.
BY TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE. (eLanka Sports Editor).
England gave Sri Lanka a T20 cricketing lesson in a comprehensive 119 thrashing at Southampton.
Harry Brooke 114 off only 49 balls and Jos Buttler 80 off 44 balls smashed their way to a whirlwind 159-run second wicket stand after Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka invited them to bat first. England were off to a flyer going at 15 runs an over before spinner Dinuth Wellalage broke the momentum removing opener Aneurin Donald for 12.
It opened the floodgates for a merciless onslaught by Buttler and Brooks who showed scant respect for all but Wannindu Hasarsnga who was the only bowler to gain some respect by conceding less tha 10 runs an over in his quota.
After the Brooks- Buttler fireworks, Sri Lanka’s bowlers toiled in vain as England amassed 254 for 4 wickets which proved to be unsurmountable.
Sri Lanka in contrast had almost no answer to England’s bowlers who combined with wonderful pace and spin variation to skittle them out for a mere 135 in 19 overs. All of England’s bowlers found success against tentative Sri Lanka batters.
Only Dinuth Wellalage 33 off 21 balls and Dasun Shanaka 24 off 14 showed a glimpse of fight as the rest contributed little towards the carnage.
They were never in the chase as wickets fell at regular intervals and the failure of Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis and skipper Asalanka exposing the lesser accomplished to cover for their failure.
What was heartening though was young English speedster Sonny Baker who was almost unplayable in his best return of 3 for 12 . Baker was joined by Liam Dawson 2 for 23 and Jamie Overton 2 for 25 who combined towards Sri Lanka’s woe.
Only skipper Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka showed fight as the rest crumbled through poor shot selection and clever England strategy.
It was a mismatch which enabled England to press home their unbeaten run against the Islanders to 13 in the past 14 years. That included beating them at home in Sri Lanka.
Asalanka gambled and lost in his decision to put England in to bat first. But such is the decisions made that can go either way on any given day.
Harry Brook’s innings was laced with 6 sixers and 10 fours, which was their second fastest century by any English batter in the T20 format.
Jos Buttler made a welcome return to form after a long drought, and his 44 ball 80 gave England hope of a stronger depth against the better teams going around.
The inauspicious start will give Sri Lanka’s coach Gary Kirstan and skipper Asalanka plenty to think about for game two in a couple of days as they desperately try to adjust to English conditions.
