Sri Lanka came to England as world champions, and were handed a pitch at The Oval which could almost have been tailor-made for Muttiah Muralitharan. England were livid, and barely concealed it in the build-up for the match. The tense atmosphere was added to my comment from David Lloyd, the England coach, questioning Muralitharan's action. Arjuna Ranatunga won the toss and put England in on a good track - his reasoning was that he did not want to have to make them follow on, and was confident his batsmen would outscore anything England made. He was right. Sanath Jayasuriya blasted 213 and Aravinda de Silva caressed 152, and England, 148 behind, were clueless as Muralitharan took 9 for 65, 16 for 220 overall, in a ten-wicket win. Sri Lanka also beat England in the final of the triangular
one-day tournament after losing to them in the qualifying round.
The two-Test series was packed with enough drama for a five-match epic. Sri Lanka sealed an historic first series win in England off the penultimate ball of the second Test at Headingley when No. 11 James Anderson fended Shaminda Eranga to short having survived 54 deliveries alongside a defiant Moeen Ali who scored his maiden Test hundred. Anderson was in tears at the post-match presentation and it was a result that pushed Alastair Cook close to resignation, following as it did the Ashes whitewash down under and England's near-miss to win the opening Test at Lord's. That had final-over drama, too. Sri Lanka were eight down with Stuart Broad steaming in from the Nursery End and with the first ball Rangana Herath gloved a bouncer (although replays would show his hand off the bat). Broad then had five balls at No. 11 Nuwan Pradeep - who had fallen into his own wickets in the first innings - and he came within a DRS call of winning the match when Pradeep was lbw to the penultimate ball only to have got a thick inside edge. The last ball of the match was then edged agonisingly short of the slips. It had been a bat-dominated match as Joe Root made a maiden double hundred, on his return to the side after being dropped at the end of the Ashes series, and Gary Ballance a maiden Test century while Kumar Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews also made tons. It was Mathews who would play the defining innings of the series at Headingley with a career-best 160 as he and Herath added 149 for the eighth which left England needing 350. Dhammika Prasad took a five-wicket haul to put Sri Lanka on course but it was left late. In a change to the schedule, the T20 and ODIs had been staged first. The one-dayers ended in controversy when Jos Buttler was mankaded by Sachithra Senanayake at Edgbaston as Sri Lanka clinched the series. The game before Buttler had smashed England's then fastest ODI hundred off 61 balls but he could not quite haul England to a chase of 301.
A Sri Lankan team shorn of past greats Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas was expected to be blown away by an England side in some of the best form in their history, having just reclaimed the Ashes down under. But Sri Lanka would have held England in a largely rain-affected Test series were it not for the most dramatic of collapses on the final afternoon of the first Test in Cardiff. Play didn't begin until after lunch on day five with England batting in their first innings. They added five runs to allow Ian Bell to score a hundred before declaring 96 ahead. Sri Lanka were then blown away after tea by Chris Tremlett and Graeme Swann as England took 25 overs to bowl out the tourists for 82 - their fourth lowest score in Tests. But they battled back and big scores from captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, 193 in the second Test at Lord's, and veteran Kumar Sangakkara, 119 in the third Test at Southampton, rescued draws.
England have now won their past nine one-day
series of two or more matches following a 2-1 defeat by India in January 2017.
They lost the sole ODI against Scotland last year.
Since the group-stage exit at the last World
Cup, Morgan's side have won 51 of 76 one-day internationals, losing 20, with
one tie and four no results.
The weather and a limited Sri Lanka side have
ensured this series has not offered the world number one ODI side many tests to
their status as favourites to win the World Cup on home soil next year.
However, the tourists have perhaps answered
whether they can adapt their batting to slower, turning wickets - something
they failed to do in a heavy defeat by Pakistan in the Champions Trophy
semi-finals last year.
This pitch in Pallekele was not as tough as
that used deck in Cardiff, but Roy, Root and Morgan all easily found gaps in
the field off Sri Lanka's spinners to keep accumulating runs before attacking
the bad ball.
Only Akila Dananjaya offered a real threat with
his mix of off-breaks and leg-breaks, drawing Hales out of his crease to be
narrowly stumped and trapping Roy lbw after a successful review.
Improved Sri Lanka still lacking
Sri Lanka have not won a home one-day series
since beating West Indies in 2015 and never looked like breaking that streak
against a superior England outfit.
Dinesh Chandimal's side did post a total that
could have proved challenging though, with Dickwella - who smashed 36 from 20
balls in the rain-shortened third ODI - adopting a more circumspect approach in
overcast conditions.
The opener saw off the accurate Chris Woakes,
attacked Olly Stone's loose deliveries and nudged the spinners around to reach
fifty off 65 balls, only to fall shortly after as Moeen Ali got one to
straighten from round the wicket and trap him lbw - the ball hitting his elbow
in front of the stumps as he tried to sweep.
Dickwella also impressed at times behind the
stumps, sharply whipping the bails off when Hales dragged his toe out and was
unable to slide back in time, before he convinced Chandimal to review after Roy
was initially given not out to Akila.
Sri Lanka's progress was briefly checked as
Chandimal was bowled through the gate by Moeen after skipping down the pitch
and Kusal Mendis was removed lbw by Adil Rashid, but they refused to crumble -
Shanaka (66) and Thisara Perera (44) combining to bring their side up to a
decent score.
Yet more mistakes cost them - Root was
reprieved on 22 despite chipping a low full toss from Dhananjaya de Silva
straight to fine leg, with square leg umpire Lyndon Hannibal spotting the hosts
did not have the requisite five fielders in the circle and signalled a no-ball.
Had it been a legal delivery, a third wicket
would have put England level with the DLS par score at the time and ensured a
tougher ask to stay ahead of the rate.
Mixed day for World Cup outsiders
Aside from a relatively sloppy fielding
display compared to their usual standards, the only other concern for England
was the performances of two outside contenders for a World Cup place.
Hales came in for his first ODI since June
after Bairstow twisted his ankle playing football in training on Friday, but
dropped a catch on the boundary to concede a six and was out before his innings
could really begin.
Stone was quick but wayward in conceding 50
runs from his seven overs, with Liam Plunkett back in the squad after getting
married and pushing to reclaim his place.
Yet Tom Curran bowled well in taking 1-50 off
nine overs, while mainstays Woakes, Moeen and Rashid - both spinners bowled 10
overs straight - were as assured as ever.
'A scrappy game' - match reaction
England captain Eoin Morgan: "It was a scrappy game. We could
have been more disciplined in the areas we bowled. Credit to Sri Lanka. They
fought back well and played our spinners well.
"The fact we have won the series doesn't
mean we won't want to win the next game - but it may be an opportunity to look
at other guys as well."
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh
Chandimal: "We batted well
and can take the positives from that. I think 274 was a winning total, weather
permitting, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Overall we played some
outstanding cricket.
"That no-ball to Joe Root was our
mistake. We could have won the game if it wasn't a no-ball, but we have to take
that."
Former England captain Michael
Vaughan on The Cricket Social: "This series has taught me that this England team is tough.
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