That’s enough from us today. Engand and Sri Lanka will conclude this series on Sunday, before England starts another against Pakistan. England Women in the meantime have their final ODI against India tomorrow, Saturday, both matches at 11am local time, before England Women start a T20 series at the end of next week.
Plenty more cricket coming, and all of it on the Guardian OBO. Till then.
“The series might be lost, but we have to finish with a winning nod,” says Kusal Perera. “From 24 for 4 it’s very hard to get back on track. But at least Dhanjaya and the others at least gave something to bowl. He played tremendously but unfortunately he can’t get a hundred. A few positives are there but we can’t be consistent, that’s our problem a lot of the time.
“Delighted to score some runs and make a contribution to a series win,” says Eoin Morgan. “I think the game was set up today by our bowling unit. Good day all round. It’s worked in my favour over the years that there are some nice distractions as captain to be able to not think about batting for some time. It’s more about how I’m feeling and how I’m striking the ball. I’m still not striking it that well, to be honest, but it’s good to get some time in the middle.”
“I think we’ll see more changes [for Bristol], only three days in between now and going down, but also one eye on the Pakistan series. We also see 50 over cricket as a chance to bring guys in. We’re looking at new faces the whole time. In the T20 series it was Liam Livingstone. It’s great to have Sam Billings and Moeen Ali back in the side, and today we’ve seen the two left-armers taking the new ball.”
England win by 8 wickets, with 7 overs to spare
That’s the game! No one can say this series has been a classic, but England will be satisfied that it was a complete effort that never gave Sri Lanka a sniff, unlike the first match where a smaller target still posed some moments of worry.
England’s bowling support cast did the job: nine wickets to the two left-arm swing operators, with Sam Curran getting his first England five-for, while David Willey got four, and nearly got the fifth a few times in the final over of the first innings.
That kept Sri Lanka very quiet after four wickets fell for 21 at the start. Four of the SL top five scored 10 runs between them. Then Hasaranga did the job again in a promoted spot, as he did in Game 1 of this series. A score of 26 doesn’t look huge on the scorecard but the partnership of 65 helped Dhananjaya steady the innings. DDS went on from there to make 91 at a run a ball, while Shanaka made 47 and the tail all chipped in: Karunaratne 21, Binura F made 17, Chameera 14 not out, and Asitha F not out keeping him company. 241 was at least a decent score - it got England a World Cup recently, after all.
England’s favourite part of the day today would have been Roy and Bairstow, together again, adding 71 in fast time. Roy looked as good as ever for 60, Bairstow just played along in support. They fell, but Root played a typical Root innings, working the runs around, while Morgan looked extremely rusty, had a lot of luck, but will presumably at least be better for the run.
One surprise though is that England didn’t try to put the foot down more in the chase, given the batting ability that was waiting in the shed. Given the talk about England being aggressive with the bat, you’d think that they would want to maintain the habit even when it wasn’t required. Root and Morgan did go very old-school in terms of just grinding out the result. But it’s a series win in the bag.
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43rd over: England 244-2 (Root 68, Morgan 75) Binura F’s left-arm angle has Root defending when it’s straight, but driving through extra cover when there’s a touch of width. A perfect shot for four. Flicks a single square. Morgan can finish it, but Fernando nearly finishes him! Short, gloved, Morgan yanking the hand off the bat handle but getting hit anyway, then worrying about whether he should set off for a single, then looking back to see the ball rolling just past his leg stump.
Take 2: the final delivery, short again, and he pings the pull shot for four. Just behind square, and maybe his best shot of the night.
42nd over: England 235-2 (Root 63, Morgan 71) The milking game continues, with Chamika Karunaratne playing the part of cow. England need 7.
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41st over: England 231-2 (Root 61, Morgan 70) Root nails a pull shot through midwicket, and Asitha Fernando still puts in an effort, hurling himself across in an attempt to save a boundary for Binura Fernando’s benefit. Alas, to no avail. 11 to win.
40th over: England 224-2 (Root 55, Morgan 69) Asitha F finishes up his day’s work with 0 for 54 from his ten overs, having gone for four singles off the last. It hasn’t been Entertainment Central from Root and Morgan, it’s been the very model of a straightforward professional approach.
39th over: England 220-2 (Root 53, Morgan 67) Chameera wearing two sweat bands on his left arm, one black and one blue. The Sri Lankans have been beaten up on this trip. He’s fought, though. Makes a mistake here, bowling on Morgan’s hip and that’s an easy glance for four.
22 to win from 11 overs.
38th over: England 215-2 (Root 53, Morgan 62) Now Root gets a little outside edge that bounces through to the keeper, as he tries to dab the ball. Follows up with the flick off the legs. Morgan cuts. Two singles from Asitha Fernando’s over.
37th over: England 213-2 (Root 52, Morgan 61) Chameera, with three overs to go, hasn’t got a wicket today. He draws a little edge, I fancy, from Morgan, though it dies on its way through to the keeper. Morgan keeps shuffling just a touch to stay leg-side of the ball when Chameera bowls, not lining up behind the quickest of the Sri Lankans. He gets a top-edgy pull away for two runs, really well saved behind square in the deep, then looks much better against the full ball, stepping into another of those belted cover drives where the follow-through ends up with the bat over his right shoulder.
36th over: England 203-2 (Root 50, Morgan 53) Asitha Fernando comes back with pace, and Morgan, because he can, blocks out the first five balls of the over. A bit shorter from the sixth ball, so he pulls to fine leg and keeps the strike.
35th over: England 202-2 (Root 50, Morgan 52) Morgan has another go at Hasaranga, pulling hard, but only bouncing it out to the midwicket sweeper. Four singles. The 100 partnership comes up, the team 200, and England need 36 from the last 15 overs. The fizz has gone out of Sri Lanka now, but they really gave it a crack for a while there.
Half century! Root 50 from 63 balls
34th over: England 202-2 (Root 50, Morgan 52) More off-spin from de Silva, and Root as he so often does just pushes away behind point to gather his 50th run. A not-out fifty in his previous match, and he gets his 35th in ODI cricket today.
Half century! Morgan 50 from 50 balls
33rd over: England 196-2 (Root 46, Morgan 50) Double spin, as Hasaranga continues. Loops up a ball and Morgan charges, makes it a full toss, and drop-kicks it over midwicket into the crowd. That would have been satisfying. Then he’s nearly leg-before the very next ball. Perera likes it, Hasaranga is less sure, Perera is the captain so they go upstairs. Hitting the knee roll in front of middle, smashing the stump, but it pitched just outside leg.
Having survived that, Morgan backs away, gets a ball that turns back to threaten his off stump, chops it off that line to save his stump, gets the bottom edge into his own pad, and it nearly bounces back onto the stumps again. Escapes for a single past the keeper. Now that’s a stylish way to reach a fifty.
(I think we can count two shots that Morgan has hit out of the middle today. An innings impressive in its own special way.)
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32nd over: England 189-2 (Root 46, Morgan 43) A new bowler at last, Dhananjaya de Silva will send down some off spin. Does pretty well, concedes a couple of wides and a couple of singles.
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31st over: England 185-2 (Root 45, Morgan 42) Right on cue, here is Hasaranga. Root takes a few balls to drive a single, but Morgan pulls out the reverse immediately, clattering away a faster leg-break for four.
Then he’s dropped! Behind the wicket. Morgan gets a run from the ricochet. Kusal Perera hardly has time to even see that. Morgan pushes forward, thick edge, straight into the heels of the hands of the keeper, and out. Fast and flat.
We’ve taken something like 2 hours 20 minutes to bowl 31 overs. For Exhibit A, look at the fact that we’re having an official drinks break two overs after the players just unilaterally decided to call their own drinks break.
30th over: England 179-2 (Root 44, Morgan 37) Root keeps pottering along, collecting three runs from Karunaratne while Morgan spectates. A lot of seam bowling today, just four overs of spin from Sri Lanka.
29th over: England 176-2 (Root 41, Morgan 37) It looks like Kusal Perera really has buggered his shoulder. He comes up after another dive clutching it again, grimacing. His team really can’t afford to lose another batsman. If Perera goes down, Tom Banton might end up playing for Sri Lanka.
Root wakens from his slumber to play a lovely drive wide of mid on, straight of midwicket. Picks the gap perfectly. 66 to win.
28th over: England 168-2 (Root 35, Morgan 35) Binura F keeps bowling in at the thigh pad of Morgan, who keeps jabbing him away for singles. This is not... how do we say en Français? Not very interesting cricket.
John Starbuck thinks that Tom Banton might play regardless in the third match. “They could be planning to boost the batting on Saturday, since the tail currently starts a bit higher than usual. If Moeen were chosen again, and given a full ten overs, they could do without Rashid, who went wicketless today.”
Rashid is a gun bowler... but plenty more matches to come, could be a chance to give The Kid™ a run.
27th over: England 160-2 (Root 34, Morgan 29) We’ve seen 11 dots in the previous three overs, Root and Morgan proceeding very slowly for a time against some decent quicker bowling. They each pull out a pull shot against Asitha Fernando but the field is set well enough to keep the scoring to increments of one. Those two runs are the full allotment from the over.
26th over: England 158-2 (Root 33, Morgan 28) Binura F helps the pace along with five wides. A bit hard done by there. He bowls across Root, sharp angle from the left-arm over starting point, but the ball swings away a lot further once it passes. Goes between keeper and slip, and Perera hurts his shoulder into the bargain when he lands after diving towards it. I thought that went over the bat, probably inside the wide line as it passed Root, and going wider afterwards.
25th over: England 152-2 (Root 32, Morgan 28) Taking it pretty easy at the moment, this pair. Three singles from Asitha Fernando.
24th over: England 149-2 (Root 30, Morgan 27) Binura Fernando is another change, six overs spare for the big lefty. He hits a consistent line just across Joe Root, making him flirt and miss outside off. Perera brings in a slip. Root drives a run through cover. Morgan tries the same but mistimes it, in the air, catchable but just straight of the man stationed there. He’s patchy as a clown coat. Gets two runs for it.
23rd over: England 145-2 (Root 29, Morgan 24) Asitha F comes on to replace Chameera, and chills things out with an over conceding four singles. That target is down into double figures now, 97 runs at 3.6.
22nd over: England 141-2 (Root 27, Morgan 22) The boundaries are coming now. Karunaratne tries the short-ball attack at Morgan, but his first doesn’t get up high enough, clattered on the pull behind square, and his second is better but takes the top edge over the keeper for another. Karunaratne keeps going and gets wided for too many bouncers in the over. This is fun stuff. One ball to come after that point, meaning that Morgan knows it can’t be too short, so he charges. It’s still reasonably short, and he makes it shorter by advancing, but throws the bat and slices it through backward point for four. We haven’t seen what is exactly a sustainable approach from England’s captain today, but he’s making a few.
England need 101 runs at about 3.5 an over.
21st over: England 126-2 (Root 26, Morgan 9) Edged for four! Root goes hard at Chameera. There’s a slip in place, but set wide, almost a short third. The ball flies off a diagonal edge to the rope. Chameera follows up with a bouncer, high but not called wide. Root signals what he thinks of that by shadow-batting a hook shot about a foot above his head. Then Chameera loses his line down the leg side and Root glances four - Asitha Fernando puts in a great sliding save, but loses track of where he is and grabs the loose ball while his foot is still touching the boundary padding. A big over comes along, worth 10.
20th over: England 116-2 (Root 16, Morgan 9) A slip in for Morgan, the Sri Lankan bowlers wanting to keep going across the left-hander. Morgan gets off strike with a straight drive, then Root seems to have hurt his back while arching it in an attempt to uppercut. No run, one injury. Arches again next ball as Karunaratne follows up short of a length, but it gets through Perera and they run a bye. That gives Morgan a look at a full ball, and he smacks it through cover for four.
19th over: England 110-2 (Root 16, Morgan 4) Chameera comes back to test out Morgan, reputed not to like the short ball. He’s expecting one first up, meaning that when Chameera pitches up more he almost takes the edge. Sliding across. Morgan picks up a couple of singles in the over, reaching out wide for drives.
18th over: England 107-2 (Root 15, Morgan 2) England’s two captains together, then. Morgan still in need of a score, and he’s almost out for a duck here. Short ball at the ribs on the line of leg stump from Karunaratne and Morgan pulls away, again cramped, down to fine leg where another couple of metres of distance on the shot would have seen him caught. Instead the ball is stopped on the half volley. Morgan gets strike back, then tucks away a less worrisome single.
WICKET! Roy c de Silva b Karunaratne 60, England 104-2
It’s time to go, and then it’s time to go. First ball of the over, Karunaratne goes the hard length again, cramping Roy with the line but he tries to pull anyway. Just jabs it away, hit hard but not as hard as he can with a full swing. Dhananjaya de Silva gets airborne and hauls it in over his right shoulder as it was flying past him. Fine catch.
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17th over: England 104-1 (Roy 60, Root 14) Time to get going, by the reckoning of this England pair. Root plays the reverse scoop to Hasaranga, over the keeper’s head and saved just inside the rope for two. Standard. Then Roy winds up and wipes a boundary across midwicket, before bashing another dead straight over the bowler.
Half century! Roy 50 from 47 balls
16th over: England 91-1 (Roy 50, Root 11) Chamika Karunaratne is on for his first over, he bowled with enthusiasm in the first ODI. He follows Chameera’s lead by banging the ball into this pitch, judging that the bounce isn’t perfect for batting. Four singles from the over, mostly to deep third, the last of which raises Roy’s minor milestone. That’s his 20th fifty in ODI cricket, and it’s also the drinks break.
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15th over: England 87-1 (Roy 48, Root 9) Hasaranga keeps a lid on things with five runs from the over, but Root looks very comfortable against the spinner, driving him through the off side along the ground for a couple of twos.
14th over: England 82-1 (Roy 48, Root 4) Chameera continues with his back-of-a-length attack, mixing up which deliveries are full pace and which are cutters. It takes Roy three attempts to get enough bat on one to pull a single. Root opens the face and carves two behind point. Finds point with a second attempt, then pulls one run with the leg-side field back. Another good over for Sri Lanka. At the very least, for some disgruntled supporters, they’re competing today. The bowlers have, at least - with bat and ball.
13th over: England 78-1 (Roy 47, Root 1) A couple of singles to end Hasaranga’s over. England need 164 runs at 4.43 per over.
WICKET! Bairstow b Hasaranga 29, England 76-1
The last three overs: 2 runs, 4 runs, 1 run. The slowed scoring does the trick for Sri Lanka. Roy takes a single, then Bairstow looks to put one into space, over midwicket with a big slog sweep that meets fresh air. Has another hoick that gets an inside edge just past the keeper’s pad for four. Then Hasaranga bowls a scrambled-seam leg-break that dips on Bairstow, makes him think it’s short enough to cut as he backs away, and instead takes the underedge onto the stumps.
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12th over: England 71-0 (Roy 45, Bairstow 25) Chameera keeps bowling well, short of a length and just outside the off stump. Not enough width to go at the ball. Bairstow flashes and misses, has a nasty one fly over his shoulder, then gets an unconvincing top edge on the uppercut that reaches deep third on the bounce. One run, nearly a catch. Roy works away a single easily, and Bairstow sways away from the closing bouncer. Not willing to engage. Interesting!
11th over: England 69-0 (Roy 44, Bairstow 24) And that means spin time. Wanindu Hasaranga, the leggie, who floats them up. Roy cuts two runs, then gets an inside edge, then shapes for the reverse-sweep so early that he can’t take toll of a high full toss, hitting it straight to backward point. Could have hit that anywhere else if facing up normally. Bairstow too gets an inside edge from the googly.
10th over: England 65-0 (Roy 41, Bairstow 23) Chameera is back, and he foxes Roy with a few. Changing his pace a bit, bowling into the wicket. Roy bunts one back over the bowler’s outstretched hand, close to caught and bowls. Misses a couple of shots, finds the field at cover. Five dots, then a single off the thigh pad. That’s the end of the fielding restrictions period.
9th over: England 64-0 (Roy 40, Bairstow 23) He breaks free! Bairstow strides into the line from Asitha F and thrashes it through cover. Gets a slower ball bouncer and bashes it over midwicket. Then follows up the two fours by off-driving for six! Clean swing, into the LED boards.
An email in from Peter Rowntree. “Seeing you mention Roy and Bairstow, what do you make of the Banton call-up for the third ODI? Clearly this is cover for Roy and YJB, but even if one of those was injured, they still have Livingstone in the ranks. So, is this just a case of England deciding they want to look at another player? Or somebody has it in for Somerset and fancies damaging their T20 chances? What do you make of it? Seems a strange thing to do at this point in this series.”
It’s a funny one. They thought they were a player light in the squad when Livingstone opened the batting in Durham, but he was given that job, so you would think he could do it again if there were another injury before Game 3. Especially given England’s dominance thus far. But I suppose injuries can come more than one at a time, and it takes time to get players into the bio-bubble, so having two spares is advisable.
8th over: England 50-0 (Roy 40, Bairstow 9) Binura F is bowling well to Bairstow, in at his hip and giving him no room. Seems to have learned a lesson from YJB’s off-side demolition in Durham the other day. Roy though counters that line by coming down the wicket, flicking away on the bounce behind square. There’s a half stop, Chameera again parrying it into the rope. Then Binura goes too far the other way, shorter and outside off, angled across, and punched in front of point for four more. The fifty up in quick time.
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7th over: England 41-0 (Roy 32, Bairstow 8) Asitha F is a very different operator to the other Fernando: much shorter, bustly, right-armer. Bairstow wants a piece of him and can’t work out how to slice it. Walks at him, stays back and tries to pull, but Asitha keeps hitting a hard length and getting some bounce, Bairstow can only drag a single. Roy gets a ball pitched up and clips it breezily through midwicket for four. That spot was vacant, with a slip in. No longer after that shot.
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6th over: England 36-0 (Roy 28, Bairstow 7) Extraordinary, really. In the last match Bairstow was 40 from his first 20 or so balls. Here he stabs Binura F through the leg side to move to 6 from 12. Another tidy over from the larger Fernando, with a single and a wide to add to the brace.
5th over: England 32-0 (Roy 28, Bairstow 4) Asitha Fernando into the attack now, for a Double Fernando Special. The Fernand-Off. Roy wants the attention though, as he plays an audacious shot! Have you ever thought of the leg glance as... aggressive? Domineering? No, not really. But Roy charges the bowler, walks outside his own off stump to make the ball glance-able, and glances for four. He finishes the over with another four, driven through mid-off, and Chameera can’t release it in time as he tries to flick back before his feet hit the rope.
I’m going to have to use different naming for our Fernandos. Asitha F, like Axel F.
4th over: England 21-0 (Roy 19, Bairstow 2) Roy is back as though he never went away. Steps into a velvety cover drive against Fernando, in an otherwise tidy over. The trumpeter in the stands is playing an Abba song for the bowler.
3rd over: England 16-0 (Roy 15, Bairstow 1) Welcome back, Mr Roy. A half charge, a one-legged stance, and a swat-pull from way outside off stump through midwicket for four. Low percentage but it got the middle of the bat. Roy goes more conventional with a back-foot punch and gets three, top bit of fielding at extra cover - I didn’t catch who it was, maybe Pathum Nissanka? - who goes haring after it and desperately claws it back as the ball slows. But Chameera can’t finish the over well, bowling on the pads and Roy flicks airborne but fast and flat through midwicket. Bairstow got off the mark in that over as well.
2nd over: England 4-0 (Roy 4, Bairstow 0) Binura Fernando at the other end, an impressive and very tall young left-armer whose usual action has him run a bit stiffly to the crease and shape the ball gently into the right-hander. Catches Bairstow in a rare circumspect mood for a few balls after Roy works a single to leg.
1st over: England 3-0 (Roy 3, Bairstow 0) We’re away. Dushmantha Chameera, who bowled pretty well the other day for three wickets. He starts horribly here on the review front, convincing his captain to go upstairs for one that’s hitting Roy high and well outside the line of off stump. Roy drives three through the covers in reply.
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Now then. Tim also suggested I have a look at Sam Curran’s ODI bowling stats before today, which – well, rather. Nine bowling innings for seven wickets. Five wicketless matches, a couple of ones, a two, and a three. Meaning an average of just over 50 per wicket, conceding more than 6 per over.
Today, just the quiet 5 for 48 from 10, just about equalling his career tally in a session.
Thanks Tim. We had a bit to work with today, didn’t we? Sri Lanka only made 185 the other day in the first match, and still had England worried for a minute with a few wickets in a hurry. Making 241 gives them a lot more to work with. However, England also have Roy and Bairstow back together, the most routinely destructive ODI opening partnership that the game has seen. I can back that up with stats if anyone wants to take issue with it.
Not only did all nine wickets fall to left-arm swingers. They all fell to men born in Northampton. And they all fell to the sons of international cricketers who played for Northants. As the tagline of a local bakery has it, this is History in the Baking.
And that’s me done, with thanks to Dhananjaya de Silva for making a game of it, to Sam Curran for lighting up a dull afternoon, and to you for your company and correspondence. Geoff Lemon will be here shortly to see you through to a series win for England or a heroic fightback from Sri Lanka.
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Sri Lanka finish on 241
50th over: Sri Lanka 241-9 (Chameera 12, A Fernando 1) Chameera swings Willey to long-on, where Billings can only tip it over the bar, and that’s six! A couple more slogs land safely and get SL up to 241, so they’ve added 220-5 after slipping to 21-4. That’s a gutsy recovery, but the afternoon belongs to Sam Curran, who leads England off after taking one of the happiest five-fours you’ll ever see.
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Wicket! B Fernando c Rashid b Willey 17 (SL 229-9)
Bilhura Fernando has done well, but he can no more handle the short ball than everyone else. He top-edges to fine leg, where Adil Rashid takes an excellent, brave, diving catch. And Willey’s on a hat-trick!
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49th over: Sri Lanka 229-8 (B Fernando 17, Chameera 3) Sam Curran’s star turn is over. He finishes with what may well be match-winning figures: 10-1-48-5.
48th over: Sri Lanka 225-8 (B Fernando 14, Chameera 2) While Sam C takes wickets for fun, Tom C – who gave him a big brotherly hug just then– is still stuck in the slump he’s been in for two years. He persuades Fernando to chip his slower ball, but it goes just over the head of Jason Roy at backward point, and races away for four.
“Afternoon Tim,” says Brian Withington. “Whilst they are honouring their error as a hidden intention, perhaps the England management might also consider a couple of other Brian Eno corkers: ‘Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency’; and ‘Repetition is a form of change’.” Eoin Morgan is a kind of Eno, isn’t he? At the very least, there’s an anagram waiting to happen.
47th over: Sri Lanka 219-8 (B Fernando 9, Chameera 1) Curran has 5-44, and it’s not just his first five-for in ODIs – it’s his first in professional 50-over cricket. He’s a little guy who’s just made for the big occasion. And England’s lefties now have 8-96 today, while the right-armers have 0-122.
Wicket!! Karunaratne c Bairstow b S Curran (Sl 217-8)
Five for Sam Curran! It’s another bumper, and you can hear the nick from North London. Sam looks thrilled, as well he may, on his home ground. “He’s not quick,” says Nasser, “but he’s quick enough.”
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46th over: Sri Lanka 216-7 (Karunaratne 21, B Fernando 8) Tom Curran returns, to be carved over cover by Bilhura Fernando. That was a classy stroke, and it tripled Fernando’s career tally in ODIs. He likes it so much, he hits another four, via an inside edge. Ten off the over, and SL, according to CricViz, have risen to an 11pc chance of a win.
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45th over: Sri Lanka 206-7 (Karunaratne 20, B Fernando 0) Before the wicket, Karunaratne shovelled Willey down the ground to bring up the 200. It’s been an innings of two halves: a feeble collapse (21-4), followed by a staunch recovery (185-3).
Wicket! Shanaka c S Curran b Willey 47 (SL 206-7)
A right old long-hop, and Shanaka slaps it straight to the cover sweeper! But he did very well, holding the show together.
44th over: Sri Lanka 199-6 (Shanaka 42, Karunaratne 18) Dasun Shanaka has faced about 60 balls and hit none of them for four, although he did manage a six early on. He finally finds the rope with a sweep off a full toss from Rashid, and Karunaratne joins in with a meaty straight thump for four more. Rashid finishes with a row of round numbers: 10-0-50-0.
43rd over: Sri Lanka 189-6 (Shanaka 37, Karunaratne 13) Wood bowls his last over and collects his first maiden. The game has gone to sleep, and Nasser Hussain is so bored that he’s counting how often Wood falls over. “That’s four times,” he says, “in the last 10 balls.” Nass, for your next trick, we need a comparison with the Centre Court at Wimbledon.
42nd over: Sri Lanka 189-6 (Shanaka 37, Karunaratne 13) The batsmen take a few singles and a two off Rashid, who beats Shanaka with a beauty, drifting away like an outswinger in slow motion.
41st over: Sri Lanka 183-6 (Shanaka 33, Karunaratne 11) Mark Wood is still on and he’s got that big smile on his face. He fell over in his delivery stride, as he often does, and found himself in the right place at the right time to stop a well-timed push from Karunaratne that might otherwise have gone for four. Wood must have been reading Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, which contain a line saying something like “Honour your error as a hidden intention”.
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39th over: Sri Lanka 178-6 (Shanaka 30, Karunaratne 9) More turn for Rashid, but still no wicket. England’s two lefties have taken 6-86, while the right-armers have 0-91.
38th over: Sri Lanka 175-6 (Shanaka 28, Karunaratne 8) Wood carries on in his new role as the world’s fastest stock bowler. His two overs in this spell have gone for four runs between them. Meanwhile Sam Curran has slipped off the field: someone in the crowd must have told him about Abhijato’s email.
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37th over: Sri Lanka 172-6 (Shanaka 26, Karunaratne 7) Rashid is back and with his first ball he finds some turn, with a leg-break not a googly. It draws an edge from Karunaratne which beats slip and goes for three. If that doesn’t get Moeen on, nothing will.
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36th over: Sri Lanka 166-6 (Shanaka 25, Karunaratne 2) Another over goes for just a single, from Wood this time. I hope the Sri Lankans are planning a party for the last ten overs.
Here’s Dean Kinsella, and he’s not happy with the crowd. “Disappointing to see people staring at their phones instead of applauding a wonderful knock from de Silva as he made his way back to the dressing room. Makes one wonder why these people go to the cricket.”
I’m a bit torn here. Maybe they’d just taken a photo of the catch, and were uploading it to Instagram. I was once told off for being on my phone at a gig by The Who at the Hammersmith Apollo. “I’m reviewing it,” I said to the guy berating me. “Just taking notes.”
“I don’t care,” he replied.
35th over: Sri Lanka 165-6 (Shanaka 25, Karunaratne 1) Tom Curran, handed the chance to bowl at the new batsman, is eyeing his first maiden, but after five dots there’s a tickle down the leg side which Bairstow can’t quite stop.
“Things likely to get Sam Curran dropped for the next match,” says Abhijato Sensarma. “1 Someone discovers he’s still got Joe Denly’s number on his phone. 2 His Twitter feed throws up negative remarks about Dinesh Karthik’s attire. 3 He mistakenly uses Chris Woakes’ hairbrush to comb his hair. 4 He suggests that maybe Southgate’s not the worst manager of all time. 5 He asks Morgan a prodding question about his defence for overusing ‘Sir’ in his tweets.”
35th over: Sri Lanka 164-6 (Shanaka 25, Karunaratne 0) The short ball does the damage for the third time in this innings. de Silva’s 91 came at exactly a run a ball, and it was worth about 120.
Wicket! de Silva c Root b Willey 91 (SL 164-6)
Noooo! After easing into the 90s, de Silva is late on a hook, getting a top edge and giving Joe Root the simplest of catches at deep square. That is the end of a magnificent show of defiance.
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34th over: Sri Lanka 159-5 (de Silva 87, Shanaka 24) Tom Curran, who replaced Mr Immaculate today, continues to be Mr Economical – until de Silva spots his slower ball and chips it to long-off, almost for six. This is now de Silva’s career-best in ODIs, and he has hit 80pc of his team’s fours. He has 12, while his mates have managed three between them.
33rd over: Sri Lanka 152-5 (de Silva 82, Shanaka 23) More singles, and a wide and a leg-bye, off Willey. You can almost hear the spectators going to sleep.
32nd over: Sri Lanka 145-5 (de Silva 79, Shanaka 21) Tom Curran continues and concedes a few singles. Sri Lanka, according to CricViz, now have a chance of winning: a 6pc chance, to be precise. England are on 92 and the tie is on 2. Do they know something we don’t?
31st over: Sri Lanka 141-5 (de Silva 77, Shanaka 19) Another change as Wood gives way to Willey. Either Moeen is injured or he’s done something to annoy Morgan. Shanaka swats a single to bring up the fifty partnership, and then de Silva upper-cuts for four, drawing a comparison from Kumar Sangakkara with Mahela Jayawardene. And that’s drinks, with Sri Lanka dreaming of respectability. The last hour or so has belonged firmly to Dhananjaya de Silva.
30th over: Sri Lanka 131-5 (de Silva 71, Shanaka 16) Rashid comes off and ... Tom Curran comes back. It nearly pays off as a heave from de Silva turns out to be a Harrow cut onto the pad, but the ball just evades the leg bail. Recovering instantly, de Silva plays a pull for four, skimmed over the man at midwicket. Get Mo on!
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29th over: Sri Lanka 125-5 (de Silva 66, Shanaka 15) Wood restores order, conceding only a single. It’s quite a feat for a super-fast bowler to be parsimonious at the Oval. I seem to remember Devon Malcolm managing it once.
“If we are already anointing Sam Curran as Player of the Match,” says Richard O’Hagan, “perhaps we could suggest fun things for him to do when he is inevitably dropped from the next match in accordance with England’s current policy of punishing the excessively successful?”
Good idea. How about brushing Chris Woakes’s hair?
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28th over: Sri Lanka 124-5 (de Silva 66, Shanaka 14) Still no Mo as Rashid continues. Eoin Morgan, you should have listened to the OBO, you fool. de Silva starts the over off with a sweet little lap for four and a flick for two, and then every ball goes for a single, so that’s 10 off the over.
27th over: Sri Lanka 114-5 (de Silva 58, Shanaka 12) Morgan takes Sam Curran off and brings back Wood. Why it’s not Moeen is a bit of a mystery: maybe he’s about to replace Rashid. de Silva uses Wood’s pace to guide the first ball to wide third man for four. Nice deflection, as Bill Lawry used to say.
“‘Is this an ad?’” Richard Harman echoes back at me. “I can see why you might think that! But no – a lifesaver for me since I discovered it via a comment BTL on The Guardian about three years ago. Just trying to do unto others as was done unto me. Thanks for posting it!” My pleasure.
26th over: Sri Lanka 107-5 (de Silva 52, Shanaka 11) Rashid is still being economical and still not threatening at all. He has 5-0-15-0, joining Tom Curran in the Make Nothing Happen camp.
25th over: Sri Lanka 104-5 (de Silva 51, Shanaka 9) de Silva makes room to glide Curran square, comes back for two and reaches fifty, for the first time against England. He’s been superb. Shanaka decides to celebrate with a big old mow, inside-out over extra-cover, which goes for six! And brings up the hundred. Flickers of hope for Sri Lanka.
24th over: Sri Lanka 93-5 (de Silva 47, Shanaka 2) Another over from Rashid, another three runs. Sri Lanka, who more or less invented modern ODI batting in 1996, are now trying to undo all their good work.
23rd over: Sri Lanka 90-5 (de Silva 44, Shanaka 2) Sam Curran continues, conceding only a single or two. In England, there’s a strong case for playing him in all formats: he’s such an electric performer, and it’s typical of him to be feeding off the crowd.
Here’s Richard Harman, grabbing the gauntlet thrown down by Mark Francome in Switzerland. “I’m in Italy and this [clicking on the icon at the top of the BBC page] worked perfectly until about 18 months ago. I think the answer is that you now have to register on BBC Sport and then sign in every time in order to see and click on the icon. If you don’t do so, all you can do is read the instruction... Which is why I always listen on Guerilla Cricket (sporadically featuring the dulcet tones of Gary Naylor). Commentary available directly on their website or via YouTube, Facebook, CricTracker.” Hang on – is this an ad? “Beware of occasional swearing if listening with children present.”
22nd over: Sri Lanka 88-5 (de Silva 43, Shanaka 1) This innings is now all about de Silva, and whether he can get the hundred his team desperately need. He has lost momentum in the last 20 minutes, but he’s in no trouble, so fingers crossed.
21st over: Sri Lanka 86-5 (de Silva 42, Shanaka 0) That is a wicket-maiden for Curran, which is outrageous at this stage, when the swing has long gone. He has 4-28 and you might as well give him the Player of the Match award now.
Wicket! Hasaranga c Billings b S Curran 26 (SL 86-5)
Sam Curran makes things happen! He bounces Hasaranga, who plays the pull but gets it high on the bat and gives a simple catch to deep square. Shame for SL, great for Curran, who has his first four-for in ODIs.
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20th over: Sri Lanka 86-4 (de Silva 42, Hasaranga 26) Better from Rashid: three singles and no wides.
An email comes in marked “Ibrahim Lalgie”. It’s from Peter Lovell, picking up on the 3rd over. “I can vouch that Ibrahim is in fact ‘delightfully shy’. He’s also a very good, elegant all-rounder who plays for Chiswick CC U13 with his father Rodney managing the team. I manage Ealing CC U13s and we’re playing against them this evening. Hopefully Sri Lanka will drag this out and Ibrahim can’t make it to the game in time!”
That’s live blogging at its best – thank you. His dad is the manager! Shades of the Stewarts. I can still hear Alec, on his first Test tour in the Caribbean in 1990, studiously addressing Micky as “Manager” at all times.
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19th over: Sri Lanka 83-4 (de Silva 41, Hasaranga 24) It’s a double change as Morgan replaces Wood with Sam Curran, presumably to give him some practivce at bowling in the dull middle overs. Hasaranga celebrates by carting him for four over midwicket, then cover-driving for four more. One talented young player, up against another.
“Which side do we think is gaining less from this series?” asks Chris Parker. “Between these ODIs and the T20s, all England seem to be getting is a bit of fitness in their fast bowlers’ legs, and Sri Lanka just getting a bit of experience for their younger players (although how good an experience being dominated abroad is, I’m not sure either).” Harsh but fair.
18th over: Sri Lanka 74-4 (de Silva 41, Hasaranga 15) Tom Curran takes a breather, with the unusual figures of 4-0-9-0, and for the first time we have a bowler from the Vauxhall end whose name is not Curran. It’s Adil Rashid, who overcooks his googly and bowls two wides. The first one brings up the fifty partnership off 10.1 overs: these two have steadied the ship.
17th over: Sri Lanka 70-4 (de Silva 40, Hasaranga 14) Wood is bowling so fast that you can block him for four. Hasaranga seems to have done this beautifully, sending the ball skimming towards long-off, but David Willey makes a fine stop inches inside the Toblerone, so it’s a high-class two.
16th over: Sri Lanka 67-4 (de Silva 40, Hasaranga 12) Tom Curran is still cramping everyone’s style, except his brother. Sam, spying a good chance for a run-out, has a wild shy at the stumps and ends up injuring Jonny Bairstow, whose hand requires some patching up from the physio. England, as so often, have a spare keeper in their back pocket – Sam Billings – but he’s not needed yet.
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15th over: Sri Lanka 65-4 (de Silva 39, Hasaranga 11) Wood is “bowling really fast here,” says Dinesh Karthik. He gets a bouncer to climb steeply on Hasaranga, who can only nick it off the shoulder of the bat. It flies to Bairstow’s right and he manages to tip it over the bar for a corner, drawing applause from Wood – very sporting of him. And that’s drinks with Sri Lanka recovering, thank goodness, after their dismal start.
14th over: Sri Lanka 63-4 (de Silva 38, Hasaranga 10) Another tight over from Tom Curran, who is matching his brother’s ability to make things happen by making things not happen.
“Hello from Switzerland,” says Mark Francome. “Séin [8th over] is not alone. Spent nigh on an hour on Tuesday trying to find the link. The closest I got was a line on the BBC page that says ‘Overseas listeners click on the icon at the top of the page to hear live coverage’, but there is no icon. It’s like they are playing with us. I dunno why I bother paying my licence etc. (I don’t actually pay a licence fee but I feel I should take a principled stand.)”
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13th over: Sri Lanka 62-4 (de Silva 38, Hasaranga 9) Wood continues, de Silva waits for a full ball and drives to mid-off’s right for four more. That’s an even more handsome drive than the last one. As there’s no slip, de Silva follows up with a deft little dab to third man, where Sam Curran makes a neat diving stop. The last five overs have brought 29 runs and no wickets. On the horizon, the Sri Lankans can just make out redemption.
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12th over: Sri Lanka 54-4 (de Silva 31, Hasaranga 8) de Silva has been rattling along at a run a ball, as if he had no idea that four wickets had fallen, but Tom Curran, who has located his length, keeps him quiet now.
“Great captaincy by Morgan,” says Richard O’Hagan, reflecting on the last wicket. “Nip off the pitch so that there is a significantly taller bloke in the way of the pull shot, then run back on as soon as he takes the catch.” Ha.
11th over: Sri Lanka 52-4 (de Silva 30, Hasaranga 7) Willey’s off too as Mark Wood comes on. He starts very tidily for a quick bowler, but then de Silva spots a half-volley and off-drives for four to bring up the fifty.
10th over: Sri Lanka 47-4 (de Silva 26, Hasaranga 6) Sam Curran takes a break, to be replaced by ... Tom Curran. He looks the part, in a navy headband, but he dishes up a long hop and gets pulled for four by de Silva. There’s no slip, which seems odd given the score, and the fact that Morgan is back. That’s the end of the PowerPlay, which was carnage at first, but now there’s a hint of a recovery. These two have added 26; they just need to do it again, five times over.
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9th over: Sri Lanka 42-4 (de Silva 21, Hasaranga 4) Another fruitful over for SL as Willey sprays it around, bowling two wides and dropping short, which allows de Silva to play a sumptuous back-foot punch.
“Greetings from Ireland,” says Séin Healy. “I’m enjoying hearing the buzz of a big(ish) crowd again. Is the TMS overseas link knocking around do you know? For the ODIs and T20s, it has been like looking for chicken’s teeth. The working and radio combination, is more productive than the working and TV combo.” Yes, but the working-and-OBO combo is the best of the lot. I’m hoping a reader has the link for you.
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8th over: Sri Lanka 33-4 (de Silva 17, Hasaranga 3) Hasaranga is a bright prospect and he shows it by going down on one knee and square-driving Curran for three. de Silva sees that and raises him a pull for four, instantly followed by another. The counter-attack has begun!
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7th over: Sri Lanka 21-4 (de Silva 8, Hasaranga 0) Asalanka was keeping Willey out, but he wasn’t getting the ball off the square, and his frustration got the better of him.
Garton was on because Eoin Morgan had left the field – not sure why. With Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes absent, it was interesting to see who took over... Joe Root! I thought that might even things up a bit, but it wasn’t to be. Perhaps Root is the great ODI captain we never had.
Wicket! Asalanka c sub (Garton) b Willey 3 (SL 21-4)
Willey drops short for once and Asalanka plays a tame pull straight to square leg. A nice moment for George Garton, on as a sub for his first taste of international cricket.
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6th over: Sri Lanka 21-3 (de Silva 8, Asalanka 3) Asalanka gets off the mark with a punch off the pads into the wide open spaces at midwicket. The Oval, as ever, looks full of runs. Come on you two, put on 150.
“Every now and then in club cricket,” says Richard O’Hagan, “you get a game so one-sided that the fielding captain feels compelled to put on the ‘lesser’ bowlers, just to make a game of it. Time for Roy and Billings to start warming up, I’d say.” Good plan.
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5th over: Sri Lanka 17-3 (de Silva 8, Asalanka 0) There’s so much talent in this Sri Lankan team, even when it’s depleted. Dhananjaya de Silva plays a gloriously nonchalant shot off Willey, blocking him back over his head for four.
4th over: Sri Lanka 12-3 (de Silva 4, Asalanka 0) So Sam Curran took three wickets in his first nine balls. That’s the same number that Tom Curran, recalled today, has taken in ODIs since 19 May 2019. Now he’s wondering if his little bro is even going to let him have a bowl.
“I second your bafflement at Woakes’ ‘resting’,” says Guy Hornsby. “Perhaps there’s a theory of it mostly happening to the nice guys (exhibit B: Mo). As you say, it’s hardly impacted the game yet. I sit here feeling for Sri Lanka. Such a lovely nation, and as with WI, you crave a contest.”
Wicket!! Nissanka b S Curran 5 (SL 12-3)
The procession continues! Sam Curran gets that swing back into the right-hander again and this time there is no pad in the way. After 3.3 overs of this match, Curran has 3-3.
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3rd over: Sri Lanka 11-2 (Nissanka 5, de Silva 3) Triumph! Sri Lanka have got through an over without incident. de Silva gets off the mark with a nice crisp clip for three, the kind of shot that settles you down. And Sky show the ringing of the bell from earlier, which was done by Ibrahim, a boy on Ebony Rainford-Brent’s scheme to get more kids from minorities playing cricket. He looks delightfully shy.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 6-2 (Nissanka 4, de Silva 0) So Sam Curran has 2-2 and Sri Lanka, not content with losing two wickets, have burned both their reviews. Slight shame they’re not 2-2 too.
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Wicket! A Fernando LBW b S Curran 2 (SL 6-2)
Another one! Sam Curran is making the ball swing and this one, to the right-hander, is thudding into leg stump. You have to say, England are not missing Woakes.
Wicket! Perera LBW b S Curran 0 (SL 4-1)
Sam Curran makes the breakthrough. Mark Butcher thought it was high, but Sammy C is not a tall man, and although Perera reviewed, all the reds came up. That’s a big blow for Sri Lanka, and for this contest.
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1st over: Sri Lanka 4-0 (Nissanka 4, Perera 0) Nissanka did two things right in that over: he hit a lovely cover-drive for four, and he reviewed that decision by umpire Kettleborough. It was probably the worst decision since England left out Chris Woakes, half an hour ago.
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Not out!
Yes, inside edge. It was so thick, it could have been a member of the present cabinet.
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Wicket? Nissanka given LBW b Willey 4
Sounds like an inside edge...
The first email of the day is from Richard Hirst. “Hurrah,” he says, “someone who shares my view of Chris Woakes, Gareth Southgate and Jack Grealish: what a hat-trick so early in the day! But it’s a high standard to keep up.”
Woakeswatch
So Chris Woakes is left out again. If I was in the crowd at the Oval, I’d be asking for my money back. Woakes is Mr Immaculate. He was named England’s player of the year for 2020, then didn’t play all winter. He was named player of the match in the first game of this series, and now he misses the second. In the past nine months, he has made just three appearances for England – two T20, one ODI, all against Sri Lanka. He’s bowled 17 overs, taken 5-41, and conceded only one four. It’s truly bizarre. The only good thing about it is that it should make for a more even contest.
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Teams: three changes for SL
Matthew Engel used to say that new England selectors were given two instructions: pass the port to the left and if in doubt, drop Randall. Sri Lanka’s selectors seem to be told: if in doubt, pick another Fernando. They will have three of them today, so the de Silvas – and the Currans – are going to have to work harder.
Sri Lanka 1 Kusal Perera (capt, wkt), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Wanindu Hasaranga, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Charith Asalanka, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Binura Fernando, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Asitha Fernando.
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Teams: Roy and T Curran come in
Jason Roy returns as predicted, replacing Luke Livingstone. And Chris Woakes, after his perfect performance in the first game, is rested for the second.
England I Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wkt), 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Sam Billings, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 David Willey, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood.
Toss: England win and bowl first
Lads, it’s Eoin Morgan.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to the OBO. Sport, like life itself, comes in spurts, and this week the tap is refusing to be turned off. England beat Germany! Kane scores! Murray beat someone! And then someone else! Cav is back in business! Man United sign Sancho, after negotiating for only a year!
Among all these memorable moments, the male cricketers have done their bit by laying on a series of matches that have been forgettable even by the high standards of the white-ball game. England have played Sri Lanka four times and won the lot. Anyone for tension? Perhaps you’d like to try Wimbledon. The biggest excitement of this contest so far came when three Sri Lankans burst out of their bubble and got banned for a year. As my colleague Tom Davies said when he directed me to the page where these words are being typed, “Here’s yer link to England’s latest low-key stroll to victory.”
As always in cricket, though, there are sub-plots to keep us interested. Joe Root, who looked so lost in the Tests against New Zealand, returned to form in the last match with 79 not out. He may have hit only four of his 87 balls for four – two fewer than Jonny Bairstow managed off 21 balls – but that just showed that he was racking up the singles and twos. He’s the master non-blaster.
Chris Woakes was majestic too. Not only did he bowl like Jimmy Anderson without the grumpiness (four wickets! five maidens!), he also showed that you can come close to Jack Grealish’s hairstyle without looking ridiculous. If he was a footballer, Woakes wouldn’t be Grealish, gifted Brummies though they both are. With his decency, calm and ability to mix understatement with over-achievement, Woakes would be Gareth Southgate.
The Sri Lankans had their heroes too. Kusal Perera took on cricket’s impossible triathlon – captaining, keeping wicket and opening the batting – and somehow made it work, scoring 73 off 81 balls. Wanindu Hasaranga, shoved up the order from seven to five, rose to the occasion with a feisty 54. The only problem was that no one else turned up apart from Dushmantha Chameera, who was incisive but also expensive as Bairstow’s ebullience made a feeble total look even worse.
Today’s game is at the Oval, where the field is big and so, as a rule, are the scores. Jason Roy, expected to be fit again, will be licking his lips on his home turf. England usually beat Sri Lanka there, but then this contest is overdue some ebb and flow. Play starts at 1pm UK time and the forecast is dry. I’ll be back around 12.35 with the toss and the teams.
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