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England thrashed as Sri Lanka level up one-day series at Durham England thrashed as Sri Lanka level up one-day series at Durham
(about 1 hour later)
England collapsed to a shambolic 157-run defeat at Chester-le-Street as Sri Lanka levelled the one-day international series at 1-1. The received wisdom for this summer was that the Sri Lankans – and possibly the Indians later on – would be neutered by “English” conditions, in which the ball nibbles around deviously in a manner that is somewhat unfamiliar to those raised in Colombo or Chennai. Well, Chester-le-Street can always be relied upon to deliver those conditions, and what happened? The Sri Lankans thrashed a hapless English side by 157 runs.
England, who did almost everything right in an 81-run win at the Oval on Thursday, this time did many things wrong - especially in a hapless pursuit of 256 for eight which ultimately mustered 99 all out in 26.1 overs, their fifth-lowest ODI total. Set a target of 257, England capitulated for 99. Only the stand-in captain, Eoin Morgan, who took over because Alastair Cook has a minor strain in his groin, could produce an innings of any substance. The early damage was done by Nuwan Kulasekara, who took three for one in the space of 11 deliveries in his opening spell. Now Kulasekara might be described as an English-style bowler; most counties have someone like him. He bowls with a little bit of swing and a little bit of seam and he knows where the ball is going to land.
Nuwan Kulasekara (three for 15) did the initial damage, in a spell of three wickets for one run as England lost four for 10 - and at no subsequent stage, despite an attempted rearguard from stand-in captain Eoin Morgan, did they threaten a passable recovery. He is clever, but he is not mysterious, despite the manner in which Michael Carberry, Ian Bell and Gary Ballance were defeated by him on a cloudy afternoon in front of a crowd which just about filled two-thirds of the stadium. This was not English cricket’s finest hour in conditions that Morgan and co would have ordered up beforehand. It was chilly. Tillakaratne Dilshan was wearing a beanie under his cap, while his hand-warmers doubled as ear-warmers during the brief interlude that Sri Lanka were in the field.
It seemed Morgan, deputising for the injured Alastair Cook, had won an important toss which allowed him to put Sri Lanka in on a pitch offering the bowlers sideways movement under cloud cover. If the innocent-looking Kulasekara tormented the upper order, those down below were dispatched by the off-spinner, Sachitra Senanayake, who finished with a career best four for 13. Senanayake has a dodgy-looking action, but one which has been studied by the authorities and deemed acceptable. Anyone complaining about that after this annihilation would be hiding from the truth. To be fair, the England players have not. Morgan has played in the same IPL team as Senanayake but he is unfamiliar to the rest. “He is a good bowler with very good skills”, said Morgan. “He does have an unusual action and – a bit like Malinga – it takes some getting used to.”
But once England began to bat, it became increasingly clear that the efforts of Sri Lanka’s top-scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan (88) and then Ashan Priyanjan were more significant than had first appeared. But the problem was not really Senanayake; the damage had already been done when he set to work. Here was a dire, rudderless batting performance, which gifted Sri Lanka the simplest of victories before 10 overs had been bowled. There was a catalogue of ugly dismissals from Ian Bell’s nibble against Kulasekara to James Tredwell holing out to long-off against Senanayake with the score 73 for seven and Morgan still at the crease.
Kulasekara had Michael Carberry pushing forward and edging behind, before Ian Bell was also caught by the wicketkeeper off a poorly-executed cut and then Gary Ballance was lbw to a delivery which shaped back into him. Few, if any, of England’s batsmen, were victims of unplayable deliveries. Carberry was recalled in Cook’s absence and prodded tentatively while edging to the keeper. Ballance was palpably lbw to a full-length ball and within seven overs England were 29 for four.
In between, Lasith Malinga made short work of Joe Root - who went back when he might have been forward in defence, and losing his off stump. Neither Ravi Bopara nor Jos Buttler could grab an opportunity to make a name for themselves as Senanayake’s carom ball bewildered. England failed to reach triple figures, with Morgan delivering the only convincing shots of the innings. At home England have never lost by so many runs.
Ravi Bopara was then bowled by an off-break from Sachithra Senanayake, who was soon bamboozling Chris Jordan to have him lbw, and Jos Buttler appeared to confuse himself as he bunted a simple catch to mid-off in the captain Angelo Mathews’ solitary over. Their out-cricket was far from flawless. There were 15 wides in the Sri Lanka innings and two straightforward boundary catches were dropped by Harry Gurney and Bopara. Yet despite a fine, measured innings by Dilshan, England managed to keep Sri Lanka in check throughout most of their 50 overs. The target seemed well within reach and that – according to Morgan – was what England thought to be the case on a relatively innocuous surface.
As England’s run of four consecutive ODI victories came to an abrupt end, only details remained. They included a new career-best return of four for 13 for Senanayake and, thanks principally to Morgan’s 40 before he was ninth out for only the second double-figure score of the innings, the avoidance of any new record low totals or margins of failure. Apart from a sudden clubbed six off Gurney, Lahiru Thirimanne was becalmed until he edged a delivery from Jimmy Anderson to second slip. It may be that Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara read the pitch and the situation perfectly. They were not too greedy; they took their time. Even Dilshan, a natural aggressor, reined himself in while making a critical 88 from 101 balls. He permitted himself a solitary scoop, preferring orthodox straight drives and clips off the hip. The old Durham pro, Sangakkara, bided his time as well. In fact he barely timed a ball, but as the match progressed his 40 looked ever more valuable.
The initial impression, several hours earlier, had been that Sri Lanka’s batsmen perhaps erred on the side of caution as they kept wickets intact at the expense of momentum. For the second time in three innings Mahela Jayawardene ran himself out; the felicitous stroke-play still remains but he may have lost a yard in pace. An inelegant dive might have helped. Down the order Angelo Mathews and Ashan Priyanjan, aided by England’s fallibility in the field, provided acceleration which, as it turned out, was not of the much-needed variety.
Morgan deployed his bowlers sensibly, but England donated 15 extra runs and deliveries in wides and put down two routine outfield catches. So the series is squared but a performance like this is bound to dent the confidence of the batsmen. England head off to Old Trafford after which the squad for the remaining two matches will be confirmed. A defeat like this is bound to trigger selectorial headaches, whether Cook is fit or not.
Dilshan batted largely against type in a 101-ball stay which faltered at a decidedly inconvenient moment for the tourists, mid-powerplay just when they had a chance to cash in on their conservative early approach. There is the temptation to be fair to those that have succumbed so tamely. However, fairness is not the first criteria for selectors. The pursuit of the best team should mean that the places of Carberry and Tredwell in particular should be under close scrutiny soon.
The opener Lahiru Thirimanne’s innings was a curiosity, even allowing for the awkward conditions facing him and Dilshan. The left-hander took 18 balls to register his first run, a single to fine-leg off James Anderson, but then responded to some nasty bounce up to the splice from Harry Gurney by smashing the left-armer’s very next delivery over wide long on for six.
He still, however, had made only 10 off 37 balls when Anderson got him for the second match in succession - this time with a little extra bounce and away movement, edged to second slip where James Tredwell took a neat catch.
Dilshan was joined by Kumar Sangakkara, back on the ground where he made his Durham debut three weeks ago after deciding to acclimatise for this tour. They dug in for a stand of 96 in 21 overs until Sangakkara went after Tredwell but managed only to slog-sweep him straight up in the air.
Mahela Jayawardene failed to make his ground for a third run to third-man, beaten by a chase from Ballance and throw on the turn which was not pinpoint. When Jordan nipped a very good ball back through Dilshan’s forward push to hit middle stump, Sri Lanka’s hopes of a big powerplay ended.
But Priyanjan, on six by Gurney at third-man off Jordan, and then Mathews, on 24 at deep midwicket by Bopara off Anderson, were both dropped in a stand of 66 which helped to add 87 in the last 10 overs despite a late clatter of wickets to Gurney (three for 59).
Priyanjan, playing here only because of Thisara Perera’s injury, produced a little gem of an innings of 43 from only 33 balls, before he mistimed to mid-on to become Anderson’s 250th ODI victim.
It transpired he had already helped Sri Lanka make more than enough runs, and the only bad news for them was that the seamer, Suranga Lakmal, has a hamstring tear which will keep him out of the remainder of the series. The tourists have called up Shaminda Eranga as a replacement.