Lanka chases 262 for series win

DURHAM, June 24 - Sri Lanka were left chasing 262 to beat England in the third one-day international and take a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match series played at Riverside here today.

Winning the toss for the first time in the series England reached 261-7 off fifty overs in a match skipper Andrew Strauss said they had to play like a final to keep the series alive.

Strauss and Trescothick got the innings off to a good start with the best stand of the series putting on 62 off 76 balls before Chaminda Vaas got rid of both to put the breaks on the run rate.

Being the second most experienced bowler in the side after Muralitharan, Vaas adjusted himself superbly to the situation and gave Sri Lanka the start they wanted on a slow flat pitch where there was no movement for the bowlers.

England's openers once again squandered an opportunity to play a big innings. Strauss was trapped lbw for 32 and 12 balls later Trescothick got out to a poor shot when he played all over a Vaas delivery and was bowled for 36 off 39 balls (6 fours).

Their early dismissals inside the first 15 overs brought undue pressure on Kevin Pietersen who had clearly not recovered from his knee injury sustained in the last game at the Oval. He came to the wicket with a limp and got hit again in the same spot by a ball from Maharoof before he had got into double figures. After receiving treatment on the field he slashed at a delivery from Malinga to give Sangakkara an easy catch behind the wicket. It was quite clear that the injury got the better of him and led to his dismissal for six.

England's innings from then failed to pick up momentum and their lack-lustre batting was illustrated by Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood in partnership.

They added 53 runs for the fourth wicket off 74 balls before Collingwood dropped at nine by Arnold at gully hit a straight catch to Dilshan at cover off Bandara. He made 33 off 42 balls (3 fours).

Sri Lanka bowled very well getting their basics right and spinners Bandara and Jayasuriya pinned England further down not allowing them to break free. How much England's batsmen struggled to get the ball off the square was signified by Bell taking 86 balls for his fourth one-day fifty, which comprised only two boundaries.

The arrival of Jamie Dalrymple playing in his fifth one-day international livened proceedings and he went onto play a cameo knock of 35 off 32 balls which comprised a six and three fours.

He took 16 runs off a Vaas over before exposing his leg stump to Malinga and being bowled. But he at least pushed England's sagging run rate up with a partnership of 63 off 66 balls with Bell who went onto top score with 77 off 114 balls (3 fours) before being run out in the penultimate over.

With Jones who lashed out for an unbeaten 22 off 13 balls (3 fours), England was able to eventually go past the 250-run mark which at one time looked a distant dream.

The light became very gloomy towards the end of the England innings with several dark clouds hovering around giving the impression that there would be rain before the Sri Lanka innings.

Sri Lanka making two changes with leg-spinner Malinga Bandara getting his first international match on the tour for Sri Lanka in the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan who had to return home following the illness of his son.

The good news for Sri Lanka was that fast bowler Dilhara Fernando was declared fit to play after missing out on the Oval match due to an ankle injury. He replaced Ruchira Perera. England made one change with Warwickshire all-rounder Alex Loudon getting his first one-day cap at the expense of Tim Bresnan.

 ENGLAND 
M. Trescothick  b Vaas			36
A. Strauss      lbw b Vaas		32
I. Bell         run out			77
K. Pietersen    c Sangakkara b Malinga	 6
P. Collingwood  c Dilshan b Bandara	33
J. Dalrymple    b Malinga		35
G. Jones        not out			22
A. Loudon       run out			 0
L. Plunkett     not out			 6
EXTRAS  (lb-5 nb-3 w-6)			14
TOTAL (for 7 wickets, 50 overs)		261
 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-62 2-75 3-92 4-145 5-208 6-252 7-253
BOWLING C. Vaas 9 - 0 - 38 - 2, 
L. Malinga 10 - 0 - 50 - 2 (w-2),     
 D. Fernando 10 - 0 - 68 - 0 (nb-2 w-1), 
F. Maharoof 8 - 0 - 38 - 0 (nb-1 w-1), 
M. Bandara 8 - 0 - 35 - 1 (w-1), 
S. Jayasuriya   5 - 0 - 27 - 0.

Flash

Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets