Lanka complete 5-0 whitewash of England

Sanath, Upul settle the issue with world record opening stand

LEEDS, July 1 - Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga scored centuries apiece and put on a world record double century opening partnership as Sri Lanka beat England by a emphatic comprehensive margin of eight wickets in the fifth and final one-day international to complete a 5-0 whitewash of the series at Headingley, Leeds here today.

England's best total of the series and the highest on this ground 321-7 was made to look rather small when Sri Lanka knocked off those runs with 12.3 overs to spare scoring 324 for two wickets. England bowlers did not bowl so badly as they had in the previous games in the series but just got mugged by the Lankan openers who scored the runs at a phenomenal rate.

A big hit... Sri Lanka's Upul Tharanga hits the ball on his way to making a century during their fifth one day international cricket match against England at Headingley in Leeds, northern England July 1, 2006. (REUTERS)

Jayasuriya made a magnificent 152 off 99 balls with 20 fours and four sixes and, Tharanga 109 off 102 balls with 14 fours and a six as they put on 286 for the first wicket to break the world record of Indian pair Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar who shared 258 against Kenya in 2001-02.

Jayasuriya who turned 37 on Friday showed that he had lost none of his old sparkle despite his age as he completed his 21st one-day international hundred and his fourth against England. In a flawless display of batting the Matara Mauler took only 72 balls to reach three figures which included two sixes and 13 fours. His fifty came off 26 balls (1 six, 9 fours) and his 150 off 95 balls (20 fours, 4 sixes).

Tharanga was not far away in stroke play matching his more senior partner with blazing cuts and drives. He took ten balls longer than Jayasuriya to reach his century, which included one six and 14 fours. It was his fourth one-day hundred and his second against England.

The Lankan openers savaged the hapless England bowling to all parts of the ground as they destroyed England's confidence with the ball. The way runs started to flow it was like a lottery out in the middle.

The game was good as over by the tenth over when Kabir Ali was taken apart by Jayasuriya and Tharanga for 25 runs. Sri Lanka had by then racked up 133 runs so that the asking rate had dropped to less than five an over. The 150-run partnership came off just 79 balls.

The run rate slackened a little bit when Strauss did not take the second power play so that the field fell back. But by then Sri Lanka needed only to push the singles to romp home comfortably. Jayasuriya and Tharanga performed this to perfection and once the power play came into play again they pitched on to the England bowlers giving them no respite. The win was the final nail in the coffin for England as they were outplayed in all five one-day matches. It was the first time they lost a one-day series at home by such a margin.

England came into this match with a lot of pride at stake. Marcus Trescothick gave them a chance to avoid a whitewash with his 12th one-day hundred and his first against Sri Lanka. The left-hander went onto score 121 off 118 balls (16 fours, 1 six) to lay the foundation for England's big total on a perfect batting pitch and fast outfield. Trescothick was in fact lucky to benefit from a poor umpiring decision by Billy Doctrove at 36 when he inside edged a delivery from Fernando to Sangakkara and was given the benefit. He made full use of his fortune to play a fine innings for England whose batting had been lacking for a centurion in the series. Trescothick punched the ball through the field using the pace of the ball and collected a heap of boundaries. When he reached his century off 102 balls (16 fours) there weren't many Sri Lankan fielders applauding that feat.

England won the toss and made the best use of it racing to their best opening stand of the series when Trescothick and Cook put on 82 off 102 balls. Cook who had suddenly taken the offensive fell in the first over after the drinks break when he drove the ball from Maharoof to be caught at extra cover by Jayawardene for 41 scored off 54 balls (5 fours).

But with Trescothick going well at one end, England forged two more half-centuries involving the opener with Bell and skipper Strauss to keep the momentum going. After Trescothick's dismissal at 233 in the 39th over, England were helped past their first total of over 300 in the series by two of their younger players Vikram Solanki and Jamie Dalrymple. They added 62 off 47 balls for the fifth wicket before Lasith Malinga put a break on the scoring by capturing three wickets in his second spell to finish with a one-day career best figures of four for 44. Solanki finished on 44 not out scored off 34 balls (3 fours, 1 six) and Dalrymple made 30 off 27 balls before becoming one of three Malinga victims.

During the course of the England's innings came the sad news that Fred Trueman, a former Yorkshire and England fast bowler had died of cancer at the age of 75. It was at Headingley that Trueman played most of his cricket for Yorkshire and his death cast a pall of gloom on the ground overshadowing England's best batting performance of the series. The total was England's highest in a one-day match at Headingley surpassing the previous best of 295 against New Zealand in 1990.

England unchanged side with Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood still on the injury list. Out of form Russell Arnold was left out of the Sri Lanka side his place going to young Chamara Kapugedera.

ENGLAND INNINGS

M. Trescothick b Jayasuriya		121
A. Cook c Jayawardene b Maharoof	 41
I. Bell c Sangakkara b D. Fernando	 18
A. Strauss c Sangakkara b Malinga	 26
V. Solanki not out			 44
J. Dalrymple lbw b Malinga	 	 30
G. Jones lbw b Malinga	  		  2
T. Bresnan b Malinga	  		  4
L. Plunkett not out	 		  9
Extras (lb-9 nb-6 w-11)	 		 26
TOTAL (for 7 wickets,50 overs)		321
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-82, 2-157, 3-225, 4-233, 5-295, 6-304, 7-308.
DID NOT BAT: K. Ali, S. Harmison.
BOWLING: C. Vaas 8-2-41-0 (nb-2), 
L. Malinga 10-0-44-4 (nb-1 w-2), D. Fernando 8-0-61-1 (nb-3), 
F. Maharoof 9-0-52-1 (w-1), T. Dilshan 3-0-29-0 (w-1), 
M. Bandara 7-0-50-0 (w-1), S. Jayasuriya 5-0-35-1.

SRI LANKA INNINGS

U. Tharanga c & b Dalrymple		109
S. Jayasuriya c Strauss b Solanki	152
M. Jayawardene not out			 12
K. Sangakkara not out			 23
Extras (lb-10 nb-9 w-9)			 28
TOTAL (for 2 wickets, 37.3 overs)	324

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-286, 2-289
DID NOT BAT: T. Dilshan, C. Kapugedera, F. Maharoof, 
C. Vaas, M. Bandara, L. Malinga, D. Fernando.
BOWLING: K. Ali 6-0-72-0 (nb-5), T. Bresnan 2-0-29-0 (w-1), 
L. Plunkett     5-0-46-0 (w-2), S. Harmison 10-0-97-0 (nb-3 w-5), 
J. Dalrymple 10-0-48-1 (w-1), I. Bell 1-0-5-0 (nb-1), 
V. Solanki 3.3-0-17-1.
Result: Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.