Sri Lanka beat England by seven runs in 4th ODI to square series two-all:

Sanga (112), lord at Lord’s

Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from England

London, May 31.-Sri Lanka came back with a vengeance after their Manchester mauling to eat England by seven runs today and square the series 2-all with one to play in Birmingham on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka 301 for England chasing a huge 300 for 9 - England 293 for 8. England after early losses helped by a stand of 133 in 100 balls by Jos Butler a brilliant 121 - 100 in 61 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes- and Ravi Bopara 51 but failed in the chase.

After Sangakkara and Dilshan heroics, and when England began their chase they were rocked by ‘slinger’ Lasith Malinga who had Cook 1 plumb in front and then had Bell 7 taken low down by Jayewardene at slip.

Earlier, a century of sheer class and brilliance by leftie Kumar Sangakkara who was involved in a partnership of 172 for the second wicket with Tillakaratne Dilshan lifted the batting and it lit up Lord’s.

Sri Lanka making use of Cook’s generosity piled up and the agony on England to make 300 for 9 in 50 overs leaving England to make 301 or sink or swim.

Sangakkara’s century, his first one at the holy land of cricket was worth coming all the way from Sri Lanka to see. With this century which every cricketer dreams, but rarely make dream come true, he joined a rare of band of batsmen who have scored a century at this hallowed venue.

His driving on either side of the wicket was a treat to watch. The moment the ball left his bat it rocketed to the boundary as if jet propelled. When he was stumped by Jos Buttler off James Tredwell for 112 off 104 balls with 14 fours all stood up to him and cheered him all the way back to the pavilion.

Dilshan too batted beautifully putting on show his now famous ‘Dilscoop’ and although playing second fiddle Sangakkara made a grand 71 with 5 fours in 109 balls. He was bowled by Anderson attempting the ‘Dilscoop’.

Sangakkara and Dilshan were involved in a second wicket stand of 172 in 188 balls and during that stand they milked the bowling and the bowlers looked helpless. Mahela Jayawardene’s poor form continued as he made only 7 before lofting Harry Gurney to mid off fielder Anderson. It was an unlike Jayawardene innings and he will have to rethink.

Mathews hit hard for 30 in 30 with 4 fours, Thirimanne made 16,

Kulasekara no score, Ashan Priyanjana 9, Sachitra Senanayake 12 and Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga remained on 4 and 0.

After Perera departed Sangakkara joined Dilshan and what a batting display they provided. Both aggressive batsmen found their old timing and playing some exquisite strokes sent the scoreboard galloping.

After a sloven batting display by the team at Manchester where they were dismissed for 67, Dilshan and Sangakkara put the muscle into the batting and it raised the levels and made the bowling look ordinary.

In admiration of their sparkling stroke play, the clouds and the overcast conditions rolled by and the sun broke out in all its

splendour and glory and the venue looked glorious.

Openers Kusal Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan gave the Lankans the start from which they could launch. The 26 they put on was solid with Perera the more aggressive hitting two fours and a six in 15 balls, before playing too early and edging for Chris Jordan to take a low diving catch at slip off Harry Gurney.

Lord’s looked a picturesque with the sun shining brightly when the Captains Angelo Mathews and Alastair Cook walked out to spin the all important coin.

Captain Cook won the toss and invited Sri Lanka to bat. It got a bit overcast before the toss and the freshness of the pitch may have prompted Cook’s decision to field. But it was obvious that Cook had cocked it up because his bowlers were not giving him the early wickets.

It was good to see Kusal Janith Perera back to open. Dinesh Chandimal who has a century to his name at Lord’s was left out and also leftie Rangana Herath was benched and in came Ajantha Mendis. England went in unchanged.

The wicket looked a good one for stroke making and except for the early movement, the side batting first had to look for a score of over 250 or over to put the side chasing under pressure.

After the rain and cold conditions experienced during the past four days, the weather lords looked kindly on the cricketers and the cricket fans at Lord’s on Saturday and it dawned bright and sunny and the conditions were ideal for a good day’s cricket.

The match was a sell out and the full house of cricket fans were hoping for an interesting day’s play and a full 50 overs and would not want to see the dreaded pair of Duckworth and Lewis at play.

Getting off the tube at St. John’s Wood and walking to the Lord’s Cricket ground, I noticed ticket touts selling tickets at double the price hoping to make a quick quid.

scoreboard

Sri Lanka innings
Tillakaratne Dilshan b Anderson			71
Kusal Perera c Jordan b Gurney			19
Kumar Sangakkara st Buttler b Tredwell	       112
Mahela Jayawardene c Anderson b Gurney		07
Angelo Mathews c Anderson b Jordan		30
Lahiru Thirimanne c Ballance b Anderson		16
Ashan Priyanjan c Morgan b Gurney		09
Nuwan Kulasekara b Jordan			00
Sachithra Senanayake c Cook b Gurney		12
Ajantha Mendis not out 				04
Lasith Malinga not out				00
Extras (lb 3, w 16, nb 1)			20
TOTAL (9 wickets; 50 overs)		       300

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Perera), 2-198 (Dilshan)
		 3-217 (Jayawardene), 4-233 (Sangakkara)
		 5-261 (Thirimanne), 6-279 (Mathews)
		 7-280 (Kulasekara), 8-292 (Priyanjan)
		 9-296 (Senanayake)
Bowling: Anderson 10-1-60-2
 	 Gurney 10-2-55-4
	 Root 6-0-40-0
	 Jordan 10-0-67-2
	 Tredwell 10-0-39-1
	 Bopara 4-0-36-0

England innings
Alastair Cook lbw b Malinga			01
Ian Bell c Jayawardene b Malinga		07
Gary Ballance c Sangakkara b Mendis		42
Joe Root c Mendis b Mathews			43
Eoin Morgan st Sangakkara b Senanayake		12
Ravi Bopara c Thirimanne b Mendis		51
Jos Buttler run out (Malinga)		       121
Chris Jordan c Dilshan b Malinga		05
James Tredwell not out				00
James Anderson not out				00
Extras (lb 6, w 3, nb 1)			10
TOTAL (8 wickets; 49.5 overs)		       293

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Cook), 2-10 (Bell), 3-94 (Ballance)
		 4-107 (Root), 5-111 (Morgan), 6-244 (Bopara)
		 7-290 (Jordan), 8-292 (Buttler)
Bowling: Kulasekara 10-0-81-0
	 Malinga 10-2-52-3
	 Mathews 7-1-30-1
	 Senanayake 10-0-49-1
	 Mendis 10-0-60-2
	 Priyanjan 3-0-15-0