England's Batting Lets Them Down Despite Moeen Ali and Ravi Bopara Heroics

England's tour of Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start as the visitors went down by 25 runs to the hosts in the first one-day international in Colombo.

Chasing 318 for victory, the tourists faltered and eventually made 292 all out, in spite of a brilliant 119 from opener Moeen Ali and 65 from Ravi Bopara at No. 7.

The performances of those two were not the issue, however, as the supporting cast around them was poor and only four other players reached double figures.

In addition, the much-vaunted combination at No. 4 and No. 5 of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan contributed just three runs between them and were dismissed within an over of each other.

It meant that Ali and Bopara were left high and dry by their team-mates, and while they took England to the brink of victory, it was not enough to give them a morale-boosting win.

Things had looked much more promising for the away side early on, as Ian Bell joined Ali and went at around a run a ball to take England past 100.

However, Bell was caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene for 35, meaning he wasted a good start and handed some momentum back to the Sri Lankans.

Root was then undone by some poor footwork and caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara, then Morgan's recent poor trot continued as he was bowled by Ajantha Mendis.

Having been 107-1, England were then 124-4 when Morgan was dismissed, meaning they had largely wasted their good start with a collapse and left Ali fighting a lone battle.

Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were also both guilty of wasting starts, with the former's dismissal coming at a bad time after he had made 21 from 21 balls.

The pressure told on Stokes, too, as he edged behind off Rangana Herath, then it was left to the tail to try and support Bopara, with Ali having departed at the hands of Jeevan Mendis.

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It all meant that after Ali had ploughed something of a lone furrow at the top of the order, Bopara was left in a seemingly hopeless position to try and haul England to victory.

It has happened so often before, with a middle-order collapse meaning Bopara must be the one to provide a miracle, and he nearly pulled it off with 65 from 62 balls.

He looked to be getting the visitors close but was once again let down by a supporting class that could have been a little more cautious and able to provide some stability at the other end.

The Essex man's innings should quell the last of those who doubt his place in this England ODI side, but once again Bopara was left to do it virtually alone with the odds against him.

That no batsman—other than Ali and Bopara—was capable of sticking around at the crease for an extended length of time will be a worry for England.

The tourists have a talented squad of batsmen and others on the fringes of the squad, and for them to be World Cup contenders, they will need more of their players to step up.