Sri Lanka vs. England, 4th ODI, 2014: Highlights, Scorecard and Report

Sri Lanka moved into a 3-1 lead in their one-day international series with England on Sunday, as a six-wicket victory kept up the tourists’ misery. 

England started the day at bat after winning the toss, with Moeen Ali and Alex Hales opening in Colombo.

While Ali started encouragingly, Hales was dismissed for a duck while trying to drive Dhammika Prasad’s delivery, giving Mahela Jayawardene the easy task of taking the catch.

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

Ali’s wicket soon followed at the hands of Tillakaratne Dilshan, before the James Taylor party began.

The Nottinghamshire batsman formed a strong partnership with Joe Root at the crease, finding boundaries with ease as England slowly started to get a foothold in the match.

It wasn’t long before Taylor chalked up his maiden 50, needing just 69 balls to reach the landmark. However, his partnership with Root was ended soon after.

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

Rangana Herath’s delivery tempted Root into playing the cut, but his timing was off as the ball bounded into the stumps.

Taylor was next to go as he closed in on the century, making it to 90 before slogging Ajantha Mendis’ ball straight down the ground into the grateful hands of Kushal Perera.

It was an outstanding performance from the 24-year-old, though, who was praised by Nottinghamshire CCC following his innings:

Sadly for England, the majority of the rest of the order couldn’t pick up where Taylor left off, with Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan mustering just 50 runs between them.

Eoin Morgan gave England something to cheer with 62 runs from just 47 balls, per England Cricket, but they closed all out for 265.

Morgan, who took the captaincy in Alastair Cook's absence, has been in somewhat questionable form lately, but leading the pack raised his game—just as he predicted, via BBC Sport:

"I've had a reasonably good run of form when I've captained the side in the past. If it can help turn around my low run of scores, then I'll be even more pleased."

While not the worst score imaginable, it was difficult to see it being enough to dispose of the Sri Lankans. Here’s a look at England’s scorecard:

Batsmen	Dismisssal	Bowler	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Moeen	c Sangakkara	b Dilshan	19	20	3	0
Hales	c M Jayawardene	b Prasad	0	1	0	0
Taylor	c K Perera	b A Mendis	90	109	6	2
Root		b Herath	36	49	1	1
Bopara		b Dilshan	22	31	0	0
Morgan	c Sangakkara	b Dilshan	62	47	4	3
Buttler	c M Jayawardene	b Herath	15	22	0	1
Stokes	c T Perera	b A Mendis	6	6	1	0
Woakes		b Herath	6	9	0	0
Jordan	c T Perera	b A Mendis	1	2	0	0
Finn	not out		1	4	0	0
Extras			7
Total			265

Despite not posting the biggest total, England were given plenty of early encouragement when it was their turn to bowl.

After dismissing Dilshan for just 19 early on thanks to a Woakes delivery, the tourists suddenly had a bit of belief in them. Ali taking Kusal Perera’s wicket only added to that, as England looked dangerous at 69-2.

However, Kumar Sangakkara’s arrival at the crease brought England back down to earth, as the wicketkeeper began his century pursuit.

He was picking off everything that the visitors threw at him, scoring several impressive fours—one of which was a brilliant piece of improvisation, as cricket writer Jack Mendel revealed:

"

Sangakkara's Sachin impression. A breathtakingly good stroke, over the keeper. Wow. https://t.co/M1T1SVhuVq

— Jack Mendel (@JackMendel4) December 7, 2014"

However, sitting on 86 after a superb innings, Sangakkara’s wicket finally fell, with Jordan’s ball seeing the Sri Lankan play it right into Woakes, per England Cricket:

That left the hosts on 214-4 with just eight overs remaining, but they managed to creep over the line without dropping another wicket.

Captain Angelo Mathews was the star of the late show, chalking up 51, as he finished the job alongside Lahiru Thirimanne with three balls remaining.

Here’s a look at Sri Lanka’s scorecard from another fruitful day for the hosts:

Batsmen	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Balls	Fours	Sixes
Dilshan	c Morgan	b Woakes	16	21	3	0
K Perera	c Jordan	b Moeen	31	41	3	0
Sangakkara	c Woakes	b Jordan	86	105	7	0
M Jayawardene		b Jordan	44	50	4	0
Mathews	not out		51	60	5	0
Thirimanne	not out		19	21	2	0
Extras		20
Total		267

Sunday’s ODI leaves England on the brink of defeat in the seven-day series, and unless they up their all-round game considerably, it could prove an embarrassing scoreline.

Positives can be taken from Taylor’s performance, and hopefully it’ll warrant a repeat selection, but other areas simply need to be assessed.

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

The bowling wasn’t good enough on a very generous surface, with the lack of world-class spin options plain to see.

Wednesday sees England and Sri Lanka return to action in Pallekele, where the tourists simply have to win to avoid a dismal trip away from home.

Unless something changes, though, that’s undoubtedly going to be the case.