Sri Lanka vs. England, 5th ODI: Highlights, Scorecard and Report
England chased down 240 for victory at a canter to keep their ODI series with Sri Lanka alive.
Taking advantage of a reserve day after rain had curtailed Wednesday’s play, England produced a polished run chase, dominated by Joe Root and James Taylor, to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the seven-game series.
"James Taylor and Joe Root young and dynamic players refreshing . Good to watch !
— Ian Botham (@BeefyBotham) December 11, 2014"
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It was an excellent, well-timed chase, and England will take great confidence from it. They will also take confidence from the bowling display of Chris Woakes.
England have often found it tough to bowl to tailenders, but, in Woakes, they found a man for the job.
Woakes’ final three overs yielded five wickets, six in total, with the seamer being rewarded for some disciplined bowling that ensured he became the first Englishman to take six wickets in an ODI on two occasions.
"All hail Chris Woakes. The Rohit Sharma of England ODI record-breaking
— Andrew Miller (@miller_cricket) December 10, 2014"
The late blitz from Woakes restricted Sri Lanka to 239, but it could have been a far smaller total.
England were guilty of sloppy fielding and wayward bowling. That, combined with a brilliant innings from Kumar Sangakkara, kept Sri Lanka in the game.
After Tillakaratne Dilshan departed when dragging a ball from Chris Jordan onto his own stumps, Sangakkara was the only batsman who looked comfortable on the turning surface.
On a Pallekele pitch that saw James Tredwell and Moeen Ali extract sharp, exaggerated spin, Sangakkara measured his innings superbly.
He did not go in search of big shots when runs dried up, and he was content to milk the spinners for ones and twos.
The sense of Sangakkara’s approach was reinforced when he and Angelo Mathews fell in quick succession, as the final four runs yielded only 40 runs.
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Balls | Strike Rate |
| TM Dilshan | b Jordan | 35 | 31 | 112.90 |
| MDKJ Perera | c Jordan b Finn | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| KC Sangakkara† | c Root b Woakes | 91 | 123 | 73.98 |
| DPMD Jayawardene | c Jordan b Woakes | 2 | 3 | 66.66 |
| AD Mathews* | c Woakes b Jordan | 40 | 76 | 52.63 |
| HDRL Thirimanne | lbw b Tredwell | 8 | 19 | 42.10 |
| BMAJ Mendis | c & b Woakes | 12 | 15 | 80.00 |
| NLTC Perera | c Root b Woakes | 27 | 17 | 152.82 |
| SMSM Senanayake | b Woakes | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| KTGD Prasad | not out | 5 | 5 | 100.00 |
| BAW Mendis | b Woakes | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| Extras | (b 2, lb 2, w 15) | 19 | ||
| Total | all out, 50 overs | 239 | ||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| ST Finn | 6 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| CR Woakes | 8 | 0 | 47 | 6 |
| MM Ali | 10 | 0 | 50 | 0 |
| CJ Jordan | 10 | 0 | 56 | 2 |
| JC Tredwell | 10 | 2 | 33 | 1 |
| JE Root | 5 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
The covers came on after the Sri Lanka innings and were not removed until the following morning.
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Balls | Strike Rate |
| AN Cook* | lbw b Senanayake | 20 | 30 | 66.66 |
| MM Ali | b Senanayake | 4 | 4 | 100.00 |
| JWA Taylor | c BAW Mendis b NLTC Perera | 68 | 90 | 75.55 |
| JE Root | Not Out | 104 | 117 | 88.88 |
| RS Bopara | c Thirimanne b Dilshan | 28 | 49 | 57.14 |
| EJG Morgan | c NLTC Perera b BAW Mendis | 5 | 5 | 100.00 |
| JC Buttler | Not Out | 2 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Extras | (lb 6, w 2, nb 1) | 9 | ||
| Total | (5 wickets; 49.1 overs) | 240 | ||
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets |
| TM Dilshan | 9.1 | 0 | 45 | 1 |
| SMSM Senanayake | 10 | 0 | 35 | 2 |
| AD Mathews | 4 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| KTGD Prasad | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| BMAJ Mendis | 7 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| BAW Mendis | 9 | 0 | 49 | 1 |
| NLTC Perera | 6 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
England’s chase began in disappointing fashion, with Moeen Ali paying the price for an ugly heave by losing his off stump to the spin of Sachithra Senanayake, who was back in the side after having his action cleared by the ICC.
England skipper Alastair Cook did little to ease the pressure on his shoulders by falling lbw to Senanayake. Cook made 20, but it was in extremely scratchy fashion, and he simply played for spin that was not there.
Taylor followed up his 90 in the previous game with an excellent 68. Taylor used his feet to the spinners, advancing down the pitch to nullify the spin and rocking back to punish anything short.
Taylor and Root put on 104, but the former miscued a top edge off Thisara Perera and was pouched at long leg by Ajantha Mendis.
Root did not panic as the run rate was manageable, and he had plenty of batting support to come. In a similar vein to Sangakkara, Root punished the bad balls and manipulated the good balls into gaps for singles and twos.
With six overs remaining, the rate was a comfortable five an over. However, Root and Ravi Bopara panicked a shade, and the latter was caught on the boundary by Lahiru Thirimanne.
Eoin Morgan eased the nerves by sweeping his first ball for four. Root swatted a huge six to bring up his hundred, and it helped England ease home with five balls to spare.
The two teams will return to Pallekele for the sixth game on Saturday. It is likely to be a similar pitch, which will offer assistance to the spinners.
That would suggest it would favour the home side, but that did not prove the case in the fifth game, so England will take confidence into the contest.
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