England’s tour of Sri Lanka got off to a false start on Wednesday due to rain – but they opened opened the floodgates early on in the second ODI.
Eoin Morgan raced to a half-century and more, but Lasith Malinga dragged the hosts back into the game after quickly taking the England captain and Moeen Ali’s wickets.
Adil Rashid (19no) added a late flourish after Joe Root (71) and Morgan (92) had done most of the damage. Malinga’s superb five-for, however, kept England in check as Sri Lanka look to chase down a target of 279.
But Sri Lanka were in all sorts of trouble almost immediately, as Chris Woakes and debutant Olly Stone combined with their seam to snare three wickets inside the first seven overs.
Despite teetering at one stage on 74-5, the hosts finally struck gold with the partnership of Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Perera, as the pair closed in on their half-centuries.
As it was, the elements snuffed out Sri Lanka’s chances, with a heavy downpour bringing a 31-run victory via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
Follow the Sri Lankan reply below.
