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29 March 2024

Sri Lanka vs England 1st ODI: Lanka win despite Moeen century

Published
By Agencies

A magnificent century by Moeen Ali proved in vain as England suffered a 25-run defeat to Sri Lanka in the first of seven one-day internationals on Wednesday.

The left-handed opener struck 119 as England replied to Sri Lanka's 317 for six but the chase petered out once he was dismissed in the 30th over.

Half-centuries from openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kusal Perera and some lusty hitting at the end of the innings set up Sri Lanka's innings.

Put in to bat after a rain-delayed start, they built on an opening stand of 120 from Dilshan (88) and Perera (59) to set England a challenging target.

Moeen (119) then made full use of a run of luck to give the visitors a lightning start with his maiden one-day international hundred coming off 72 deliveries.

The left-hander, who scored England's second fastest half-century in just 25 balls, batted with ease and sublime timing and his 87-ball knock was studded with 11 fours and five sixes.

The 27-year-old was lucky too. On seven the ball found the edge of his bat and rolled on to the stumps but failed to dislodge the bails while he was also dropped twice later -- on 72 and 89. He was finally out offering a tame return catch to leg spinner Jeevan Mendis and his efforts were ultimately in vain despite England apparently cruising at one stage, reaching 107 for one in 15 overs.

Ian Bell, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan all fell quickly and although a superior scoring rate kept England interested, regular wickets proved to be their undoing. Ravi Bopara staged a lone battle at the end with four boundaries and two sixes in his 62-ball 65 but was the last man to fall as England were all out for 292 with 17 balls to spare.

Thisara Perera was the most successful bowler for Sri Lanka with three wickets for 44 runs. Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath picked up two wickets apiece.

Earlier, Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene (58 in 55 balls) anchored Sri Lanka's innings with a 76-run stand for the third wicket and laid the foundation for a late assault.

Captain Angelo Mathews (33 off 24 balls) and Jeevan Mendis (14-ball 30) provided just that for the hosts who added 94 in the last 10 overs.

James Tredwell was the pick of England's bowlers with two for 52 while Chris Woakes also scalped two but gave away 68 runs. The second match of the series is at the same venue on Saturday.

 

England will look to settle scores against Sri Lanka after their bad-tempered clash earlier this year when the two sides meet in a pre-World Cup one-day series from Wednesday.

The seven-match tour has been spiced up by comments from England captain Alastair Cook that his team will try to exact revenge for the Test and one-day defeats at home.

Cook's status as captain came under heavy pressure after the 1-0 Test defeat, and tempers frayed in the ODIs when off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake controversially ran out Jos Buttler before delivering a ball.

"There is a World Cup at the end of it, but we are here to try and win this series," Cook said on arrival. "I think we owe you (Sri Lanka) a little bit of revenge."

The 'Mankaded' dismissal by Senanayake, since suspended for an illegal bowling action, is considered to be against cricket's spirit of fair play.

But Sri Lanka insisted Buttler was earlier warned for backing up, and senior pro Mahela Jayawardene lashed out at Cook for questioning Senanayake's run-out.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka are smarting from this month's 5-0 thrashing in India in a series that was hastily arranged after the West Indies abandoned their Indian tour over a pay dispute.

Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews insisted the matches will be used to recover from the morale-sapping loss and find the right combination for the World Cup starting in February.

"We need to get back into our groove," Mathews said. "We want to look at players whom we think need to be looked at and whom we think will go on the World Cup.

"It's very important that we sort out our bowlers and also the batting order. By the end of the series we should have a very clear idea of whom we want to take to the World Cup."

Both teams are grouped together in the preliminary stage of the World Cup and will feature on the opening day on February 14, with Sri Lanka playing New Zealand and England facing Australia.

The upcoming series, which opens in Colombo, provides both teams a chance to strike form - provided the weather does not play spoilsport.

The prevailing north-east monsoon over the island has already forced one of the two warm-up matches to be abandoned, leaving the tourists short of match practice.

With more rain forecast during the series, Sri Lankan officials have set aside reserve days for five of the seven matches.

"It's not ideal, is it?" England batsman Ian Bell said. "But I suppose, on this tour, we're going to get interrupted by rain all the way through."

England have lost 11 of 18 one-dayers this year, including a 4-1 drubbing in Australia which co-hosts the World Cup with New Zealand in February-March.

Teams

England
(from): Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes.

Sri Lanka (from): Angelo Mathews (capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kusal Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis, Thilina Kandamby, Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Ajantha Mendis, Shaminda Eranga, Dhammika Prasad, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Gamage.

Schedule:


Nov 26: First ODI, Colombo (day-night)
Nov 29: Second ODI, Colombo
Dec 3: Third ODI, Hambantota (day-night)
Dec 7: Fourth ODI, Colombo
Dec 10: Fifth ODI, Pallekelle (day-night)
Dec 13: Sixth ODI, Pallekelle
Dec 16: Seventh ODI, Colombo (day-night)