Seven balls is all it takes for Olly Stone to make an impact as England beat Sri Lanka and the monsoon rain
England beat Sri Lanka and the monsoon rains to take a 1-0 lead in the series but more importantly leave Dambulla with a new fast bowler who could be a World Cup star next year.
Olly Stone’s pace and bounce on a slow Sri Lankan pitch was the glimmer of justification for playing a series that is really only designed to fill television schedules and honour bilateral obligations between the two countries, which is why it has been shoehorned into the rainy season.
For Eoin Morgan, Stone is potentially the final, missing piece in an already imposing one-day team. He bagged his first international wicket with his seventh ball, bouncing out Niroshan Dickwella. He then welcomed Kusal Perera by hitting him on the shoulder first ball. He either struck the bat hard or the body of the batsmen and if he keeps this up he could force himself into the Test team too, with captain Joe Root using this series as a chance to sit back and gauge his options.
England won by 31 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method with Sri Lanka 140 for five chasing 279 when the heavy rain arrived. Sri Lanka hammered Stone a bit when he came back on to bowl as they chased the DLS target but it was not enough to dent the good impression he made on his captain, whose 92 was the cornerstone of his team’s win.
“If there has not been a huge amount of depth in one position it has been replacing Liam Plunkett. He has been massive for us for the past few years,” said Eoin Morgan. “He went down injured in Australia and we found it very hard to find a bowler with his attributes who could bowl quick at an stage in the 50 overs but there were signs today Olly could be one of those guys. Even taking the new ball gives him another string to his bow, Liam does not take the new ball.
“He was relaxed and he bowled like he did in the nets. He bowled with pace and got it moving and did it all with a calm head on his shoulders.”
England are all over Sri Lanka!
Chris Woakes has three wickets and Olly Stone picked up his first wicket for his country.
Sri Lanka now 35-4 chasing 279.
Watch now on Sky Sports Cricket or follow: https://t.co/NUPkgaXYKRpic.twitter.com/pHqMleGKnU— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 13, 2018
Officially this was Stone’s second game after Wednesday’s washout but the first time he had managed to get the ball in his hands. Combining nicely with Chris Woakes, who hit the seam and bowled a full length, Sri Lanka were blown away by an England new ball attack, losing three for 20 runs in the first five overs as if they were playing on a green top in Durham rather than in the Dambulla jungle. It was those early wickets that put them so far behind when the rain arrived.
England have been itching to see Stone bowl. The chatter all week has been that Stone has rushed people in the nets and Jos Buttler admitted facing him has not been fun. With Plunkett missing the first three games of this series to get married this is Stone’s chance, especially when he was picked ahead of Mark Wood.
Sometimes players can be nervous when bowling for England for the first time and go safe by cutting down on speed to maintain accuracy but that is not the way in Morgan’s ODI team. He wants players to express themselves. Stone reached 90mph in his first over, seizing his chance. His first spell was tidy, too, with four overs costing only seven runs.
England’s 278 felt a little disappointing after the performances of Root and Morgan, England’s two best players of spin. Root was sublime on his way to his half century, taking on Sri Lanka’s mystery spinners and using his footwork and precision to pick his spots. Morgan started slowly but swept well, finding his scoring range as he took the attack to Sri Lanka, even though he was not always comfortable picking the variations of left-arm wrist spinner Lakshan Sandakan. Root eased to fifty off 54 balls but then became a little bogged down, the frustration summed up by the whack of bat on pad when he was caught off a leading edge.
At 209 for four with 10 overs to go England were full steam ahead for a final 10-over assault that is their speciality. But Lasith Malinga rolled back the years with a death bowling performance that has made him a very rich man.
He bowled well with the new ball, and has lost weight by working hard on his fitness to fight his way back in the Sri Lanka team at the age of 35 with an eye on the World Cup.
But it is with the old ball, in the final few overs when batsmen are ready to take him on that Malinga reveals his full range of skills. He held back the yorker until England’s final charge.
They lost five wickets for 36 starting with captain Morgan, caught off a leading edge for 92. Moeen Ali was bowled by a late dipping yorker first ball and Woakes was lbw to another full delivery. Liam Dawson was also bowled by a Malinga special and England had to bat out the last three overs with the final pair at the crease, but their 278 always felt a target too far for Sri Lanka, a team that does not know its best batting line-up and is so short on confidence.
Dickwella pulled out the Dilscoop in the first over, lifting Woakes for six over long leg but Upal Tharanga was out first ball moments later to a beauty that pitched on off and just nipped away.
Stone then announced his arrival. A short ball surprised Dickwella, who gloved a looping catch that plopped into the gloves of Buttler, dropping as slowly as one of Malinga’s yorkers.
With the clouds brewing up over the hills, Morgan brought on his spinners to whip through the overs knowing that if the innings reached 20 overs it constituted a game. Sri Lanka slogged boundaries but the jungle rain was not going to be held back.
England win by 31 runs (D/L)
England take a 1-0 lead into Wednesday's third one-day international at Kandy after the umpires declared no further play possible at 12.15pm (BST) today. They deserved their victory, built chiefly on the canny, resourceful innings of Test captain Joe Root and his limited-overs' boss, Eoin Morgan, backed up by a jaunty last-wicket partnership and fine opening spells from the twin Bears, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone. We will have Nick Hoult's match report up imminently and will be here from the start of Wednesday's day-nighter with over by over coverage.
Highlights on the TV
But it's still cats and dogs in Dambulla. We'll hang on until the official announcement of England's victory but the likelihood of further play is all but extinct.
Waiting for the inevitable
It's absolutely pelting it down. I fear it will be called off unless it stops in the next 15 minutes and England will take a 1-0 lead, by 31 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
It's still raining
The Sky team on the spot - Ian Ward, Rob Key and Nasser Hussain, have all opted for long sleeve shirts but have turned the cuffs up two turns so they're bare from the mid forearm down. Why so uniform? They look like woodwork teachers or hospital doctors. Where's your lathe, Nasser? Time for cubicle four's enema?
Rain stops play: SL 140/5 chasing 279
Sri Lanka are 31 behind on D/L should further play be impossible. It's absolutely siling it down at the moment but the covers are vast and the crew have put them on rapidly. If the storm passes quickly there is always a chance of more play.
OVER 29: SL 140/5 (De Silva 36* Thisara Perera 44* ) chasing 279
Two runs off Moeen's over but the lightning is getting alarmingly closer and the umpires call on the covers because if they strike the ground the groundstaff would be extremely vulnerable. Better to get the sheets on now than wait until it's perilously close.
OVER 28: SL 138/5 (De Silva 35* Thisara Perera 43* ) chasing 279
Excellent comeback from Rashid who reins in the assault from his first over with a tighter line. Just the one off the over. There are bolts of lightning in the distance that are making Jonny Bairstow wince on the boundary. From being almost dead, Sri Lanka have hauled themselves back into the game on the D/L but are still 30-odd runs short because of the five wickets.
OVER 27: SL 137/5 (De Silva 35* Thisara Perera 42* ) chasing 279
Remarkable effort from Stokes running backwards at point and diving almost headlong to try to catch one that was arrowing over his shoulder. It hit the finger tips of his outstretchd right hand and fell to the ground. He curses himself but everyone else applauds his effort and agility. The ball flew off the leading edge of Thisara's bat, in the manner that Root and Morgan were out. Sticky pitch.
OVER 26: SL 133/5 (De Silva 33* Thisara Perera 40* ) chasing 279
Here's Adil Rashid into the attack. He fires the first ball in flat at Thisara carts him over wide long on for six. The rush of blood is conquered next ball with a flick into the onside for a single. De Silva works a single to cover but Thisara scorches another six off the next ball, absolutely tonking a straight drive back over the bowler's head. The sky is filthy, pregnant with menace. When the storm hits, the match will be done for.
OVER 25: SL 119/5 (De Silva 32* Thisara Perera 27* ) chasing 279
Extraordinary turn and bounce from Moeen. Bowling from round the wicket to Perera he gets one from nowhere to grip, rip and turn rapidly towards first slip. Buttler takes it at solar plexus height.
OVER 24: SL 116/5 (De Silva 32* Thisara Perera 25* ) chasing 279
Thisara Perera played three pull shots in Stone's previous over but none as sweetly as the one in this which he launches into orbit bisecting deep backward square leg and the midwicket sweeper. Six. Dorothy Dix. Mark Hix. A Beiderbecke. To say the last over had taught him to hover on the back foot sounds obvious but though it hurt Stone's figures it also provides him with an opening if he can arrow in a yorker with the batsman's weight so unbalanced.
OVER 23: SL 108/5 (De Silva 31* Thisara Perera 18* ) chasing 279
Moeen may be asked to bowl through here to find some rhythm because the longer the spell has gone on, the better he has bowled. Two singles apiece for the batsmen. De Silva is two places too low in the order.
OVER 22: SL 104/5 (De Silva 29* Thisara Perera 16* ) chasing 279
Good. After 10 overs in 35 minutes from the spinners to make sure we got to 20 overs, Morgan brings Stone back on. Thisara is up for the challenge pulling for two, four and one. Stone likes the short ball and lack of variation here has cost him seven off the bat and a loopy wide. It seems to be raining quite forcefully now. Amazing stat, this:
England just bowled 10,000th consecutive ball in ODIs without a line no-ball. TEN THOUSAND deliveries on the trot without overstepping. Amazing discipline.
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) October 13, 2018
OVER 21: SL 96/5 (De Silva 29* Thisara Perera 9* ) chasing 279
Moeen, who bowled so effectively against India, hasn't bowled well here but this is his best over. That's down to greater control and more flight. Just the single off it, from Thisara's off-drive.
OVER 20: SL 95/5 (De Silva 29* Thisara Perera 8* ) chasing 279
We have a game! De Silva pushes a single to cover and Thisara works Dawson off his toes fine through the legside for another. De Silva drives a single past the bowler and Thisara opens the face to glide one behind point. No reserve day required. The Union of Over-by-over operatives, Amalgamated Hand Cymbalists and Federation of Municipal Badgers rejoices at the news we won't be back tomorrow. A morning in bed > a day's pay?
OVER 19: SL 91/5 (De Silva 27* Thisara Perera 6* ) chasing 279
England resume in the drizzle that started to fall while they were supping. Moeen rattles through his over and is nudged, flicked and 'nicely nurdled, sir!' for four singles.
OVER 18: SL 87/5 (De Silva 25* Thisara Perera 4* ) chasing 279
Three off Dawson's fifth over, three singles all off drives. And that's drinks.
OVER 17: SL 84/5 (De Silva 24* Thisara Perera 2* ) chasing 279
England, focusing on the 20-over mark to make it a match, are prepared for their spinners to be milked. It's brightening up a bit howeber so once they get to 20 overs they should turn the screw with the seamers. Ten off Moeen's over, a four from a short ball that De Silva pulls through midwicket, two punched between cover and mid-off plus four singles.
OVER 16: SL 74/5 (De Silva 16* Thisara Perera 0* ) chasing 279
England's finger spinners have bowled a fair share of filth today. De Silva pulls Dawson's first long hop for six, drives a better flighted ball for a single then Perera holes out off another short ball. Why so many drag downs? Sweaty hands?
Wicket!
Perera c Dawson b Roy 30 Caught off a Dawson pie. A juicy drag down is pulled to midwicket where Roy climbs on to his pogo stick to grab it above his head. The batsman couldn't get his feet into position and ended up just flat-batting it. FOW 74/5
OVER 15: SL 67/4 ( Kusal Perera 30*, De Silva 9* ) chasing 279
A sky that was oystery at the beginning of the innings is now gunmetal grey. Kusal drives two off Moeen off his back foot. Bairstow chases it back from cover and cuts off four. Moeen bowls the spinner's regulation drag down per over and Kusal scythes it for four. Stokes, at point, dives over it and chastises himself by kicking the life out of the grass.
OVER 14: SL 58/4 ( Kusal Perera 23*, De Silva 8* ) chasing 279
Another nice shot from Kusal, taking responsibility and the initiative, when Dawson drops short. He's on to it in a flash, pirouettes and cuffs it hard for four. Dainty use of the feet brings them a couple of singles, too.
To whatever deity wields the most clout in Dam(p)bulla, please, please, please let this contest limp past the 20-over mark before the heavens open #EngvSL
— Andrew Miller (@miller_cricket) October 13, 2018
OVER 13: SL 51/4 ( Kusal Perera 17*, De Silva 7* ) chasing 279
Kusal slog sweeps Moeen, bowling round the wicket, for four. The ball started off heading square then swerved closer to fine leg but Rashid was never going to make it round to catch the top-edge and it bounced five yards away from him. England, fearful of the prospect of rain and a washout, are rattling through these overs with their spinners. Perera pulls a single off a Moeen drag down.
OVER 12: SL 45/4 ( Kusal Perera 12*, De Silva 6* ) chasing 279
De Silva survives the scare - the use of his feet meant no one could be sure because he was more than 3m from the stumps. Another tidy over.
England review
De Silva lbw b Dawson Trapped playing with bat behind pad but did it pitch outside the line? Impact was umpire's call as was whether it was hitting the stumps. NOT OUT.
OVER 11: SL 43/4 ( Kusal Perera 11*, De Silva 5* ) chasing 279
Moeen makes it spin at both ends as England rest the seamers in the sapping humidity and try to race to 20 overs so they don't waste their efforts with bat and ball. Kusal reverse sweeps the first ball for four, clobbering it sweetly off the middle but he never looks as assured again. He almost falls when the ball bounces unexpectedly and catches the splice as he tried to drive but it fell short of cover.
OVER 10: SL 38/4 ( Kusal Perera 6*, De Silva 5* ) chasing 279
Tidy start by Dawson, breaking the Warwickshire duopoly. The ground staff are now on the boundary edge, poised by the covers. Kusal works a couple of singles off the left-armer, De Silva flicks one off his pads.
OVER 9: SL 35/4 ( Kusal Perera 4*, De Silva 4* ) chasing 279
De Silva is off the mark with a fine shot to end the over, spanking a cover drive clean off the middle through mid on for four, giving the fielder no option but to turn and forlornly chase. We're going to have spin from the other end and it's Liam Dawson who is Morgan's choice.
Wicket!
Shanaka c Buttler b Woakes 8Brilliant. His line has been immaculate and this one pitches back of a length, very tight to off stump, and the batsman's bat comes down from gully quickly to try to cope and tickles it through to the keeper. Once again pace, bounce and movement brought its just deserts. FOW 31/4
OVER 8: SL 30/3 ( Kusal Perera 3*, Shanaka 8* ) chasing 279
There has been a jaffa every over from Stone so far and this one begins with a beauty to Shanaka that jumps on the batsman and nibbles away as he fended off the back foot. Shanaka ends the over with a cramped but controlled pull for two. As the storm clouds gather, England's requirement to bowl 20 overs to make it a match may mean spin very soon.
OVER 7: SL 28/3 ( Kusal Perera 3*, Shanaka 6* ) chasing 279
Better from Sri Lanka. Less frantic and frazzled apart from a very wide one that Shanaka chases but cannot reach. The umpire gives him one for the wide anyway. He shovels a single through square leg and Kusal defends one and drives Woakes' final ball to mid-off. There was four there for the taking but caution at 28 for three is probably advisable.
Yes @OllyStone2 , congratulations. A long road back over the last 2 years but thoroughly deserved for all of your hard work. Pace like ��
— Ashley Giles (@Gilo) October 13, 2018
OVER 6: SL 26/3 ( Kusal Perera 3*, Shanaka 5* ) chasing 279
The wind is up, the lights are starting to come on and Stone pierces the gloom with a glorious inswinging 90mph yorker that beats Kusal and off-stump. They take a single each, Kusal's down to fine leg, Shanaka through third man.
OVER 5: SL 24/3 ( Kusal Perera 2*, Shanaka 4* ) chasing 279
Almost two in two for Woakes. Having dismissed Chandimal he gets the next ball to nip back and Shanaka, the non-bowling all-rounder, gets a thick inside edge that flies through the gate and beats the leg-bail by about half an inch as it scuds down to fine leg for four. You can't play with the bat so far away from the pad and survive long.
Wicket!
Chandimal b Woakes 6 Captain, you ship is sinking. Sri Lanka cannot handle the pace and bounce generated by England's opening bowlers. Chandimal, the skipper, is persuaded by the length to try to punch it through the covers off the back foot, and inside edges on to his right knee and into middle stump. FOW 20/3
OVER 4: SL 18/2 (Chandimal 4*, Kusal Perera 2* ) chasing 279
A ferocious opening spell from Stone. After sconning Dickwella, he greets Kusal Perera with a 90mph off-stump bouncer that climbs and strikes the batsman flush on the grille. Kusal isn't badly shaken and works the next ball off his pads for two but it's clear the pace is a problem ... a refreshing one for England supporters. Stone squares Kusal up, but he manages to get his bat on it playing a French cricket defensive, and then inside edges in to his thigh. Pace is always unsettling.
Wicket!
Dickwella c Buttler b Stone 4 Olly Stone bags his maiden international wicket with a bouncer that Dickwella fends off his nose with his gloves and pops it up to the keeper. Excellent line. Looks very slippery. FOW 16/2
OVER 3: SL 16/1 (Dickwella 9*, Chandimal 4*) chasing 279
Shot! Chandimal gets off the mark with a glorious cover drive for four but Woakes keeps him quiet from the other five balls.
OVER 2: SL 12/1 (Dickwella 9*, Chandimal 0*) chasing 279
A very impressive start from Stone, not on debut but it's his debut bowling spell after Wednesday's washout. He hits 88mph and with a wobble seam gets two to bite and veer away from the left-handed Dickwella's edge. The opener gets away from the inquisition with a leg bye and the right-hander Chandimal sees out the over, picking up a leg-bye single off the last ball. The ball drops into the offside and he sprints down the other end as the offside ring races in to at least give the illusion of pressure and risk.
Malinga doing what Malinga does, 5/44 off his 10 overs! #Master#SLvENG
— Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) October 13, 2018
OVER 1: SL 9/1 (Dickwella 9*, Chandimal 0*) chasing 279
Niroshan Dickwella starts like a train, the left-hander flicking Chris Woakes off his hip for four and following it with an insouciant Dilscoop that sails over his shoulder and bounces inches before the rope for four more. Woakes opts for cutters and ratchets back the pace and Dickwella dabs him for a single to give Tharanga one ball to survive ...
Wicket!
Tharanga c Buttler b Woakes 0 Feathers it through to the keeper for a golden duck. Woakes, after some tap at the start of the over, wraps his fingers across the seam and gets one to nibble away from the opener. FOW 9/1
Change of innings ENG 278/9
England may have felt deflated when Jos Buttler was out but the last-wicket partnership has bolstered chances that were already pretty enviable on this dry pitch. Joe Root and Eoin Morgan batted superbly, using the angles, rotating the strike and the captain employing the sweep to devastating effect. The way Morgan took on the aggressor role after Root's dismissal was impressive and though they will be annoyed about the collapse from 219 for four, they have managed to scrap towards a very competitive total that makes them favourites. Malinga was simply superb in his second spell, though, one of those bowlers that is predictable but still unplayable when he gets it right. They know what he's going to do but when his slow yorkers dip so alarmingly it is a thankless task trying to dig them out. They're so deceptive they bamboozle the very best.
Malinga rolls back the years with 5-44. His best ODI figures since 2011. A magician with a slower ball
— Nick Hoult (@NHoultCricket) October 13, 2018
OVER 50: ENG 278/9 (Rashid 19* Stone 9*)
Thisara Perera, who castled Jonny Bairstow, takes the final over. Stone punches a single through cover and Rashid hoicks a flick with plenty of bottom hand through the onside for two. He can't beat the field from the next two but ends the over with a pair of fours, beating the man curiously placed 15 yards in from the cover boundary, from successive square drives. England's last pair walk off unbeaten with a valuable 24-run partership but the camera only has eyes for Malinga.
OVER 49: ENG 267/9 (Rashid 9* Stone 8*)
Rashid works a full toss off his pad down to fine leg for a single and Stone, who is waiting for the slower ball, crunches an off drive for a single. See out Malinga and see what you can get off the last over seems to be the sensible approach. Rashid's supple wrists flick a single off middle through midwicket and Stone, advancing, ends Malinga's spell with a leg-bye.
So, the Slinger ends with five for 44. Nothing like writing a great bowler off for getting his dander up.
OVER 48: ENG 263/9 (Rashid 7* Stone 7*)
Rashid takes a couple of singles off Pradeep and leaves the bulk of the scoring to Stone in his first international knock. The No11 flicks four and two through midwicket. It's already a competitive score but England will be disappointed at how well set they were at 219 for 4.
Wicket!
Dawson b Malinga 4Malinga had trotted all the way down to fine leg when the umps called over after five balls but had to walk back up to bowl the sixth ball after a 90-second delay. And what a way to make it count - he gets one to dip horridly again, like an optical illusion. Dawson plays too early, gets in a flap and is scuttled by it as it hits off-stump. FOW 254/9
OVER 47: ENG 254/9 (Rashid 5* Stone 0*)
A fourth wicket for Malinga who, as Mahela points out on commentary. seems to have shed some timber. His stock ball these days is this slower yorker and he greets Rashid with three. He jabs out the first, runs the second off an open face that is stopped by point but is off the mark from his third ball which he expertly glides for four through third man. Lovely shot. The umpires call 'over' a ball too soon and have to be warned of their error by the scorer and Malinga comes back to clean bowl Dawson...
Wicket!
Woakes lbw b Malinga 5 Tried to sweep a slow yorker and was hit on the toe. The angle suggested it would miss leg-stump but Hawk-Eye did for Woakes. FOW 249/8
Sri Lanka review
Woakes lbw b Malinga
OVER 46: ENG 249/7 (Woakes 5* Dawson 4*)
Buttler reads the slower ball and flicks it fine for four off his achilles but falls to the next legitimate ball after a wide. Pradeep is so wide on the crease that Woakes suggests the ball that took Buttler's wicket was illegal in that his back foot broke the crease on its left extent. But his foot landed inside the whitewash. Pradeep greets Dawson with a yorker that the batsman chisels out and follows it with a slowish bouncer that Dawson hooks and it sails off the top edge for four.
Wicket!
Buttler b Pradeep 28Edged a low full toss that he was trying to flip over midwicket and was clean bowled. We used to call it 'played-on' but it's now a 'drag-on'. They check for the no-ball on the back foot but it landed within the crease ... just. FOW 245/7
OVER 45: ENG 239/6 (Buttler 24* Woakes 4*)
Cometh the hour, cometh Jos Buttler who knows he has to take on the spinner with Malinga having two overs to come. So he uses his feet to hit a Viv Richards inside-out drive over cover for four, takes a pair of twos either side of the wicket and another to third man. Terrific over for England.
OVER 44: ENG 227/6 (Buttler 13* Woakes 3*)
Malinga is swinging it extravagantly and believes he can demolish the lower middle order and tail with yorkers. Buttler digs one out for a single to cover, Woakes clips a low full toss through midwicket for two and chisels the next round the corner for a single. It's arcing in and threatening to creep underneath the bat with stunning late dip. Woakes ends the over with his bat drilling for oil, so hard did he jab it into the pitch to stop the yorker scuttling beneath it. No wonder he grins.
OVER 43: ENG 222/6 (Buttler 11* Woakes 0*)
Akila continues with his ninth over and England, needing an over to regroup, take three runs from it but Buttler was comprehensively beaten by one that pitched, gripped and fizzed past the edge as he chased it and attempted to loft it over mid off. Double Nelson.
OVER 42: ENG 219/6 (Buttler 8* Woakes 0*)
The hat-trick ball, intended to be another viciously dipping slower ball yorker, instead beams him. He apologises and given it was so slow Woakes had plenty of time to duck. Free hit - Woakes drills it to cove, calls for a single but is wisely sent back by Buttler as De Silva's throw demolished the furniture and Woakes was only just back in. Buttler would have been out by 11 yards.
So, Malinga is still pretty good then? #bbccricket
— Patrick Brennan (@paddybrennan) October 13, 2018
Wicket!!
Moeen b Malinga 0 Yorked for a golden duck and Malinga is on a hat-trick. Did Morgan with the slower ball and then gulls Moeen with a hooping, almost unplayabale delivery that skids under Moeen's hasty jab. FOW 218/6
Wicket!
Morgan c&b Malinga 92The captain, who has batted cannily throughout and looked solid for his first ODI century for 17 months and 29 innings, chips a slower ball to the bowler's left and he pouches it easily in his follow through. Sri Lanka needed that. FOW 218/5
OVER 41: ENG 216/4 (Morgan 91* Buttler 7*)
Morgan murders another slog sweep but this one is cut off by the sweeper who dives to pull it back in from the rope and his mate, backing him up, hurls it in to restrict them to two. A greasy push through cover, that slides off an open face brings a single and Buttler, playing a supporting role, continues to play himself in with crisp pushes to the boundary riders for ones and twos.
They were covering up sponsors boards .. so moved away !! Don’t panic .. yet
— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) October 13, 2018
OVER 40: ENG 209/4 (Morgan 87* Buttler 4*)
Malinga has five overs left and is brought back into the attack to try to rid Sri Lanka of this turbulent Morgan and to end the second powerplay. Morgan cover drives for a single and gets away with a streaky fend as the ball leaps on him, takes the splice and floats through gully. They walk another single.
Not a drop of rain here since the first ODI on Wednesday. Groundstaff just getting the covers ready.... England 196-4
— Nick Hoult (@NHoultCricket) October 13, 2018
OVER 39: ENG 206/4 (Morgan 85* Buttler 3*)
Akila continues and where Stokes was all at sea against the mystery man, Morgan sails serenely on, flaying an overpitched delivery over mid on for four to post England's 200 then uses his most effective shot, the slog sweep, to add four more with a quicksilver-wristed flik that leaves deep midwicket and deep backward square no chance.
OVER 38: ENG 196/4 (Morgan 76* Buttler 2*)
A gorgeous but risky late cut, right over off-stump, earns Morgan two to third man off Pradeep and a pull shot, eased fine, brings him a strolled single . Buttler gets off the mark and gives his captain the strike with a whip down to fine leg off his ankles and bookends the over with a dab down to third man for another.
OVER 37: ENG 190/4 (Morgan 72* Buttler 0*)
Excellent over from Akila. Morgan cuffed a couple of singles through midwicket but Stokes was caught in Ken Barrington's 'Two man's land' and departed when trying to break the bonds and seemingly misread the googly.
Wicket!
Stokes c Dhanajaya b Akila 15Done by the googly, he heaves across the line and slices it to point. He always looks troubled by the spinners when trying to score. He has mastered defence against them but finds scoring opportunities very difficult to find. FOW 190/4
OVER 36: ENG 187/3 (Morgan 70* Stokes 14*)
Sri Lanka, tired of their spinners being milked, turn back to seam and throw the ball to Pradeeep. But for all Morgan's dominance over the past few overs, Stokes has been shackled by the slower bowlers and delights in the ball coming on and smears the second ball past the bowler, sending an off-drive whistling past Pradeep who had barely finished his followthrough before it hit the fence. Shot! Stokes flicks a single through midwicket and Morgan pinches the strike off the last ball with a controlled drive, no more than an extended defensive, for a single.
OVER 35: ENG 181/3 (Morgan 69* Stokes 9*)
Another profitable over for the England captain. His energy and business is provoking mistakes in length which he then capitalises on ruthlessly. Dhanajaya, straining for overspin I think, drags one down and Morgan is on to it in a flash, swivelling and pulling it high over midwicket for four. Only a foot or so short of a six. That's drinks.
OVER 34: ENG 174/3 (Morgan 64* Stokes 7*)
Morgan has been using the seep shot most effectively all innings and slogs Sandakan perfectly square for four after employing his feet to spear a drive through mid on to begin the over with a boundary. Clever batting from Morgan who has seized the baton that Root dropped.
OVER 33: ENG 164/3 (Morgan 56* Stokes 6*)
Much better from De Silva who ties Stokes up with variations in flight and length. Stokes almost chips one back to the bowler after misreading the dip and playing back but gets off strike next ball with a flick through midwicket.
OVER 32: ENG 162/3 (Morgan 54* Stokes 5*)
Sandakan, the left-arm wrist spinner, is tapped and cuffed for three singles, the second of which brings Mirgan's fifty up from 57 balls. The spinner loses his length and drags the last ball down and Morgan accepts the invitation and RSVPs with a short-arm pull wide of mid on for four. Patient and effective.
OVER 31: ENG 155/3 (Morgan 49* Stokes 3*)
The pitch is turning and yet Sri Lanka's spinners, until the dismissal of Joe Root, were outbowled by the seamers. Dhananjaya, by no means an orthodox off-spinner as he can move the ball both ways, tests Morgan with dip and bite until the England captain finds one in the slot and clobbers a straight drive back over the bowler's head for six.
Good morning
And, as Don Mosey used to say down a crackling line from Simla, ‘you join us’ from Dambulla with England just over midway through their innings in the second ODI against Sri Lanka. Apologies for the late start of this blog - we have been experiencing technical issues all night but hopefully they have been solved and we can be confident of providing a reliable service.
A quick catch-up - it’s breezy, there are ivory clouds strewn across the sky and Sri Lanka, who won the toss and put England in, made a perfect start by dismissing Jason Roy for a duck from the fourth ball of Lasith Malinga’s first over. The ball swung into his pads and Roy, trying to work it with the angle through midwicket for four, was diddled when the ball stuck in the pitch, came on late when he was halfway through his shot and popped it up tamely to the fielder in the circle at midwicket.
Jonny Bairstow put on 72 with Joe Root for the second wicket, hard yakka mainly with three fours off 40 balls on a turning pitch. Bairstow’s contribution was 26 scratchy runs, never looking confident nor secure, until he was castled by Thisara Perera. Since then, as in the first abandoned ODI, Eoin Morgan and Root, the limited overs and Test captains, have established the foundations with a solid partnership and Joe Root, who scored not out hundreds against India at Lord’s and Headingley plus Wednesday’s unbeaten 25, passed 50 again as he pushed the partnership past 75. He, too, ultimately fell off a leading edge with the score at 140 for three, wearily popping a dolly up to extra cover when he had made 71 as he tried to work Dhanajaya de Silva through midwicket.
We begin over-by-over coverage in the 31st over of England’s innings.
