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England beat Sri Lanka in second Test to seal series win
England beat Sri Lanka in second Test to seal series win. England have completed a first series victory in Sri Lanka for 17 years, wrapping up the second Test by 57 runs on the final morning in Kandy. The tourists, whose previous win on these shores came in 2001, needed just half-an-hour on day five to dismiss Sri Lanka for 243 - taking the last three wickets for 17 runs. Moeen Ali claimed the key scalp of Niroshan Dickwella for 35, then clean bowled Suranga Lakmal for duck before Jack Leach ended things with a caught and bowled to see off last man Malinda Pushpakumara and bag his maiden five-wicket haul. England take a 2-0 lead into the final match in Colombo, eyeing a historic clean sweep. Beating Sri Lanka is not quite the scalp it was in the days of Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene but this still represents a considerable achievement given they have lost only one of the previous six series on home soil and recently thrashed South Africa. Leach wins it for England! What a moment for the spinner - a wicket that wrapped up the match, the series and completed his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket!https://t.co/VWIwlU3SAO https://t.co/xLW5pZOmoz It also represents England's first away triumph since they defeated the Proteas in 2015/16, and a first with Joe Root at the helm. Root's side had arrived at Pallekele Stadium as favourites to finish the job, with two late wickets on day four swinging the momentum sharply in their direction after Angelo Mathews' fightback. Home hopes laid squarely with Dickwella, a talented ball-striker more suited to a blaze of glory than a meticulous chase. He played against type as he and Akila Dananjaya knuckled down for almost five overs, working singles to chalk off 14 from their target. There was nothing to alarm England beyond the batsmen's steady mindset and enough turn for both their left and right-arm finger spinners to work with. Had they had to wait much longer, the tension would surely have begun ratcheting up, but Moeen hit the jackpot with the first ball of his third over. He tossed one up to tempt Dickwella and ripped it just enough to take the edge and sail safely to Ben Stokes at slip. Dickwella pivoted angrily on his heel and gestured towards the stumps with his bat, knowing he had left too much for the tail to do. Moeen wasted no time in besting Lakmal, a big lbw appeal first up and then pegging back off stump as the next ball straightened from around the wicket. He finished with four for 72, with left-armer Leach drawing things to a close by pouching the simplest of return catches from Pushpakumara. That saw him close on five for 83 and also ensured a record 38 of the 40 wickets to fall in the match had been taken by spinners. Lakmal's dismissal of Keaton Jennings on the first morning was the seamer's only scalp, with Stokes chiming in with a first-innings run out. According to data analysts CricViz, the last time no English seamer took a wicket in a match was in Karachi in 1973.
Niroshan Dickwella 95 vs England in 5th ODI at RPICS
Niroshan Dickwella 95 vs England in 5th ODI at RPICS
England beat Sri Lanka in their Twenty20 International in Colombo
England beat Sri Lanka in their Twenty20 International in Colombo. England signed off the limited-overs leg of their Sri Lankan tour with a return to winning ways in Colombo as Joe Denly ended an eight-year exile in style. England have played 384 international matches since Denly last appeared on the big stage - a low-key outing against Pakistan in February 2010. But he did more than enough to justify his second chance as the tourists reasserted themselves with a 30-run victory just four days after a record one-day defeat on the same ground. Having scored 20 of England's 187 for eight the 32-year-old took the spotlight with his reborn leg-spin, topping and tailing the innings to finish with four for 19 - the best figures of his professional career. On any ordinary day Adil Rashid's outstanding spell of three for 11 would have dominated, but this was a chance to celebrate Kent's comeback kid, whose chances of appearing in the forthcoming Test series have surely spiked. His bowling was little more than an afterthought when in his early England days but Denly has worked hard on it and may now join Rashid and Moeen Ali in a three-strong spin attack in Galle. England might still have struggled without Jason Roy's 69 - a devil-may-care knock that included six sixes, four fours, four dropped catches and all the fun of the fair. After kicking off with a flurry of burly blows it seemed Roy might be at his domineering best and although that was not the case, he provided fine entertainment. The first reprieve came on 21 when Roy checked a drive and gave a return chance to Isuru Udana, who flung out a hand but failed to hang on. Within a matter of seconds Sri Lanka were appealing in vain for obstructing the field, Roy abandoning a risky single and charging back when the attempted run out him on the back of the leg. There was another spurious appeal for a catch when Roy hit the ball straight into the ground. Roy decided to ride his luck as far as he could, launching himself at almost everything, sometimes clearing the ropes with ease and sometimes relying on the generosity of the fielding side. There were dollies on 34 and 41, grassed at deep-midwicket and long-off, and a trickier fingertip chance via the toe end of the bat on 53. Even at the non-striker's end he was in the thick of it, unwilling or unable to persuade Alex Hales to review a poor lbw and involved in the mis-communication that saw Eoin Morgan run out. When the end came it was fitting, a thin nick off a shudderingly awful Lakshan Sandakan long-hop. Rain arrived moments later and when play resumed almost an hour later England added 74 for four in the remaining 8.4 overs to close on 187 for eight. Morgan surprisingly tossed the new ball to Denly, who has done the job well domestically but was barely a part-time option when he last wore Three Lions. It took six balls to pay off, Kusal Mendis playing inside one that took off stump, and after five more it looked a masterstroke when the dangerous Niroshan Dickwella fell in similar fashion. Rashid's role in the Tests is already assured but he is even happier with a white ball in his hands. With his googly in rude health and a clever change in pace he was near impossible to get hold of, Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis both tried and failed, Hales on hand to catch them in the deep. Much-hyped debutant Mendis had earlier showcased his remarkable ability to bowl right and left arm spin, and will surely be seen again. Dhananjaya de Silva was Rashid's third victim, trapped lbw by a combination of Rashid's wiles and a well-judged DRS referral. Denly returned for the final over the match and, with the result in hand, he picked off Thisara Perera and Malinga to end his day in delight. Denly savoured every moment after producing a man-of-the-match performance on his return to the international stage after more than eight years
ODI England take series lead in Sri Lanka as Eoin Morgan stars
ODI: England take series lead in Sri Lanka as Eoin Morgan stars. Eoin Morgan paved the way for a comfortable England victory over Sri Lanka with a captain's innings of 92 in the second one-day international. Morgan suggested earlier this week he would be prepared to drop himself before next year's World Cup if he no longer justified a place in the team but on this form that is as likely as a dry day in Dambulla. The series opener was washed out by thunderstorms and although the heavy rain again forced a premature end to proceedings at the Ranjiri Stadium, the tourists did enough to come away with a 31-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method. ðŸ´ó §ó ¢ó ¥ó ®ó §ó ¿ England 278/9 (50/50 overs)💪 Morgan 92👠Root 71🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 140/5 (29/29 overs)🔥 Woakes 3-26🙌 England win by 31 runs (DLS)#SLvENG pic.twitter.com/vAdM5mI5AQ Olly Stone will also remember the day fondly after his debut fell foul of the weather, raising pulses with a rapid spell of fast bowling and taking his first international scalp with a bouncer that left Niroshan Dickwella flailing. England's 278 for nine, built around Morgan's measured effort and Joe Root's industrious 71, proved plenty despite a nostalgia-inducing spell from Lasith Malinga. The 35-year-old rolled back the years to claim five for 44 but England seamer Chris Woakes proved equally adept with three quick wickets that left the reply in tatters. After being asked to bat first England suffered their first setback before a run had been scored, Jason Roy turning Malinga's fourth ball obligingly to mid-wicket. The Yorkshire pair Jonny Bairstow and Root ensured no more early dramas with stand of 72. Root was at his most fluent with the field up and balls new, with five of his first 15 deliveries clipped to the boundary including three in a row from Malinga. He would have to wait 54 balls to find the ropes again but never allowed his scoring rate to drag with a combination of canny placement and hard running. Bairstow, by contrast, never quite found his feet. The opener became only the sixth Englishman to score 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year but when he lost his off-stump to Thisara Perera it was no great surprise. Root benefited from Morgan's arrival, the Irishman troubled at first by spin but always ready with a punchy riposte. The only two sixes of the innings belonged to him, a clean strike off Thisara and a brutal blow back over Dhananjaya de Silva. Root, already dropped on 48, had begun to tire when he chipped De Silva to cover via a leading edge - 309 runs and four games since his last dismissal. Morgan responded by putting the pressure back on Sri Lanka with a series of aggressive strokes. An 11th century was calling when Malinga intervened, drawing a mis-hit off the toe end and gathering the return catch. Malinga's trademark yorkers went on to account for Moeen Ali, Woakes and Liam Dawson as Sri Lanka battled back to the tune of five for 69 in the last 10 overs. Any possibility of capitalising evaporated almost instantly as their experienced top order were blown away. Woakes found a nagging groove outside off stump and soon started finding edges, Upul Tharanga and Dasun Shanaka nicking behind and captain Dinesh Chandimal playing on. Niroshan Dickwella briefly recalled predecessor Tillakaratne Dilshan with a brave lap-sweep off Woakes but Stone took care of him. Hopes are high that the Warwickshire man become England's 90mph battering ram and his wicket fanned those flames, dug in short, rising viciously and crashing into the batsman's glove. The contest was effectively lost at 31 for four and although Thisara (44no) led a middle-order revival, their 29-over score of 140 for five was nowhere near enough when the rain came.