Dhaka – Sri Lanka, who lost two wickets in three runs, posted a moderate total of 230 for nine in 50 overs against England on Friday at Headingley, Leeds, in their sixth game of the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup.
Angelo Mathews, the former captain of Sri Lanka, scored unbeaten 85 to guide his team to this total. Along with him, Avishka Fernando (49), Kusal Mendis (46) and Dhananjaya de Silva (29) were the other batsmen to reach double-digit scores.
For England, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood bagged three wickets each while Adil Rashid took two wickets.
Sri Lanka managed a nightmarish start to their innings after winning the toss as they lost their first two wickets only in three runs. Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne fell only for one. He was removed by Jofra.
Sri Lanka have never recovered this early blow. They lost the second wicket when Chris Woakes removed Kusal Perera for two.
However, in the third wicket stand, Mendis and Avishka added 59 runs in their try to control the early damage. Wood broke this partnership removing Avishka for 49 runs.
Mathews joined Mendis in the fourth wicket stand, and they added 71 runs on the board, which was the biggest stand of Sri Lanka in this match. Mendis fell for 46, but Mathews was firm at the other end of the wicket and continued to score runs.
Jeevan Mendis suffered a golden duck while facing Adil. After his removal, Dhananjaya came in and added 57 runs in the sixth wicket stand along with Mathews. Eventually, Sri Lanka tumbled for 230 for nine in 50 overs.
Before today’s match, Sri Lanka played five matches and won only one of them. Despite this poor performance, they secured four points thanks to two washed-out games.
On the other hand, England played five matches and won four of them. Their only loss came against Pakistan. England are now at number three on the points table right after Australia and New Zealand.UNB
