England Lions registered a 4-wicket win against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the first unofficial ODI played today (15th February) at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Having won the toss, Sri Lankan skipper Sadeera Samarawickrama opted to bat first but couldn’t get a good start as they lost 4 top order wickets for just 25 runs.
However, the skipper Samarawickrama and all-rounder Sahan Arachchige rescued Sri Lankan innings, adding 121-run stand for the 5th wicket. Samarawickrama top scored with a knock of 74 runs while Arachchige contributed with 57-run knock.
After the dismissals of the set batters Samarawickrama and Arachchige, Sri Lanka lost their way once again, but national capped seaming all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne provided some late impetus to the hosts’ innings with a breezy knock of 52 runs off 48 balls including 5 fours and 2 sixes, which helped them post 230 on the board.
The seamer Saqib Mahmood was lethal with the new ball for England Lions, becoming their pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets to his name.
In reply, the visitors got off to an excellent start as their opening pair Jacob Bethell and Jack Haynes put on a 69-run stand for the first wicket. England Lions, No. 3 batter Sam Hain and Jordan Cox also chipped in with vital knocks of 52 and 46 respectively as the visitors crossed over the line comfortably in the 41st over.
For Sri Lanka, the two spinners Dushan Hemantha and Praveen Jayawickrama caught the attention, sharing 5 wickets between them.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Croospulle | lbw b Sam Cook | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Avishka Fernando | c Jordan Cox b Saqib Mahmood | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | c Jack Haynes b Saqib Mahmood | 2 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 18.18 |
| Angelo Mathews | c James Rew b Sam Cook | 13 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 76.47 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Jordan Cox b Jacob Bethell | 74 | 86 | 4 | 0 | 86.05 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c Jack Haynes b Tom Prest | 57 | 80 | 4 | 0 | 71.25 |
| Chamika Karunarathne | c Tom Haines b Saqib Mahmood | 52 | 48 | 5 | 2 | 108.33 |
| Dushan Hemantha | b Jacob Bethell | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Pramod Madushan | run out () | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Milan Rathnayake | run out (Jordan Cox) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | not out | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 15 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 13, pen 0) |
| Total | 230/10 (45.1 Overs, RR: 5.09) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Cook | 9 | 2 | 35 | 2 | 3.89 | |
| Saqib Mahmood | 7.1 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 3.80 | |
| Tom Abell | 2.1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.95 | |
| Matt Critchley | 5 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 7.80 | |
| Tom Prest | 2.5 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 5.20 | |
| Tom Hartley | 10 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 6.20 | |
| Jacob Bethell | 9 | 0 | 50 | 2 | 5.56 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Bethell | c Nuwanidu Fernando b Sahan Arachchige | 50 | 58 | 7 | 0 | 86.21 |
| Jack Haynes | b Praveen Jayawickrama | 25 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 89.29 |
| Sam Hain | c Sahan Arachchige b Dushan Hemantha | 52 | 51 | 4 | 0 | 101.96 |
| Jordan Cox | c Nuwanidu Fernando b Praveen Jayawickrama | 46 | 48 | 3 | 1 | 95.83 |
| James Rew | c Milan Rathnayake b Dushan Hemantha | 13 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 59.09 |
| Tom Prest | c Lasith Croospulle b Dushan Hemantha | 27 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 87.10 |
| Matt Critchley | not out | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Tom Hartley | not out | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Extras | 10 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 3, w 5, pen 0) |
| Total | 231/6 (40.2 Overs, RR: 5.73) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pramod Madushan | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 5.00 | |
| Milan Rathnayake | 5.2 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 8.08 | |
| Chamika Karunaratne | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 6.67 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 10 | 0 | 52 | 2 | 5.20 | |
| Sahan Arachchige | 7 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 4.43 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 10 | 0 | 56 | 3 | 5.60 | |
| Nuwanidu Fernando | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
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