Sri Lanka escaped a late scare from Jamie Overton to secure a 19-run win in the first ODI against England on Thursday (22 January) at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
After coming out to bat in the 11th over, Kusal Mendis anchored the innings with an unbeaten 93, alongside Janith Liyanage’s 46. Dunith Wellalage’s brisk cameo then took the home side to 271/6 after opting to bat first.
With the ball, the hosts got off to an ideal start, with Asitha Fernando getting rid of Zak Crawley in his second over. Crawley attempted to drive, only to edge behind to the wicketkeeper. Ben Duckett and Joe Root then joined in the middle and took their time to steadily revive the chase. After batting patiently, both completed their respective half-centuries in the same over, with Duckett getting there quicker.
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However, Jeffrey Vandersay produced the much-needed breakthrough as the 117-run partnership came to an end, with Duckett given out lbw for 62 while attempting a reverse sweep. That wicket opened the doors for Sri Lanka, as wickets began to fall regularly. Root and Harry Brook fell to the off-spinners before Wellalage dismissed the two left-handers, Jacob Bethell and Sam Curran, reducing England to 165/6 inside 40 overs.
Rehan Ahmed tried to take on the spinners but was cut short by Wellalage’s brilliance in the field as he held onto a catch at the boundary. Pramod Madushan struck twice in the 46th over, including the big wicket of Jos Buttler, who had earlier hit him for a six in the same over. Jamie Overton then gave England hope, bringing the chase down to 20 runs needed off the final over. But he was caught at cover off a full toss on the second delivery to seal Sri Lanka’s win.
On the bowling front, Pramod Madushan closed out England’s chase with a three-wicket haul, while both Jeffrey Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage bowled exceptionally well, picking up two wickets apiece.
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Earlier, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara put together a decent half-century partnership opening the batting. The breakthrough came right after the first powerplay for the visitors, as Nissanka was caught off a moon ball — one of Sam Curran’s trademark slower deliveries. Mishara did not last much longer, bowled behind his legs by Adil Rashid, with both openers perishing in the 20s.
After taking 13 balls to get off the mark, Kusal Mendis began to find his rhythm, picking up boundaries. He handled the English spinners well, peppering the backward point region and using the face of the bat effectively on the back foot. On his return, Dhananjaya de Silva failed to make an impact with the bat, while skipper Charith Asalanka’s stay also lasted just 16 balls, leaving the hosts at 124 for 4.
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Mendis brought up his 35th ODI fifty off back-to-back boundaries against Rehan Ahmed. He was joined by Janith Liyanage, and the two right-handers stitched together an 88-run stand to take Sri Lanka past 200. Mendis was slowed by some difficulty running between the wickets. Liyanage began to accelerate but fell four runs short of a fifty after offering a return catch to Rashid.
Pavan Rathnayake was dismissed in Liam Dawson’s final over, with the left-arm spinner bowling economically to finish with figures of 1/31. Wellalage provided a superb finish for the islanders with a 23-run final over, striking a six and three fours to help Sri Lanka reach 270. Batting for 117 balls and hitting 11 fours, Mendis finished unbeaten with his highest score against England.
Overton endured an expensive outing, conceding 66 runs in his nine-over spell. Experienced leg-spinner Adil Rashid was the pick of the England bowlers, claiming three wickets for 44 runs.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Liam Dawson, b Sam Curran | 21 | 30 | 2 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Kamil Mishara | b Adil Rashid | 27 | 37 | 2 | 1 | 72.97 |
| Kusal Mendis | not out | 93 | 117 | 11 | 0 | 79.49 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | lbw b Adil Rashid | 10 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 47.62 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Harry Brook b Rehan Ahmed | 17 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 106.25 |
| Janith Liyanage | c & b Adil Rashid | 46 | 53 | 5 | 1 | 86.79 |
| Pavan Rathnayake | c Jamie Overton b Liam Dawson, | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Dunith Wellalage | not out | 25 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 208.33 |
| Extras | 20 (b 0 , lb 10 , nb 0, w 10, pen 0) |
| Total | 271/6 (50 Overs, RR: 5.42) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Overton | 9 | 0 | 66 | 0 | 7.33 | |
| Sam Curran | 8 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Liam Dawson, | 10 | 1 | 31 | 1 | 3.10 | |
| Adil Rashid | 10 | 0 | 44 | 3 | 4.40 | |
| Rehan Ahmed | 10 | 0 | 61 | 1 | 6.10 | |
| Jacob Bethell | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 6.33 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zak Crawley | c Kusal Mendis b Asitha Fernando | 6 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 54.55 |
| Ben Duckett | lbw b Jeffery Vandersay | 62 | 76 | 5 | 1 | 81.58 |
| Joe Root | lbw b Dhananjaya de Silva | 61 | 90 | 5 | 0 | 67.78 |
| Jacob Bethell | st Kusal Mendis b Dunith Wellalage | 15 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 45.45 |
| Harry Brook | st Kamindu Mendis b Charith Asalanka | 6 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Jos Buttler | b Pramod Madushan | 19 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 95.00 |
| Sam Curran | c & b Dunith Wellalage | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 55.56 |
| Rehan Ahmed | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Pramod Madushan | 27 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Jamie Overton | c Jeffery Vandersay b Dunith Wellalage | 34 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 200.00 |
| Liam Dawson, | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Pramod Madushan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Adil Rashid | not out | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 15 (b 0 , lb 5 , nb 1, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 252/10 (49.2 Overs, RR: 5.11) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 8 | 1 | 64 | 1 | 8.00 | |
| Pramod Madushan | 5.2 | 0 | 39 | 3 | 7.50 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 8 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 2.75 | |
| Dunith Wellalage | 10 | 0 | 41 | 2 | 4.10 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 7 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 4.71 | |
| Jeffery Vandersay | 10 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 3.90 | |
| Kamil Mishara | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. ){kind=link}