Tag: Joe Root

Cricket: Sri Lanka humble England in epic farewell

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Sri Lanka yet again proved too powerful for a disappointing England side in the final one day international in Colombo overnight.  Tillakaratne Dilshan was the cricketing star of the match scoring 101 and taking 3-37, but Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were the sentimental stars, playing their final match on home soil.  Neither set the World on fire in this particular game but both are so fondly revered in these parts that it hardly mattered, all that mattered was the farewell and the Sri Lankan win.

For the record, Sri Lanka destroyed England in game seven by 87 runs.  Batting first, the hosts amassed 302-6 from their allotment thanks to the aforementioned Dislhan knock and rollicking fifties from Dinesh Chandimal and Thisara Perera.  The old guard and captain Angelo Matthews added useful contributions and in unison with Dilshan always had the home side heading towards a large total.  Sangakkara did not reach the lofty heights of earlier in the series but when he got to 6 he broke Ricky Ponting’s record of most runs in a calendar year across all formats (FYI, Ponting had 2833 in 2005).

Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan – as he has done through most of the series – were the pick of the England bowlers.  Unfortunately, Ali couldn’t bring the bowling form to his bating.  His premeditated swipe at a straight, innocuous Dilshan ball set the tone for a collapse that would soon become 78-5.  Only Joe Root – again, as he has done all series – showed some fight.  Only the lack of partners got in the way of him putting up another ODI century.  His performances along with those of Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes (notwithstanding the tap he got in this game), and Chris Jordan are the major triumphs of England’s series.

Still of major concern is the form of Alastair Cook.  BBC analyst Simon Hughes commented after the game that the Sri Lankan players appeared to “feel sorry” for the England captain when he was dismissed after a scratchy 32, and even Cook himself has softened his position on whether he’ll captain at the World Cup.  He has hinted that he can have “no complaints” if he is stood down as he has not scored the runs or had the wins he would have liked.

To cap off the farewell and to send the crowd into a fits of joy, Jayawardene and Sangakkara combined to have James Tredwell stumped in the final act of the game.  It wasn’t his first ODI wicket but will probably go down as the most memorable.

Sri Lanka 302 for 6 (Dilshan 101, Chandimal 55*, T Perera 54) beat England 215 (Root 80, Prasanna 3-35, Dilshan 3-37) by 87 runs

Cricket: Root sees England home after false start

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Joe Root overcome a long overnight wait to guide England home in their pursuit of Sri Lanka’s 239 in the fifth match of the ODI series.  England’s chase was initially delayed by a mid game downpour as the game entered a second day; planned with the World Cup in mind and utilising the rarely used reserve day.  When the teams returned, Root superbly guided his side to 240/5 and a win with five balls to spare.  His 104* came from just 117 balls and is his third ODI century of the year.  He was aptly supported by James Taylor, who backed up his last effort of 90 with a patient 68.  That was after England had fallen to 35/2 when Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali were dismissed cheaply by the returning Senanayake.  We thought the returning bowler might go alright on his return from international suspension and he delivered an economical spell of 2-35 from his ten overs.

Other than his impact however, the rest of the Sri Lankan attack struggled and the four pronged spin attack lacked the requisite threat to take regular wickets.  With wickets in hand England were always favourites and Root’s six to bring up his century was the final nail in the coffin.  Ravi Bopara (28) offered another useful contribution, sharing in a partnership of 86 with England’s match-winner.

Before the unusually long rain delay Sri Lanka had stuttered to a below par 239; suffering at the hands of Chris Woakes who returned his best internality cricket figures of 6-47.  Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start when the ‘duck-prone’ Kusal Perera nibbled one to slip third ball of the match.  Perera’s last international scores read 0 4 0 59 9 0 31 0.  Kumar Sangakkara scored well again, the classy left hander contributed 91 of the local’s total, but he lacked support from his fellow senior players.  That may well be due to the fine bowling efforts of Woakes, Chris Jordan (2-56), and James Tredwell (1-35).  The trio never allowed the run-rate to get away from them, illustrated by the fact that Sangakkara scored at a strike rate of only 73 and Matthews at only 52.

The win means England stay alive in the seven match series.  Luxbet still have them as outsiders to win the series though.  They are at $2.30 to pull off an unlikely series win.

England 240 for 5 (Root 104*, Taylor 68) beat Sri Lanka 239 (Sangakkara 91, Woakes 6-47) by five wickets

Cricket: Buttler and Root deliver much needed win

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Buttler and Root sounds a bit like a law firm, but instead of saving clients, this twosome saved their country from utter panic, and did an excellent job at rejuvenating the one day international cricket series against Sri Lanka.   Facing a difficult target in a rain-reduced match England desperately needed to avoid going three nil down in the best of 7 series.  They achieved that thanks to a calm Joe Root innings (48 off 48) and a rapid Jos Buttler cameo (57 off 37).  Also deserving of a mention is Moeen Ali who again provided early impetus to the England innings by racing to 58 from 39 balls before being dismissed.

Earlier in the day Sri Lanka had responded well to early wickets (and early rain delays) as they amassed a challenging total of 242/8 from 35 overs.  The total was constructed around a patient 63 from Kumar Sangakkara with support from Thirimanne and Prasad.  The latter pair piled on 62 runs from the final five overs to set up the challenging total; a total that could have been more imposing but for Duckworth-Lewis.  Chris Jordan justified his inclusion in the side, playing his first cricket for some time the seamer took 2 important wickets (Sangakkara and Angelo Matthews).  Chris Woakes (3-41) also ensured that Sri Lanka’s total was not completely out of sight and a series lifeline was on offer.  The one downside to England’s fielding effort was a potential slow over rate penalty incurred by captain Alastiar Cook.  The under-pressure skipper could miss the next game of cricket, which will make things super interesting if his replacement makes runs.

The tone of England’s chase was again set by Moeen Ali.  The left hander made his fifty from 29 balls; slightly slower than his feat in game one but still quick.  Hales and Cook contributed too to a balanced pace before Hales contributed to Ali’s demise, running him out when the score was 103.  Mid chase wobbles threatened to derail the England momentum when series star Ravi Bopara and the out of sorts Eoin Morgan were out.  However, the unbroken 84 run partnership between Buttler and Root settled the match and saw England home by 5 wickets.

Hopefully you got in on our prediction with Centrebet paying out an England win at $1.95.

England 236 for 5 (Moeen 58, Buttler 55*, Root 48*) beat Sri Lanka 242 for 8 (Sangakkara 63, Thirimanne 62*, Woakes 3-41) by 5 wickets (D/L method)