England emphatic as Sri Lanka slips again

By Shamseer Jaleel 

reporting from Pallekele

Emphatic England beat Sri Lanka convincingly in the third ODI by seven wickets, as the hosts delivered yet another disappointing performance. 

Batting first, in a restricted match of 21 overs each due to showers earlier on, Sri Lanka managed 150 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. England comfortably secured the victory with seven wickets in hand and 15 balls to spare. 

Captain Eoin Morgan displayed yet another strong innings with 58 not out off 49 balls, and Ben Stokes pitched in with 35 off 24 balls, scoring the winning run with his second six. Joe Root scored 41 off 26 balls.

Earlier on in the day, with a slight drizzle falling 45 minutes before the scheduled start, rain was on the increasing trend. Once the rain ceased, the umpires came out for the pitch inspection around 6.30 pm. But yet another slight drizzle delayed start till 8.15 pm, and the overs were reduced to 21 overs per side. England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to field first. Tom Curran came into the English side, while for Sri Lanka, Amila Aponso, Sadeera Samarawickrema, and Kusal Mendis made breakthroughs into the starting line-up.

Dickwella scored two delightful boundaries off Woakes in the very first over. Both openers, Dickwella and Sadeera, gave Sri Lanka a sparkling start, putting on a majority of runs in boundaries. Dickwella gave a chance to Rasheed when he was on 28 off Curran. They scored the first 50 runs in 4.4 overs in no time. Dickwella lost his wicket going for quick runs when he was on 36 (20), with eight well-stroked boundaries. Sri Lanka put on 57 for the first wicket. Kusal Mendis, making a comeback into the side, did not last long - he was bowled by a beauty from Rashid for zero. With the departure of Dickwella, the Sri Lankan run rate dropped rapidly.  Sadeera and Chandimal put on 37 for the 3rd wicket. Thisara Perera, coming up in the order and going for quick runs, was out with the first ball, lofting it to long off where Jason Roy took a difficult catch. Sri Lanka scored 100 runs in the 15th over of the game. Sadeera (35), Chandimal (34) and Shanaka (21) contributed to the score. The rest of the batsmen barely got in to double figures. Sri Lanka posted 150 runs in their 21 overs, losing their way after a brilliant start.

Spinner Adil Rashid was the pick of the English bowlers with 4 for 36, whilst Tom Curran took 3 for 17.