Fifty fest powers SL to record total

On a day England were looking to experiment, they assembled a battery of five pacers and two regular spinners - Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali. It may not have been a horses-for-courses strategy but for an opposition that has been struggling with the bat, it was a menacing opposition. However, on a batting-friendly wicket, the Sri Lankan top order plundered runs after electing to bat first, with all the batsmen in the top four registering fifties (only for the 15th time in ODIs) to coast to their highest total against England - 366 for 6.

Eoin Morgan was rested for the inconsequential encounter, and the team was led by Jos Buttler. Sri Lanka, too, didn't play their strongest side as they decided to rest veteran pacer Lasith Malinga.

Sri Lanka began their charge early, working Sam Curran around the field for four boundaries off his second over. There was no lateral movement on offer, even as early as in the fourth over of the innings, and only the second over with the ball that he was operating with. Without the movement, there was very little skill he had to trouble Niroshan Dickwella and Sadeera Samarawickramna who exhibited an amalgamation of power and grace in equal measure in their batting to help the side off to a quick start. They brought up the 50-run partnership off only 39 balls and the 100 off 85.

While Samarawickrama, who stroked his maiden ODI ton, was more conventional in his stroke-making (reminiscent off Mahela Jayawardene's style), Dickwella was audacious and crafty. He scooped and reverse-swept to good effect. The latter was employed by the other batters too, despite a fielder being stationed at backward point as a protective measure.

The attacking display by the openers set the tone of Sri Lanka's innings and deflated England's morale in the field. The bowlers erred in their lines, the fielding wasn't up to the mark, frustration and tired efforts were amply on display - all for the batsmen to utilise to their benefit. Eventually, none of the bowlers, except Adil Rashid, bled at less than run-a-ball.

Amidst a flurry of runs, the first breakthrough came in a bizarre manner when Samarawickrama, soon after scoring his fifty, was lazy in response to an innocuous off-break. He missed the ball, which kissed the stumps on its way to the 'keeper, who swiftly dislodged the bails. No English player, including the 'keeper, was convinced that it was bowled. Doubt on the part of the on-field umpires and the bowling side prompted Aleem Dar to seek the services of the third umpire. Moeen could have struck again, soon after Samarawickrama's dismissal, only for Tom Curran to drop a sitter at long on. Chandimal, who was the beneficiary, was batting on 6 at the time.

However, only 6 overs later England got the big breakthrough of Niroshan Dickwella. The attacking left-hander had played around with the field very well. Even in the 90s, he was in no mood to slow down and eventually had an edge carrying to short third man where Joe Root took an easy catch.

Dinesh Chandimal, who had started off slowly, picked up the pace of his innings soon after. Kusal Mendis, who has been woefully out of form, was hardly troubled by the challenges. He didn't shy away from risks and was thriftily unleashing reverse-sweeps. It did carry an element of risk, but despite not always middling the ball, nothing stopped him from using it readily against the spinners.

The duo ensured the good start provided by the openers didn't go to waste as they added 102 off only 74 balls to strengthen the platform for a late flourish. Mendis, who had smashed six sixes in his 33-ball stay, departed looking to continue his attack and holed out to Ben Stokes in the deep soon after reaching his fifty.

Dasun Shanaka got off to a good start but wasted yet another opportunity to cement his place at No. 5, and was soon caught in the deep by Jason Roy in pursuit of the big shots.

Chandimal continued the Sri Lankan charge in company of Thisara Perera, with the duo pairing up for a brief 28-run stand. However, with Tom Curran accounting for both their wickets off consecutive deliveries in the 46th over, their late onslaught suffered a dent.

Sri Lanka couldn't accelerate the way they would've liked to in the death, but still managed to add 81 runs in the last 10, and ended up with their highest total against England.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 366/6 in 50 overs (Niroshan Dickwella 95, Dinesh Chandimal 80; Moeen Ali 2-57, Tom Curran 2-71) vs England.