03/06Result
5th ODI (D/N), Sri Lanka tour of England and Ireland at Birmingham, Jun 3 2014
Sri Lanka won by 6 wkts (10b rem)
Player of the Match
Lahiru Thirimanne
Lahiru ThirimanneSri Lanka
03/06Result
5th ODI (D/N), Sri Lanka tour of England and Ireland at Birmingham, Jun 3 2014
Sri Lanka won by 6 wkts (10b rem)
Player of the Match
Lahiru Thirimanne
Lahiru ThirimanneSri Lanka

That's all she wrote for this one-day series, Sri Lanka the winniners 3-2 in what has been really a pretty exciting series with batting collapses galore followed by two pretty tight matches. But now we turn to the real stuff with the Test matches to come at Lord's and Headingley, the first at HQ on June 12. England's eagerly anticipated squad is set to be announced on Thursday, so look out for that, and we'll see you for the Test matches, bye for now...

Presentation time, with some interesting issues to deal with for the captains. Here's Alastair Cook: "We were 20 or 30 short. On that wicket, it turned a bit and was quite slow which suited them. It dewed up a bit and came on a bit at the end which was okay to chase. We got off to a good start, everyone got 20s and 30s. The Buttler dismissal, I think you're going to ask Angelo why he did it, I was disappointed with it. You don't know in the spur of the moment what you would do but you hope you wouldn't do it. There were some good things about the series and some progress made - Chris Jordan and Harry Gurney - but still plenty of areas to work on with 20 games until the World Cup."

The winning captain is Angelo Mathews: "After 2006 it's a great moment for us, it's a great achievement for the team. It started of pretty slowly but our bowlers did a brilliant job to pull them back to 220. Buttler was taking unfair starts so we gave him two warnings and after that I didn't know what to do to stop him from doing it. It's within the rules and in the spirit of cricket we gave him chances in this game and the last game."

Man of the Match is the Sri Lanka vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne for his excellent half-century which helped Sri Lanka home very comfortably in the end.

Man of the Series is Lasith Malinga for his excellence with the ball at the start of the innings and especially at the death.

Once again it's been nice to have a close match, this wasn't quite the thriller of Saturday but a contest that had some edge after the Makadding earlier on - more on that to come I'm sure. England were set on making Sri Lanka pay with three quick wickets but missed their chance to dismiss Mahela Jayawardene, he made a steady half-century and added almost a hundred with vice-captain Lahiru Thirimanne, who went on to make his own fifty to steer the chase. Just when it was getting close, Angelo Mathews chanced his arm to good effect and the tourists go over the line to come back from 2-1 down to take the series.

Sri Lanka get home pretty comfortably in the end and win by six wickets to take the series 3-2. They've been the better side here, restricted England in the middle overs, bowled them out for a total just below par and then recovered nicely with a strong partnership in the chase and found a kick when they needed it to get over the line with 10 balls to spare.

48.2
4
Bopara to Mathews, FOUR, now this is short outside off and slapped past short third man
48.1
4
Bopara to Mathews, FOUR, absolute dirt from Bopara, back of a length sliding on the leg side and it's easily turned around the corner backward of square

Mathews has played a lovely hand here, acceleration at the right time to just push Sri Lanka along here, ridden his luck but fortune favours the brave and now Sri Lanka just need one hit, can Mathews provide it? Bopara to bowl...

END OF OVER:
48 | 9 Runs | SL: 214/4 (6 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.45, RRR: 3.00)

  • Angelo Mathews34 (32b)
  • Lahiru Thirimanne60 (101b)
  • Chris Jordan8-0-55-1
  • James Anderson10-1-33-1
47.6
1
Jordan to Mathews, 1 run, firm drive to just wide of mid-off for a sharp single
47.5
4
Jordan to Mathews, FOUR, short and slapped hard down to third man but it's wide of the fielder for a once-bounce four, once again, Mathews get the run of the ball with that just evading the fielder
47.4
1
Jordan to Thirimanne, 1 run, down the wicket this time but again Thirimanne manages to find third man, this time reaching for a drive and opening the face
47.3
1
Jordan to Mathews, 1 run, step to leg, Jordan follows him, Mathews able to angle it down to third man

Will Mathews try something here...

47.2
1
Jordan to Thirimanne, 1 run, yorker just outside off but again Thirimanne manages to dig it out down to third man
47.1
1
Jordan to Mathews, 1 run, short of a length, tucked around the corner for a single to long leg

It needs something Malinga-esque now, can Jordan provide it...

END OF OVER:
47 | 4 Runs | SL: 205/4 (15 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 4.36, RRR: 5.00)

  • Lahiru Thirimanne58 (99b)
  • Angelo Mathews27 (28b)
  • James Anderson10-1-33-1
  • Harry Gurney10-1-46-0

Excellent over from Anderson who has just brought England back into it slightly, another fine set from Anderson...

46.6
0
Anderson to Thirimanne, no run, excellent yorker, dug out back to the bowler
46.5
0
Anderson to Thirimanne, no run, full on the stumps, driven in the air back to the bowler and dropped he got a solid right hand to it at shoulder height but couldn't cling on, tough chance but England needed that
46.4
0
Anderson to Thirimanne, no run, cracking drive with Anderson offering width but Root makes a handy save at cover point
46.3
0
Anderson to Thirimanne, no run, full on the off stump, pushed up back to the bowler
46.2
0
Anderson to Thirimanne, no run, length ball just blocked in the crease
46.1
4
Anderson to Thirimanne, FOUR, back of a length, slower ball, and Thirimanne back quickly, picks the delivery, and lifts it over midwicket, a controlled stroke and it's well timed enough to go for four

Anderson back for his last over, England need something special here...

END OF OVER:
46 | 10 Runs | SL: 201/4 (19 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 4.36, RRR: 4.75)

  • Angelo Mathews27 (28b)
  • Lahiru Thirimanne54 (93b)
  • Harry Gurney10-1-46-0
  • Chris Jordan7-0-46-1
45.6
0
Gurney to Mathews, no run, over the wicket, full length, driven back on the bounce to the bowler

Sri Lanka closing in now with those two fours...

45.5
4
Gurney to Mathews, FOUR, a step to leg and cracked over cover, powerfully struck and the power of Mathews evident again
45.4
0
Gurney to Mathews, no run, full on off stump, played forward back to the bowler
45.3
4
Gurney to Mathews, FOUR, down the track and goes for the big shot again and this time nails it over mid-on, clubbed for a one bounce four, just what the tourists needed
45.2
1
Gurney to Thirimanne, 1 run, whatdoyaknow, Thirimanne sits in the crease and uses the pace to take a single to third man
45.1
1
Gurney to Mathews, 1 run, around the wicket, low full toss, clipped out to deep midwicket but just a single

END OF OVER:
45 | 10 Runs | SL: 191/4 (29 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 4.24, RRR: 5.80)

  • Angelo Mathews18 (23b)
  • Lahiru Thirimanne53 (92b)
  • Chris Jordan7-0-46-1
  • Harry Gurney9-1-36-0

Mathews took the gamble that over and it luckily paid off, eases the pressure...

44.6
1
Jordan to Mathews, 1 run, full right at the stumps, clipped out to square leg
44.5
2
Jordan to Mathews, 2 runs, full just outside off, a flashing drive wide enough of deep cover so them to scramble back for the second
44.4
1
Jordan to Thirimanne, 1 run, Thirimanne yet again just sitting tight and taking a single to third man
44.3
1
Jordan to Mathews, 1 run, short and pulled down to long leg but a superb piece of sliding work from Ballance keeps them down to just a single
44.2
4
Jordan to Mathews, FOUR, full length outside off, Mathews runs down to it and gets a wild outside edge trying to drive, it whirls down to third man and Gurney again running in can't get there, and it skips under his dive on goes for four

Mathews can play the big shots but it might not be that easy on this wicket...

Match Coverage

All Match News

  • Fine-tuning for Sri Lanka to peak at World Cup

    Sri Lanka have the batting raw materials to launch a fine World Cup campaign but a little polishing may make a considerable difference in eight months' time

  • England must confront failings to improve

    There were some admirable aspects to England's cricket in this series but they are going to need to rethink their tactics for the World Cup

  • England should apologise for mankading, not SL

    An editorial in the Guardian says Sri Lanka's mankading of Jos Buttler was well within the rule books, and so it should be England who apologise for the incident, not the visitors

  • Emboldened Sri Lanka keep their cool

    It may have been tempting for Sri Lanka to hide Sachithra Senanayake in this match, in hope the furore would blow over. But emboldened by the added pressure instead, they made his role in the match more prominent

  • Jayawardene finds the gap

    Plays of the day from the fifth and final one-day international between England and Sri Lanka

Tredwell to Kumar

3

James Tredwell has removed Kumar Sangakkara three times. His top victim is Yuvraj (4 times)

Last time out

133

The stand that Buttler and Bopara added at Lord's

Cook's fifty

12

Today was Alastair Cook's first ODI half-century since last June, 12 innings ago