England seal series in thrilling finale
England prevailed by 16 runs in a thrilling finale to Sri Lanka's tour, the bowling attack operating as a unit to defend 268 as the visitors were dismissed for 252 in the penultimate over
England prevailed by 16 runs in a thrilling finale to Sri Lanka's tour, the bowling attack operating as a unit to defend 268 as the visitors were dismissed for 252 in the penultimate over
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: Sahil Dutta
England win by 16 runs and take series 3-2. We've been waiting for a close finish and finally we got one. This match has gone one way and the other and back again before settling in England's favour. They may still have a lot of work to go before they are a proper ODI side but Cook can be very pleased with securing a series win. Sri Lanka have, at times, looked a vastly superior side this series - their first since Murali's retirement - but have come away second. Nevertheless in Dinesh Chandimal especially they have real talent for the future.
Really was an excellent final match, Swann was superb, as was Bresnan and Dernbach's double at the end proved he has the mentality, at least, to succeed at this level. The pitch was not the classic seamer England routinely feel comfortable on but they managed to fight their way to victory.
Atherton leads the press conference and Jonathan Trott is named man of the match. Wouldn't like to be sitting next to Bob Willis right now. "It was a lot easier coming in after Cook and Kieswetter had done such a good job," he says. "We wanted to have a quick look then go as quickly as possible. There is a lot of belief in our changing room and we're very pleased to have beat Sri Lanka in conditions today that are similar to Colombo."
Alastair Cook is named player of the series Wonderfully, Atherton has to present him with that award. Good series for a plodder eh? "To play well under the pressure of a deciding match was very pleasing. We don't want it to be close but we handled the pressure excellently today. There is stuff to improve on but this is a step in the right direction." Cook is somehow managing not to look very smug and is disarmed by Atherton asking if "it's nice to prove the critics wrong, given that I was one of the biggest ones?". Smiles all round. Aw.
Well, that ends the England v Sri Lanka summer. It was nice to get a good finale after a summer series that hasn't quite sparked off. Still, thanks for all the emails. That's all from me, Sahil Dutta, Liam Brickhill, Andrew McGlashan, and Andrew Miller.
SL Malinga b Dernbach 6 (6m 2b 0x4 1x6) SR: 300.00
That could just about be the final blow. That 15-run partnership between Anderson and Dernbach at the end of the England innings has been pivotal.
AD Mathews c Bresnan b Dernbach 62 (102m 64b 6x4 0x6) SR: 96.87
Dernbach, what are you made of? In his first series he has a huge task here.
Malinga is the new man he has the experience but can he keep his cool? This has been an excellent final over from Anderson.
S Randiv run out 0 (2m 0b 0x4 0x6) SR: -
Randiv has done so much in this match and now needs to partner Mathews to the finish.
KMDN Kulasekara c Morgan b Anderson 4 (8m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
We played some good cricket, weren't outplayed for long periods of time and unearthed some really talented youngsters
Team balance and the batting Powerplay are among the issues for England to deal with after the series win
Plays of the day from the 5th ODI between England and Sri Lanka at Old Trafford
A 3-2 victory and a Man-of-the-Series award concluded a four-day period that couldn't have gone much better for Cook
A 3-2 victory and a Man-of-the-Series award concluded a four-day period that couldn't have gone much better for Cook