Sri Lanka v England, 7th ODI, Colombo

Sri Lanka thrashed England by 87 runs in the seventh and final one-day international and won the series 5-2 as Tillakaratne Dilshan starred with bat and ball, smashing his 18th hundred and snaring three wickets on Tuesday. 

Dilshan, playing his 300th ODI, not only made his 18th century in this form of the game and, in the process, became the fifth Sri Lanka batsman to reach 9000 runs in ODI cricket, but he also claimed three top-order wickets to snuff out any chance of a successful England run chase.

While Dilshan's reputation might be as a relentlessly aggressive batsman, here he showed the other facets to his game: the subtly, the calm and the ability to read the match situation. With Jayawardene and Sangakkara falling early, he was obliged to rotate the strike, see off a demanding spell from Moeen Ali and provide a platform from which others could attack in the final overs.

The highest Individual score of individual players are listed below . This series stats From all previous matches.

§                  Kumar Sangakkara Made 421 scores on just 499 balls.  His highest Innings scores are 112 .

§                  Joe Root Made 287 scores on just 355 balls. His highest Innings scores are 104 .

§                  Tillakaratne Dilshan Made 256 scores on just 297 balls. His highest Innings scores are 88 .

Catch all the highlights of the match here: (SCORECARD)

Electing to bat first, Sri Lanka posted 302-6 thanks to Dilshan's 101 off 124 deliveries, Dinesh Chandimal's unbeaten 55, and an aggressive 26-ball 54 from Thisara Perera.

England's reply started badly, Moeen Ali out for a duck in the second over, and fellow opener and captain Alastair Cook for 32 at 51-3. Joe Root easily stood out with 80 in a lost cause, as England was bundled out for 215 in 45.5 overs.

The last England wicket was fittingly taken by Mahela Jayawardene, off a stumping by Kumar Sangakkara, in their last ODI at home.

Sri Lanka vs England 7th ODI, 2014

Sri Lanka vs England 7th ODI

Sri Lanka bat first in dead rubber

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat in the seventh and final one-day international against England at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka has already sealed the series 4-2, and both sides will be giving an opportunity to those members who have not had a good run yet.

Kumar Sangakkara is six runs short of the highest number of runs in a calendar year across all formats.

 In the sixth ODI, Jayawardene came to open the innings. The move was not a successful one, but team management might think of giving it another try. In the bowling department, Sri Lanka started with two spinners in that game. Mathews would be tempted to do more such experiments on Tuesday

SRI LANKA: DPMD Jayawardene, TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara (wk), S Prasanna, AD Mathews (capt), LD Chandimal, NLTC Perera, BMAJ Mendis, HDRL Thirimanne, RAS Lakmal, MDK Perera

ENGLAND: AN Cook (capt), MM Ali, AD Hales, JE Root, JWA Taylor, EJG Morgan, JC Buttler (wk), CR Woakes, CJ Jordan, JC Tredwell, HF Gurney

Sri Lanka v England, 7th ODI, 2014

"Mahela Jayawardene may miss today Match "

Both teams could experiment, with little on the line beyond pride and Cook's personal quest. Sri Lanka have resisted the urge to uncork their latest genie, the chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan, but a dead rubber against England on a turning pitch will test that resolve. Peter Moores has suggested England will "give opportunities" to those in the squad, with this match representing a final chance to stake a claim ahead of World Cup selection.

Having already clinched the series in the 6th ODI, Sri Lanka will be eager to end the series on winning note when they face England in the seventh and final ODI at the R Premadasa stadium in Colombo. Although it is a dead rubber, the match will hold a lot of significance for the hosts as this will be the final time Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara take the field in an ODI game at home. Sri Lanka will be hoping to make it a memorable farewell for the legends while England will be eager to salvage some pride in what has been yet another below-par series for them.

SRILANKA: Sri Lanka's batting has been well-served by Sangakkara, who has been notching up one big score after another and is just 79 runs short of 500 in this series. With one hundred and four fifties in six games, Sangakkara has been in top form and Sri Lanka will be hoping that he continues in the same vein. With two half-centuries apiece, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jayawardene have done well while Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne have also been useful down the order. However, the batting order, apart from Sangakkara, has not shown the kind of consistency Sri Lanka would have hoped for. Sri Lanka will be eager to sort these out with less than two months to go for the World Cup.

Most of the Lankan bowlers have been amongst the wickets but few of them have been on the expensive side. Dhammika Prasad has not been at his best, going at close to 7-an-over while Ajantha Mendis, despite picking up 9 wickets so far, has been leaking runs. Suranga Lakmal, who returned to the Lankan side, came up with a fine spell in the previous match, picking up with a four-wicket haul. Sachitra Senanayake, since his return to international cricket, has also been impressive. Rangana Herath too has done a decent job in this series while Dilshan's contributions with the ball have been an added bonus for the Lankans. What the hosts will prefer is for the bowlers to be more disciplined.

ENGLAND : Alastair Cook, at the helm of affairs, has had a disappointing series as his poor run with the bat in ODIs has continued. With just 87 runs in 5 matches at an average of 17.40, the England skipper's position in the team has been frequently questioned although coach, Peter Moores, still believes that he is the right man for the job. Ian Bell, who got to play only two matches, was also average with the bat, managing just 46 runs. Ravi Bopara started the series well with consecutive fifties in the first two games. He, however, failed to come good after that. Joe Root and Moeen Ali, with a hundred and a fifty each against their names, have been the best performers for England in this series, along with James Taylor, who impressed all with his 90 and 68 in the 4th and 5th ODIs. England need more runs from the top-order batsmen, starting with skipper Cook, and they need to score well as consistently as possible in order to stand a chance in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup next year.

Chris Woakes, who picked up a six-wicket haul in the 5th ODI, is England's top-wicket taker in the series with 14 scalps, but has has also been giving away a few runs. Chris Jordan too has been amongst the wickets, although he too has leaked runs. In fact, amongst the nine bowlers that England have used so far, James Tredwell is the only one with an economy rate of less than 5-an-over while Ben Stokes and Harry Gurney have been the most expensive, with the latter having an economy of more than 10. England's bowling has been decent but they have not done much to bother the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Sri Lanka v England, 2nd Test,

Jayawardene defies England's bowlers againLunch Sri Lanka 155 for 4 (Jayawardene 74*, Samaraweera 54, Anderson 3-38) v England.

In Colombo, life was much the same as Galle. England took three quick wickets to leave Sri Lanka's first innings in disarray only for Mahela Jayawardene, with a serenity that England will have found increasingly disturbing, to restore equilibrium by tea in the second Test.

James Anderson took three Sri Lanka wickets in his first five overs of the day, but England's sole breakthrough in a taxing afternoon session came 10 minutes before tea when Tim Bresnan, playing his first Test of the winter after England omitted Monty Panesar, found a hint of reverse swing to have Thilan Samaraweera lbw. 

England's frustration was kept in check on the field, but it had been apparent in the dressing room when they failed to win a DRS decision against Samaraweera. He was 36 when he survived appeals for a catch at short leg as a short ball from Steven Finn struck his thigh pad and found its way to Alastair Cook.

The not-out decision by umpire Asad Rauf was upheld after a lengthy delay, and innumerable replays, by the third umpire, Rod Tucker. There seemed no concrete evidence to overrule Rauf's decision, whatever the suspicions of what might have been, but that did not stop Flower visiting Tucker for an explanation and the cameras caught that, too, with his ill grace abundantly clear.

 

Srilanka Steal Victory From English

Sri Lanka took less than 10 minutes to take the last two English wickets to clinch the Galle Test by 75 runs. This first Test Match was wrapped up in three days and two sessions!

Suraj Randiv took two wickets in two consecutive deliveries to wrap up the Test match after Tea. 

First he got James Anderson nicking a jumping off break to the Wicket Keeper and then had last man Monty Panesar dabbing at a turning delivery to the diving Dilshan at second slip. England got bowled out for 264 in 99 overs with Rangana Herath taking 6 for 97 and Suraj Randiv chipping in with 4 for 74.

Rangana Herath who also claimed six wickets in the first innings got the Man of the Match for spinning Sri Lanka to a 75-run victory.

Srilanka Vs England , Test , 2012

Unconquered Mahela Jayawardene carries SL to 289 for 8.

 Jayawardene hit an unbeaten 168 as the hosts recovered from a disastrous 15-3 by the fourth over to move to 289-8 by stumps at a Galle International Stadium packed with some 8,000 English supporters.

Mahela Jayawardene single-handedly carried Sri Lanka to a respectable 289 for 8 in the opening day’s play of the First Test at Galle. Barring Mahela’s knock, the rest of the Lankan batsmen failed to get going. Infact the second highest score for the day was just 27 from Chandimal! The 34-year-old Mahela Jayawardene, was lucky to get dropped twice by Monty Panesar in the final session. The Sri Lankan Skipper remained unbeaten on a superb 168 (from 290 balls with 20 fours and 3 sixes) by the close of play on Day 1.

Resuming the final session at 168 for 5, Sri Lanka lost Prasanna Jayawardene (23) when he was struck on the pad by a reversing inswinger from James Anderson in just the fifth ball after Tea. Next man, Suraj Randiv was run out for 12 by a direct throw from Andrew Strauss at point to the bowling end when the former was sent back by Mahela Jayawardene in an attempted single. Sri Lanka slipped to 191 for 7 in 66 overs at this stage.

 Mahela Jayawardene got great support from Rangana Herath who hung in there for 30 balls and helping his Skipper top add up 62 valuable runs for the 8^th wicket. Herath got out to Samit Patel in an attempted predetermined paddle sweep, which he missed for an lbw dismissal. By the end of play, Mahela got decent support from no.1 Chanaka Welegedera who is on 10*. Mahela Jayawardene punished the English bowlers on what seems to be a flat pitch.

 Jayawardene deserved better. With his patience, his shot selection, his concentration and his technique, he provided the perfect example for his team-mates to follow. Three times he came down the wicket to thump sixes over long-on - once off James Anderson and twice off Graeme Swann - though generally he contented himself with waiting for the poor ball and putting it away with clinical precision.

England did allow him four moments of fortune, however. When he had 64, Anderson was unable to cling on to a desperately tough chance at first slip off the bowling of Swann (Sri Lanka would have been 138 for 6 had it been taken) before, on 90, Anderson missed a much more straightforward chance off his own bowling. 

 Then came two moments of vintage Panesar. Jayawardene, on 147, pulled directly to him at backward square and Panesar parried the ball for four. Worse was to follow. Panesar dropped a much simpler chance at mid-on off Stuart Broad when the batsman had 152. It provided a reminder of why Panesar, for all his skill as a bowler, has spent so much of his career on the outskirts of the international team. 

At first it appeared Sri Lanka might be blown away as they lost three wickets in the first four overs. Lahiru Thirimanne became Anderson's 250th Test wicket in the bowler's 67th Test - he is just the sixth England bowler to reach the milestone - as he prodded at one angled across him, before Kumar Sangakkara suffered the third first-ball dismissal of his Test career after he was drawn into a loose drive. Broad then took the edge of Tillakaratne Dilshan's bat with a beauty that bounced and left him off the seam. 

 Thilan Samaraweera was run out backing up after the bowler, Anderson, managed to lay a hand on a fierce return drive from Mahela Jayawardene only to see the ball deflect on to the stumps at the bowler's end. It was, some might say, an unfortunate end to a promising innings, though Samaraweera was backing up unnecessarily far. 

Dinesh Chandimal, meanwhile, presented Samit Patel - preferred to Ravi Bopara (whose side strain would have prohibited him from bowling) or Tim Bresnan - with a maiden Test wicket as he miscued an ugly slog-sweep to cover and miscued to cover. It was the shot of a young man who had almost forgotten the art of batting for long periods of time; not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that he has not batted in first-class cricket since the first week of January.