Moeen century in vain as Sri Lanka win

Ali's first ODI hundred was not enough to secure
England victory in their first match with Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka 317 for 6 (Dilshan 88, Perera 59, Jayawardene 55) beat England 292 (Moeen 119, Bopara 65, T Perera 3-44) 


Moeen Ali’s first ODI hundred was in vain as England were narrowly beaten by Sri Lanka in Colombo by 25 runs.

Ali reached England’s third-fastest century and second-quickest fifty in in One-Day cricket, but was supported only by Ravi Bopara as the visitors were bowled out for 292 in their chase of 318.

The Worcestershire all-rounder continued his fine tour of the sub-continent with his first century in the format, following a 21-ball fifty in England’s only warm-up match against Sri Lanka A.

It was England’s first ODI since early September and the visitors elected to field first with rain delaying the start of play, although no overs were lost as a result.

The Sri Lankan openers made good of England’s indifferent start with the ball, with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kushal Perera accruing a 120-run partnership for the first-wicket.

England’s bowlers were wayward, particularly Harry Gurney who struggled to find a good line early on and was suitably punished by the Sri Lankan openers, who were both able to reach half-centuries with relative ease.

Left-hander Perera was first to do so in 62 balls and Dilshan soon followed with his 40^th ODI half-century in seven fewer deliveries.

England did not look like making a breakthrough and were handed their first wicket when miscommunication between the Sri Lankan openers resulted in both batsmen colliding at the non-strikers end in an attempt to come back for two, ending Perera’s eye-catching innings.

Moeen proved to be a useful prong in England’s bowling attack, removing Kumar Sangakkara (2) for an lbw decision which, although contested by Sri Lanka’s second-highest contributor of ODI runs, was upheld, leaving the hosts on 128/2.

Sri Lanka reassumed control of the game when England’s bowling continued to be off the mark in line and length, although spin continued to play a crucial role in containing the hosts in the middle overs.

However, Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardne were able to keep on top of England’s bowlers, earning a further 76 runs for the third-wicket partnership.

After this partnership England redeemed themselves momentarily, with James Tredwell (2-52) taking two wickets in successive deliveries after he was twice hit for six by Angelo Matthews (33).

Tredwell had also removed Jayawardne after he had reached his 75^th ODI fifty in 57 balls and England continued to fight back with their third wicket for ten runs when Chris Woakes (2-68) removed Thisara Perera with the score at 263/6.

Woakes also claimed the prized wicket of Dilshan when the Warwickshire all-rounder took a simple return catch to bring a superb innings to a rather tame end.

But England’s had work made little difference as Lahiru Thirimane (27*) and Jeevan Mendis (30*) added an unbroken stand worth 54 runs in 28 balls, to give Sri Lanka an overbearing total.

England’s reply started with vigour, largely thanks to the efforts of Moeen who propelled the visitors’ total to 74/1 after nine overs, with his third ODI half-century, which took him just 25 balls.

Skipper Alastair Cook (10) failed to make a good impression and was undone by the introduction of spin from Sri Lanka. Dilshan ended the day with an all-round mark on the match, claiming Cook’s wicket with his first ball to break the 51-run stand for England’s first wicket.

Moeen and Ian Bell (35) added a further fifty runs for the second-wicket stand, but the Warwickshire batsman became the first of three wickets to be claimed by Thisara Perera with the score at 107/2.

After this the England middle-order, not for the first time, were underwhelming and the visitors lost four wickets for 52 runs to undo much of the hard work done by Moeen and Bell.

Joe Root and Eoin Morgan made single-figure scores and Jos Buttler’s run-a-ball 21 lacked patience as England were pinned back to 159/5.

Moeen’s 72-ball hundred proved to be the highlight of England’s run-chase and his partnership with Bopara offered the hosts a route back into the game, as the pair added  44 runs in six overs.

But the pressure of an ever-increasing run-rate eventually caught up with the visitors and Moeen was caught and bowled by Mendis (1-34) to bring an outstanding innings to a tame end.

From this moment on Bopara carried all of the pressure with the bat, but failed to attain enough of the strike, despite keeping England within touching distance of victory.

Ben Stokes and Chris woakes were both stumped off left-arm spinner, Rangana Herath (2-58) in their cause to relieve pressure, but in getting out they only made Bopara’s cause that much harder, with Tredwell and Gurney unable to offer any miraculous contribution at the death.

The innings and match was suitably brought to an end when Bopara, who had earlier made a well-deserved fifty in 52 balls, lofted a delivery from Thisala Perea high into the night sky, forcing a good diving catch from his namesake, Kushal, as Sri Lanka took a one-nil lead in this seven-match ODI series.

The second match is due to take place on Saturday in Colombo.