England set records tumbling

London:

Openers Alex Hales and Jason Roy put on an unbeaten and record-breaking 256run partnership to take England to a thumping 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international. Both made centuries, with Hales 133 not out and Roy 112 not out as England stormed past Sri Lanka’s 7-254 in 34.1 overs at Edgbaston. The convincing win took England into a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after the first game was tied. Finishing on 0-256, Hales and Roy put together the highest partnership for England in ODIs and the fifth-highest opening stand by any team in a one-day international. They decimated Sri Lanka’s bowling attack, with Hales hitting 10 fours and six sixes, while Roy added seven fours and four sixes. “Hales and I just wanted to get off to a good start and next minute you look we were across the line,” Roy said. England won with more than 15 overs to spare and the Sri Lankan bowling figures were forgettable. Roy edged out Hales for the man of the match award after also creating two run outs in the Sri Lanka innings. England bowled well and was slick in the field to restrict Sri Lanka to a mediocre total on a very good batting pitch. Dinesh Chandimal made 52, captain Angelo Mathews 44 and Upul Tharanga hit some late runs for his 53 not out. England’s bowlers kept the Sri Lankans in check throughout, on a wicket that was predicted to be good for batting and proved to be sublime with the Hales-Roy partnership. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid and seamer Liam Plunkett took two wickets each for England, but the opening batsmen stole the show with their ruthless chase.

“I thought it was a brilliant partnership,” Sri Lanka captain Mathews said. “Hopefully we can forget about this game as soon as possible.

Incredible numbers

New world record for a successful run chase without losing a wicket (256). Previous record: 236 by New Zealand against Zimbabwe in 2015

New English record for highest ever ODI partnership (256). Previous record: 250 by Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott against Bangladesh in 2010

England’s run rate at the end of its innings was 7.49. If they continued at that rate for a full 50 overs, they would have scored 375.” The Daily Telegraph