SRI LANKA SLUMP
Fernando blow after early collapse against England
AVISHKA Fernando marked his first appearance of the World Cup with an impressive array of shots only to fall just shy of a fifty as Sri Lanka slumped to 623 against England at Headingley yesterday.
Sri Lanka, who won the toss, were in dire straits at three for two before the 21-year-old Fernando, in just his seventh oneday international, counter-attacked with a dashing 49 in this group match.
Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first on a good pitch of even bounce under sunny skies — a welcome sight at
a World Cup marred by washouts.
But the skipper fell for one when, off the last ball of the second over, he edged a delivery from fast bowler Jofra Archer that cut away to wicket-keeper Jos Buttler.
And two balls later, without another run on the board, Kusal Perera slashed Chris Woakes to third man where Moeen Ali, in his 100th ODI, held a safe catch.
But number three batsman Fernando hit 14 runs off one Archer over with a drive on the up followed by a hooked six and a cover-driven four.
Woakes did not escape either, with Fernando driving him for another boundary.
And off the penultimate delivery off the 10-over powerplay, Fernando hooked Archer for a six out of the ground that saw the umpires call for a replacement ball.
But Fernando gave his wicket away when he fell in similar fashion to Perera, with an uppercut off Mark Wood caught by Adil Rashid at third man.
It was the end of a 39-ball innings featuring two sixes and six fours, with Sri Lanka now 62-3 in the 13th over.
England, third in the table, will go ahead of leaders Australia if they defeat Sri Lanka, currently sixth in the standings.
The top four sides at the end of the 10-team round-robin group stage will qualify for the semifinals.