KIESWETTER HELPS ENGLAND ‘LIONS’ TAKE 2-0 LEAD
An unbeaten 112 in just 99 balls by Craig Kieswetter helped England ‘Lions’ record a convincing 67 run win over Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the second ODI played at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium yesterday and take a 2-0 lead in the five match series.
Craig’s blistering knock comprised six boundaries and a same number of sixes. The tur ning point for the England ‘Lions’ was the 100 run partnership in just 76 balls between Kieswetter and Samit Patel when the side was struggling at 140 for 5 in the 31st over.
The partnership enabled the visitors to chalk up a for midable score. Sri Lanka ‘A’ in their run chase was given a solid start by openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Mahela Udawatte who put on 64.
However they lost crucial wickets later in the innings and slid to 130 for 5. Despite a fighting stand of 65 runs for the sixth wicket between Kusal Janith and Kosala Kulasekera the home team faltered and was able to muster only 226.
The two teams will meet each other in the third ODI scheduled to be played tomorrow (January 31) at the Welagedera Stadium in Kurunegala. England ‘Lions’ 293 for 9 in 50 overs (Samit Patel 43, Jos Buttler 40, James Taylor 25, Alex Hales 23, Craig Kieswetter 112 n.o.: Thilina Thushara 2 for 48, Kosala Kulasekera 2 for 52, Malinga Bandara 2 for 56, Suraj Randiv 2 for 78)
Sri Lanka ‘A’ 226 in 46.1 overs (Kusal Janith 59, Mahela Udawatte 40, Kosala Kulasekera 26, Dimuth Karunaratne 21, Thilina Kandamby 21: Danny Briggs 3 for 31, Samit Patel 3 for 55, Joe Root 2 for 26, Nathan Buck 2
for 35)