DICKWELLA SEES POSITIVES AHEAD OF LAST ODI
Aspirited batting performance against England in the fourth ODI on Saturday gave Sri Lanka a chance for victory, and the hosts will be presented another opportunity of coming good on that promise at the R. Premadasa Stadium today.
With a 18-run Duckworth-lewis victory, England jumped to a unassailable 3-0 lead – the first ODI of the five match series was washed out – but Sri Lanka will hope to carry forward their good returns with the bat into the final match, which is now effectively a dead-rubber.
The fourth ODI was curtailed due to rain with England, chasing 274, on 132 for 2 after 27 overs when heavy showers meant no further play was possible, with the visitors ahead.
However, despite suffering a series conceding defeat, Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella saw the positives of Sri Lanka’s performance, commending the batsmen on what proved to be a challenging wicket to bat on.
“Batting wise it was a great performance scoring 270 on that wicket, (because) it was slow and turning as well. We didn’t lose by much,” he said.
“We did quite well, that no-ball and the rain were why we lost that game,” Dicwkella added.
The no-ball Dickwella referenced occured shortly before the rains came during the chase when English batsman Joe Root top edged a full-toss to short fine leg, only to see the square leg umpire Lyndon Hannibal reprieve him, with the Sri Lankans guilty of having an extra fielder outside the 30-yard circle.
It was a mistake that probably didn’t cost Sri Lanka the game, but would have given them an opportunity of clawing themselves back into it.
“That’s game awareness. That can happen. We’re all human but we can’t afford for that to happen.”
England will have the luxury of testing their bench strength, with the series wrapped, while Sri Lanka could possible look to shore up some weaklinks in batting and bowling, with the likes of Upul Tharanga, Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Pradeep yet to feature so far.
Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (Captain), Upul Tharanga, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Akila Dananjaya, Dushmantha Chameera, Lasith Malinga, Amila Aponso, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Kasun Rajitha and Kusal Perera
England: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.