England v Sri Lanka, 3rd – 5th ODIs, T20 & End of Tour: Disappointed Sri Lankans Draw a Blank

 

England v Sri Lanka

3^rd – 5^th ODIs, T20 & End of Tour

Disappointed Sri Lankans Draw a Blank

 July 6^th  2016

An early-season tour of England was always going to be tough for a young Sri Lankan side. Lest we forget though, we said the same in 2014 and saw how Sri Lanka won in all three formats: Tests, ODIs and T20. There are plenty of fans out there in the Internet willing to ridicule Sri Lanka as a desperately poor team and so minimise the England achievement: however, you are only as good as you are allowed to be by the opposition and Sri Lanka were not given many opportunities to shine.

The Sri Lankans will look back to the first ODI, on June 21^st and their inability to defend the ten runs from the last two balls that England needed as, perhaps, the crucial turning point of the tour: what if Chris Woakes had not been allowed to scramble a three from the penultimate ball, when a sharper fielding side might not even have allowed two? What if Pradeep’s last ball had been as accurate as the previous three and Liam Plunkett had not had room to hammer the six needed to tie over Long-off?

A tour that had started with rain helping save Sri Lanka from likely defeat against a rampant Essex had plumbed new depths in the 2^nd Test at Chester-le-Street until the glorious second innings revival had, just briefly, raised hopes that an astonishing comeback win might be possible. An honourable draw in the 3^rd Test was followed by two massive thumpings of a totally overwhelmed Ireland. Sri Lanka looked to be back on course and putting the early difficulties on the tour behind them. Had Sri Lanka won the 1^st ODI, who knows how the series would have finished?

As it was the tie seemed to knock the newly ignited fight out of Angelo Matthews’s side and the utterly humiliating defeat in the 2^nd ODI, when England chased down 255 to win with almost 16 overs to spare was reminiscent of the match nearly ten years ago now when Sri Lanka won in similarly humiliating fashion, ending Steve Harmison’s ODI career (among others). In the 3^rd ODI England had just started to chase a very inadequate 248-9 when the rain arrived. The 4^th ODI saw Sri Lanka pass 300 for only the third time in all their innings in England on the tour (the previous two had been in the game against Leicestershire, when a 9^th wicket stand of 174 saved them from embarrassment) and in the second innings of the 2^nd Test (475), only for England to chase the target down comfortably in 40 overs.

The 5^th ODI was a contest until Sri Lanka started to bat. England’s 324 was extremely disappointing – it should have been over 350 – but from a reasonably promising 66-1, Sri Lanka subsided tamely in a game that lost intensity once it became obvious that Sri Lanka could not win.

The fact that the three leading wicket-takers in the ODI series (Willey, Plunkett and Adil Rashid) were all English, as was the leading run-scorer (Roy) and the six highest individual scores (all 93 and higher), points to the gulf between the sides. Sri Lanka managed eleven individual 50s in the five ODIs, but Mendis’s 77 at The Oval was the highest of them: no one made a telling individual contribution.

And so to the final act of the tour: the T20 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Sri Lanka’s running had all the quality of lemmings, but none of their caution. There seemed to be some idea that, as in baseball that you swing wildly and, if the ball is not caught, you run like hell, wherever the ball ends up.

Even the bad news was good news for England. With Alex Hales sunning himself on the beach as a reward for his efforts in Tests and ODIs, Jos Buttler was given a chance to open, but lost Jason Roy third ball. Chasing a low total, with Roy’s golden form, there was a very real chance that Roy could effectively win the match on his own; by falling quickly, Buttler, Vince (less successfully) and Morgan were given the chance to have a long bat. While Vince, again, was out cheaply, Buttler and Morgan knocked the runs off calmly, with Eoin Morgan beginning to re-capture some form and fluency: he did not quite reach his 50, but did finish the match with a big 6.

What to make of James Vince?

9, 35, 10 & 0 in the Tests. 51 in his only ODI innings. And 16 last night. It is not a run of single-figure scores, but he has not cemented his position either. That 51 in the final ODI has helped, but there is still the feeling that he needs at least one big score against Pakistan to make sure of his place for India. He has looked good for a time in almost every innings, but has tended to get out fairly early.

Of the bowling attack, everyone did well. Tymal Mills was very fast and the most economical. Adil Rashid also put in a miserly performance. Dawson took 3-27, strangling the life out of the innings in partnership with Adil Rashid and Jordan and Plunkett took five wickets between them. It was professional and clinical. While Sri Lanka gave away 7 wides, England gave away just 3. Sri Lanka’s bowlers gave up 6, sixes, England’s just 3.

The Sri Lankan tour in 2014 came with England severely shell-shocked from the tour of Australia and against a much stronger Sri Lankan side. On this occasion Sri Lanka have been overpowered in the way that most had expected them to be then. In 2014, England found Moeen Ali: his star has waned a lot, at least when bowling. In 2016, Chris Woakes has come into an England attack shorn of several of its first-choice support bowlers and sealed his place. Alex Hales has batted superbly and Jason Roy has come into his own in the ODIs. Despite missing a raft of bowlers and Steve Finn looking under the weather, Jordan, Plunkett, Woakes, Mills, Dawson, Stokes and Willey have all shone at different times. England certainly seem to have some options and the opportunity for squad rotation in all three formats. There are plenty of grounds for modest optimism.

Now, attention turns to Pakistan and there are already reasons to think that they will pose a far more serious challenge: Somerset did avoid defeat thanks largely to Marcus Trescothick’s century, but Pakistan dominated in a way that Sri Lanka never have at any time on their tour. Pakistan can blow hot and cold, but when they blow hot they can be irresistible.