By Leonard Ratnayake in Bristol, England
Sri Lanka made only 166 runs in 41.1 overs as their top order batsmen collapsed once again much to the disappointment of the crowd, who gathered in challenging weather conditions to watch some cricket at Bristol cricket grounds in England.
English captain won the toss and wanted to bowl on a day, which was expected to be disrupted by rain and his team was soon on to the task by claiming the price wicket of Sri Lankan captain Kusal Janith Perera cheaply, when he edged a ball to the wicket from Chris Woakes in the third over.
Sri Lanka brought in Oshada Fernando in place of Charith Asalanka while England replaced Mark with Chris Woakes.
Relegating the experienced to opt for the youth to give them a chance seemed to worsen the woes of the Sri Lankan cricket team with none of those youngsters trying to capitalize the opportunities on offer. Avishka Fernando was out in the same manner LBW to David Willy for 14 and Pathum Nissanka followed soon edging behind for six off the same bowler. Sri Lanka were 3 for 33 in the eight over.
Much was expected from Dananjaya de Silva, who made a fighting 91, when Sri Lanka were 4 down for 21 in the previous match, unfortunately, he fell prey to a short bouncer to offer his wicket with no contention to be out caught at deep square leg for four. The top order collapsed meant Sri Lanka’s poor run continued with no hopes of a consolation win.
The English bowlers were doing their job as assigned and they insisted keeping their line and length after analysing the weaknesses of the batters until they give in to in frustration. Wanindu Hasaranga started well but innings too short lived to loft a short ball too the square leg for 20.
Dasun Shanaka showed maturity and was the only player to resist the tempting bowlers as he added useful runs to the Sri Lankan total while at the end the wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. He was run out for 48 as Sri Lanka continued their unprofessional comical running between the wickets. Chamika Karunarathne with 11 runs and Dushmantha Chameera with 16 runs made worthwhile contributions to the total.
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