The Sri Lanka cricket team escaped a whitewash as the third and final ODI against England was washed out in Bristol but Kusal Perera's team ended the tour without a win.
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Sri Lanka’s horror tour of England ended with the side not being whitewashed. They got five crucial points which helped them vacate the bottom spot of the ODI Super League table. But, Sri Lanka did not win the game. Instead, the third ODI between England and Sri Lanka was washed off due to rain. Sri Lanka was staring at a whitewash after being bowled out for 166 in the 42nd over. But, the rain came during England’s chase, and the match was declared a no result.
England chose to bowl, with Chris Woakes replacing Mark Wood. Oshada Fernando replaced Charith Asalanka who had struggled in the first two games. Sri Lanka looked to start on a positive note, with Avishka Fernando and Kusal Perera smashing boundaries. However, Woakes dismissed Kusal Perera for 9. David Willey sent back Fernando for 14.
Willey dismissed Pathum Nissanka and Woakes sent back Dhananjaya de Silva as the Lankans stumbled to 42/4.
Oshada Fernando and Wanindu Hasaranga looked to stitch a solid partnership and revive Sri Lanka. Oshada looked to break the shackles by hammering Sam Curran for a six. But, Sam’s brother Tom Curran continued to dent Sri Lanka. Tom sent back Oshada for 18. However, Sri Lanka had some good support in the form of Dasun Shanaka and Hasaranga.
Just before a partnership was developing, Tom Curran sent back Hasaranga as Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel at 89/6. Shanaka notched up the 100 in the 26th over and he looked to revive Sri Lanka with a six off Adil Rashid. Tom Curran continued to be in the wickets as Chamika Karunaratne was dismissed.
Tom Curran got his fourth wicket by dismissing Binura Fernando. There was a 37-minute rain delay but no overs were lost. When play resumed, Dushmantha Chameera hit two fours off Rashid. Tom Curran ended with 4/35 but Shanaka continued to bat positively. He was nearing a fifty with a four and a six off Sam Curran and Rashid. However, in the 42nd over, Asitha Fernando was run-out and England needed 167 to make it 6-0 in the whole tour.
However, when England had to resume the chase, the rain came and settled down. The rain had to stop by 18:00 local time for a 20-over contest. But, the match was called off at 16:20 local time as there was plenty of standing water on the outfield.
After the match, Kusal Perera the skipper said that the team needed to have belief. “We need to concentrate on our batting. The boys have to trust their ability and need to express themselves and that’s the only way to move forward,” Kusal Perera said. Eoin Morgan, the England skipper said there were areas of improvement. “We need to focus on our death bowling and certainly need to be more consistent in the middle overs. Those are the two areas we need to improve on before the World Cup. Pakistan is really competitive, so we need to improve our game against them. It’s always good to have selection headaches,” Morgan said.
Sri Lanka will take on India in the limited-overs series. England will take on Pakistan before the five-match Test series against India.
