Triumph of England's cartoon super heroes

When a team has begun to find winning the hardest of acts to pull off, it is inevitable that they discover fresh ways to lose. Until the last five overs of their chase, the likelihood of an England victory was bound up with matters far more complex than the required run rate. It did not seem so much a question of confidence, nerve or skill, rather the need to break down something that was beginning to feel like cultural resistance. They had to beat Sri Lanka, themselves and the family tree.

For most teams, in the modern day, this might have been a garden-variety run chase. England needed to score at almost seven runs an over but, with the game reduced to 35 overs a side by rain, that was not such a taxing demand in favourable batting conditions. Alastair Cook said afterwards they "probably should have" achieved victory with two or three wickets down. At 152 for 5, it seemed likelier that they would not make it at all.

That England managed it was down to two of the new batch, a pair of young men shouldering the responsibility demanded of them. Joe Root and Jos Buttler, 23 and 24 respectively, are cartoon superheroes in a time when England are desperate to sketch out a more exciting template for their limited-overs game. This was a scenario that demanded something outlandish, a boys-own tale of derring do. Root and Buttler delivered.

While Buttler, all preternatural calm and Popeye forearms, took the Man of the Match award after a series of punishing boundaries took England to the brink and a rare feeling of comfort, it was Root who hit the winning runs and Root who was the central figure in the passage of play that swung the match

In the 31st over, the scurrying Yorkshireman played Jerry to Dhammika Prasad's Tom, impudently crouching to flick an 85mph attempted yorker for six. Had he missed, it would have removed leg stump. Next delivery, he stepped away to try and carve over the off side and picked out cover. But everyone knows who wins in this particular game of cat and mouse. Replays showed that Prasad had overstepped and before the official call had been made by the TV umpire, Root was creeping back to the middle having watched his good fortune on the big screen.

Prasad had gone full pelt at England but after chasing Root along the ground piano, through the hall and under the kitchen table, he was about to have the back door slammed shut on his tail. Scowling and distracted, his next three balls were crashed for four by Buttler and England finally believed, the weight of their recent dismal run floating off like a cartoon anvil turning out to be a balloon.

England had initially set off in pursuit of a revised target with a confidence that belied their crock form. That was largely down to Moeen Ali, whose regal timing once again allowed him to hold court during an 84-run opening stand with Cook. Moeen reached his half-century from 29 balls, marginally slower than his previous two efforts on tour but still raucous enough to have Sri Lanka waste their review in attempting to silence him. An awful mix-up with Alex Hales, back in the side in place of Ian Bell at No. 3, saw him off instead and hinted at England retreading the route of farce.

The failures of Ravi Bopara, promoted up the order, and Eoin Morgan, whose woes continued with a score of 1, meant England's seniors had again clocked off with the job unfinished. But Root accumulated diligently, hitting just four boundaries, and Buttler backed his ability by absorbing 14 balls for his first 8 runs before unleashing to finish with 55 off 37. With five overs to go, the asking rate was ten an over. The most impressive thing about them was that they kept it that simple.

"I don't think we played our best today - but to get over the line, after not doing that in the first two, will give the lads a lot of confidence," Cook said. "I think a side full of confidence, and winning a lot, would probably have found it a bit easier than we did.

"You probably saw a side not used to winning on this tour. But that doesn't take anything away from the way Jos and Rooty played from 150 for 5. The way they responded was fantastic. For 'Jose' to get himself in, it takes a lot of bravery to do that, because the rate was going up and up. But when you can hit the ball like that, and when you're in, even 10 an over... we scored the last 50 of four overs, when we needed it off five."

England had arrived in this remote part of the island looking for a set of directions. The local lore suggests strange things can happen here and this was a game of oscillating fortunes and near misses. The tourists' most outré decision involved bringing in Hales but not playing him as an opener; fortunately his running out of Moeen was not the defining contribution of the match and the pair may yet find themselves walking out together if Cook is banned for a slow over rate.

Ben Stokes, another of three changes, fared even worse. Stokes has so far bowled six overs for 64 in his two appearances and currently looks like being more dangerous in the locker room than out on the pitch. England's bowling effort was a curate's egg, again liberally seasoned with wides. But the team showed impressive character throughout, most vitally expressed by the two men in the middle at the end. One KAPOW! does not make a series win but England are back in the frame.