back and punching down the ground and that'll do it!
Sri Lanka vs England, 3rd ODI at Hambantota, Dec 03 2014 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
3rd ODI (D/N), Hambantota, December 03, 2014, England tour of Sri Lanka
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ENG
Full commentary
So the series back to 2-1 with a morale-boosting victory for England and now we move back to Colombo on Sunday, it's another day game so a 9am local/4.30am GMT start. See you then...
Presentation coming up, surely Jos Buttler is Man of the Match for a superb matchwinning innings. Indeed he is. Here's a novelty, the winning captain Alastair Cook: "It's great to get over the line. We got a great start with Mo and the lads played great to win the game. We should have cruised it better than we did but got there in the end. I think they showed how hard it is to defend. Our fifth bowlers didn't quite get it right. We felt 235 was par and we played well to get there. It was a great wicket and credit to the groundstaff. My back flared up during the break but it was nice to score a few runs."
And Angelo Mathews: "The batters put up a good fighting score but the conditions were a bit wet but I thought we were poor in the field. The Duckworth-Lewis you can't rely on it but our bowlers weren't up to it today. Catches and no-balls have cost us. Thirimanne batted brilliantly and played so well with the tail. Mahela will be back for Colombo but we don't need to panic."
Sri Lanka put a good total up with the bat via Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne, plus a few handy cameos, but, under pressure with the ball for the first time in the series, they have been found wanting. For a while they looked to have another squeeze on in the middle but England played the seamers much better today and manourved the spinners well too.
England, like in the first ODI, got a great start to this chase via Moeen Ali's blitz but again they wobbled in the middle. This time they steadied through Root and Buttler and just when they needed a kick found that big over to get the chase really into gear and in the end they cantered home. It was Buttler who struck out just at the right time, found the boundary when needed, building around Root who apart from two strokes was largely unnoticed but played a crucial anchor role when England were losing wickets around him.
A superb partnership between Joe Root and Jos Buttler have brought England home by five wickets and they reduce the arrears in this series to 2-1. A badly-needed victory for England and the series to liven up this seven-match series as we prepare to go back to Colombo.
33.4
1
Mendis to Root, 1 run
33.3
6
Mendis to Root, SIX runs
down the wicket and a lovely clean straight strike clears the boundary
33.2
•
Mendis to Root, no run
floated up outside off, driven at and missed
33.1
1
Mendis to Buttler, 1 run
set up for the paddle sweep then changed his mind and dabbed a ball just outside off to short third man
end of over 3311 runs
ENG: 228/5CRR: 6.90 • RRR: 4.00
Joe Root41 (45b 2x4 1x6)
Jos Buttler54 (36b 9x4)
Rangana Herath 6-0-41-1
Dhammika Prasad 6-0-49-1
England going to cruise home now, what a difference one no-ball makes eh!
32.6
•
Herath to Root, no run
full on the stumps, calmly batted back to the bowler
32.5
1
Herath to Buttler, 1 run
a shimmy down once more, smashed down to long-off on the bounce, flat and hard that went
32.4
4
Herath to Buttler, FOUR runs
and again, another full toss and whacked wide of long-off, fifty for Buttler, bringing his side home
32.3
4
Herath to Buttler, FOUR runs
down the wicket, turns it into a full toss and guided through extra-cover, the timing is superb and it's wide of long-off
32.2
2
Herath to Buttler, 2 runs
down the wicket, squirts this away through midwicket and they can run hard for the second
32.1
•
Herath to Buttler, no run
goes to reverse sweep and misses it outside off
Rangana Herath now...
end of over 3221 runs
ENG: 217/5CRR: 6.78 • RRR: 6.33
Jos Buttler43 (31b 7x4)
Joe Root41 (44b 2x4 1x6)
Dhammika Prasad 6-0-49-1
Ajantha Mendis 5-0-45-0
That's desperately what England needed, a slice of luck, some decent hitting and suddenly it's no drama time. They should knock these off now...
31.6
1
Prasad to Buttler, 1 run
full on the stumps again, calmly pushed down to long-on
31.5
4
Prasad to Buttler, FOUR runs
full length on the stumps, squirted out backward of square, it evades backward point and runs away from third man, four more!
31.4
4
Prasad to Buttler, FOUR runs
length ball, heaved down the ground and...just over the head of mid-off. It was far from a clean hit but enough club to chip it over mid-off diving back and it skips away to the fence
31.3
4
Prasad to Buttler, FOUR runs
full toss wide of off stump, Buttler cracks it for four past backward point, poor ball and Buttler puts it away
Far from fluent this from Root but effective so far...
31.2
1
Prasad to Root, 1 run
free hit...heaved off side but again Root doesn't really connect with it and it loops out over cover for just a single
31.2
1nb
Prasad to Root, (no ball)
full again, tries to smash it off side but miscued and caught at extra-cover! It was very full, Root tried to give himself room to swing it away but squirted it straight to the fielder. They check the no-ball and Prasad has overstepped! What an error. A reprieve for Root, an extra for England and a free hit too, what a let off for Root
31.1
6
Prasad to Root, SIX runs
step across the stumps and scooped, nailed it for six over long leg, superb stroke, helped all the way, taken off a very full length on middle stump
end of over 3110 runs
ENG: 196/5CRR: 6.32 • RRR: 10.00
Jos Buttler30 (27b 4x4)
Joe Root34 (41b 2x4)
Ajantha Mendis 5-0-45-0
Dhammika Prasad 5-0-28-1
Better over for England but 30 for 0 isn't a worldly Powerplay when you're chasing 10-an-over...
30.6
•
Mendis to Buttler, no run
outside off, cut hard again but this time Buttler can't pierce the field
30.5
2
Mendis to Buttler, 2 runs
full on leg stump, dropped into the leg side, they sprint hard for two before long-on can get in
30.4
4
Mendis to Buttler, FOUR runs
touch short, Buttler right back in his crease, pulled hard and gets it to the square fence
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