full ball squeezed away on the leg side, of this is well time and Jordan has to scramble across from long-on...and can't get there!
Sri Lanka vs England, 4th ODI at Colombo, Dec 07 2014 - Match Result
England have fought hard today but again come up short. The batting let them down. From a great position set for a total close to 300, via James Taylor's superb 90, they faltered in the Powerplay and a collapse saw them post a below-par total. Imagine what even an extra 10-15 runs would have done? It was a very good effort with the ball but wides - 12 of them - and a crucial dropped chance of Mathews have seen them come unstuck.
Cool cookie Angelo Mathews has steered his side home with a fine captain's knock, keeping his head when England managed to make the hosts sweat. Mathews has brought up his fifty and also brought victory by six wickets in an excellent contest that's gone right to the final over. Great entertainment for the best crowd of the series but it's Sri Lanka now 3-1 up in the series with a steady run chase. It looked to be more comfortable at one stage when Kumar Sangakkara was going strong but England fought back well to make a real game of it but in the end England were a few light with the bat.
alan: "A duck and a drop for Hales. Not a good day for the young man." I'll bring you the presentation shortly.
Eoin Morgan "We were good in patches, Taylor played outstandingly well. But in patches we weren't at the races. It's nice to get some runs under my belt, it will lift my confidence. If we'd got Mahela or Sanga earlier it would have opened up the middle order and given us a chance. It probably would have been nice to have another spinner."
Angelo Mathews "It was a good, close game. We had to fight hard. The spinners after the 35th over did brilliantly. I was a bit nervous at the end, but I knew we had wickets in hand. It was a good team effort."
Man of the Match is Kumar Sangakkara. "It wasn't ideal to get out at that time, but the match was well in hand. We just needed to rotate strike [with Mahela] and pick up a few boundaries. You will always back yourself to chase six an over in the last ten."
And that's that for today. Thanks for your company. We look forward to you joining us again for the next match in Pallekele.
Some pressure, this is good from Finn. 3 from 3 now...
full ball, driven hard down the ground...only to mid-off. Absolutely no chance of a single. Thirimanne gets comfortably back into his ground
very full at the leg stump, Mathews unable to pierce the off side ring
around the wicket, swung into the leg side and it lands short of long-on steaming in, more fortune for the hosts, Thirimanne not in control of that stroke
So England manage to take it deep and Finn to try and pull off something spectacular...
They've never quite shrugged England off here Sri Lanka but have been generally in control and now just need four from the final set...
big leg side swing, it's wide enough of deep midwicket for them to charge back for two
down the wicket, tried to be swung over the off side, Thirimanne gets it high on the bat but ever-so-luckily manages to chip it just over the head of short extra-cover and short of the onrushing mid-off, rum luck for England
Mathews backs away again, Woakes follows him, Mathews then manages to get inside the line and flicks to long leg
full at the leg stump, clipped down to long leg
Yorkers...
down the wicket and drives hard through the off side, finds the gap wide of mid-off, nice stroke
length ball tried to be swung over the leg side, gets hit around the waist
Just two to go but just 13 required. Woakes isn't going to bowl his full 10...
Excellent spell from Jordan, the best he's sent down for a while...
very full, driven off low on the bat to mid-off
tries to back away again but Jordan follows him and Mathews can only knock it back to the bowler
backs away to leg and drives a full ball past a diving extra cover, lovely stroke and just managed to pierce the packed off side field, just over and wide of James Taylor
full angled in, a swing to leg, a miss, a cry for lbw, surely going down, it runs off backward of point for a leg bye
around the wicket, back of a length outside off, goes to uppercut and misses
length at the body, tucked down to long leg
Jordan now to bowl out...
Under control for Sri Lanka but England just about still in the game. But surely their chance has come and gone with that Mathews chance...
waits for this and tries to angle down to third man, plays and misses
back of a length, paddled around and down to long leg
back away again, Woakes follows him and cramps him up, this is just dabbed into midwicket
slower ball, gives himself a little room and cuts hard and gets it into the gap between point and cover, great shot, played one-handed in the end
3W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
1W | ||||
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | |
Toss | England, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2014/15 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Sri Lanka led the 7-match series 3-1 |
Match number | ODI no. 3563 |
Hours of play (local time) | 10.00 start, First Session 10.00-13.30 Interval 13.30-14.15, Second Session 14.15-17.45 |
Match days | 7 December 2014 - day (50-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |