delicate paddle sweep behind square, it runs away for a couple and England are home!
Sri Lanka vs England, 5th ODI at Kandy, Dec 10 2014 - Ball by Ball Commentary
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Five down, two to go in this series. We stay in Pallekele for sixth rubber on Saturday and it's still all to play for so join us on Saturday at 10am local time, 4.30am GMT, see you then...
Presentation time. Joe Root is Man of the Match for his superb match-winning century.
Here's Angelo Mathews: "We were 20-30 runs short but nothing can be taken away from Joe Root. I was disappointed with the spinners really. Senanayake was brilliant, we banked on him. It could have been different with Herath but we had the spinners to win. The break wasn't a disadvantage, it was just a pretty flat performance."
Alastair Cook taking the praise for his side's second win: "That was a fantastic couple of days. The way we bowled was fantastic. Kumar played very well but Rooty has played a knock of equal class. James has taken his chance and played so well on two difficult wickets. I was a little concerned about the pitch this morning, we wanted to bat under lights but Rooty and Taylor played superbly well. We didn't talk about the chase overnight really. It didn't make a difference. The better side won in this game."
We thought Sri Lanka would have every chance of defending 239 on a slow, dry wicket but it's played far better than expected. There was almost no turn whatsoever and the seamers weren't really given a good enough chance to try and exert pressure. England knocked the spinners around very well indeed and there was no drama at all outside the first 10 overs when two wickets fell to Senanayake bowling straight deliveries. This should be a real confidence boost for England with the sixth ODI to come also on this ground on Saturday.
A fine chase from England, they have won by five wickets and controlled things very well indeed. That's the highest chase in an ODI at Pallekele, led superbly by first James Taylor and then Joe Root who's made his third ODI century, a very mature calm innings. He shared two excellent partnerships, first with Taylor to get England out of a little hole at the start of the innings and then with Ravi Bopara who was the perfect foil. There was a hint of a wobble but overall this has been a very solid run chase and England reduce the arrears to 3-2 in the series with two rubbers to play.
49.1
2
Dilshan to Buttler, 2 runs
Where's Malinga when you need him, can Dilshan do a good impression?
end of over 499 runs • 1 wicket
ENG: 238/5CRR: 4.85 • RRR: 2.00
Joe Root104 (117b 7x4 1x6)
Ajantha Mendis 9-0-49-1
Tillakaratne Dilshan 9-0-43-1
So it goes to the last over, just two to win...
48.6
W
Mendis to Morgan, OUT
tries to win it and caught on the rope! Morgan can't quite finish the job, going for a bit shot over long-on, didn't get all of it and it was solidly held
Eoin Morgan c Perera b Mendis 5 (5b 1x4 0x6 9m) SR: 100
48.5
•
Mendis to Morgan, no run
forward press to cover
48.4
1
Mendis to Root, 1 run
single nudged out to long-on
48.3
1
Mendis to Morgan, 1 run
carefully nudged from leg stump out to deep-backward square
48.2
1
Mendis to Root, 1 run
short outside off, cut to extra cover who fumbles and they get a single
48.1
6
Mendis to Root, SIX runs
slog swept from outside off and it clears midwicket! What a shot! Perfect timing, nails it over the rope for a superb century
Root on 96, bring um home Joe is the message from the England fans...
end of over 485 runs • 1 wicket
ENG: 229/4CRR: 4.77 • RRR: 5.50
Eoin Morgan4 (2b 1x4)
Joe Root96 (114b 7x4)
Tillakaratne Dilshan 9-0-43-1
Ajantha Mendis 8-0-40-0
A nerve-settler that boundary...
47.6
•
Dilshan to Morgan, no run
just defended this from leg stump up on the leg side
47.5
4
Dilshan to Morgan, FOUR runs
reverse swept off the stumps first ball and gets it over backward point, what a shot first up, timing perfectly
Dilshan, cha cha cha, Dilshan, cha cha cha...
Have England been too steady here? All of a sudden more than a run-a-ball is needed and now there's a new man at the crease...
47.4
W
Dilshan to Bopara, OUT
a shuffle down and tries to swing this out of the ground but doesn't quite get all of it and it's taken by long-on! An excellent catch stumbling towards the rope but he held on well a foot inside the boundary. It was firm strike from Bopara but he couldn't get the elevation right and it was a good catch
Ravi Bopara c Thirimanne b Dilshan 28 (49b 1x4 0x6 64m) SR: 57.14
47.3
•
Dilshan to Bopara, no run
down the track and pushed only back to the bowler
The crowd have come to life, cheering every ball here...
47.2
•
Dilshan to Bopara, no run
down the wicket and just calmly blocked to midwicket
47.1
1
Dilshan to Root, 1 run
swept in the air again and it drops just short of deep square again, another top edge
Suddenly a tad tighter than it was looking...
end of over 473 runs
ENG: 224/3CRR: 4.76 • RRR: 5.33
Joe Root95 (113b 7x4)
Ravi Bopara28 (46b 1x4)
Ajantha Mendis 8-0-40-0
Tillakaratne Dilshan 8-0-38-0
Getting a bit twitchy is Root, five from a fine century...
46.6
1
Mendis to Root, 1 run
swept off the stumps in the air to the deep square fielder but well short
Just given the crowd certainly a sense of Root under pressure those two false strokes...
46.5
•
Mendis to Root, no run
fuller length, clipped to midwicket
46.4
•
Mendis to Root, no run
more air, Root tries to swing it down the ground is beaten by some turn
46.3
•
Mendis to Root, no run
goes to slog sweep a ball from outside off and misses, it goes past everything by a small margin
46.2
1
Mendis to Bopara, 1 run
chipped down the ground, well short of long-on
46.1
1
Mendis to Root, 1 run
down the track, bowler drops his length, Root adjusts and plays down to long-on
end of over 463 runs
ENG: 221/3CRR: 4.80 • RRR: 4.75
Joe Root93 (108b 7x4)
Ravi Bopara27 (45b 1x4)
Tillakaratne Dilshan 8-0-38-0
Ajantha Mendis 7-0-37-0
45.6
1
Dilshan to Root, 1 run
off stump line, flicked firmly past midwicket
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