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England vs Sri Lanka, Only T20I at Southampton, , Jul 05 2016 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
Only T20I (N), Southampton, July 05, 2016, Sri Lanka tour of England and Ireland
PrevNext
(17.3/20 ov, T:141) 144/2

England won by 8 wickets (with 15 balls remaining)

Player Of The Match
73* (49)
jos-buttler
New
ENG
Full commentary

Right then, folks. Hope you enjoyed the coverage tonight. England host Pakistan for what should be a fascinating Test series to come. It all begins at Lord's next week. Do join us then. Until then, i'll say goodbye and goodnight on behalf of my colleague Andrew McGlashan. Cheers!

9.30pm Two years is a long time in sport, isn't it? Sri Lanka won all three formats in 2014, winless this time. Series scoreline then: 20-4 to England. Did someone say Morgan dislocated his finger in his left hand? It didn't look like, for he was sensational tonight. Sri Lanka were only briefly in it when they nipped out two early wickets, but Buttler and Morgan made lightwork of what wasn't the easiest target to defend. Sri Lanka didn't help their cause by fluffing a couple of opportunities too. How relieved they must be to take the flight back home?

Jos Buttler is the Player of the Match: I'm delighted to take the opportunity, really enjoyed batting. I didn't change my approach massively. There was a different rhythm to my batting. The wicket was slow, so it was going to be a bit tough. The total wasn't way short, but under-par for sure. 160 would have been a par score. Bowling first suited us, I thought. The side captains itself, I enjoyed my little time when Morgs was out. When you get dropped, you have the hunger to get back in. I'll wait and see (on Test selection), but whatever the format, you just have to keep hitting it well.

Clean sweep in a home summer for England for the first time since 2012.

Sabyasachi Chow: "Wonder if Mahela Jayawardene would have fancied a hit in the middle, instead of watching it from the comm box." Well, he couldn't have done much worse, really.

17.3
6
RLB Rambukwella to Morgan, SIX runs

game, set and match! Morgan sees the flight, and decides to give it an almighty thwack. Gets down on one knee and slog sweeps that deep into the stands at deep midwicket to finish off the game in grand style

17.2
1
RLB Rambukwella to Buttler, 1 run

drilled back past the bowler, long-on comes around to keep it down to a single. Hit too well

17.1
RLB Rambukwella to Buttler, no run

steps out and flicks, straight to midwicket

end of over 176 runs
ENG: 137/2CRR: 8.05 RRR: 1.33
Jos Buttler72 (47b 3x4 4x6)
Eoin Morgan41 (38b 1x4 1x6)
Seekkuge Prasanna 4-0-31-0
Ramith Rambukwella 2-0-20-0
16.6
1
Prasanna to Buttler, 1 run

gives him the charge but Prasanna shortens his length to see the ball being pushed past him to long-off

16.5
1
Prasanna to Morgan, 1 run

punches a short ball to long-on

16.4
1
Prasanna to Buttler, 1 run

nearly picked out the man at long-off, flat hit, on the bounce to the man there

16.3
2
Prasanna to Buttler, 2 runs

drifting into middle and leg from wide of the crease, worked into the gap between deep square and deep midwicket

16.2
1
Prasanna to Morgan, 1 run

worked with the spin to square leg

16.1
Prasanna to Morgan, no run

the reverse hit again as Prasanna fires it short and wide, Morgan hits it straight to short third man

end of over 1611 runs
ENG: 131/2CRR: 8.18 RRR: 2.50
Jos Buttler68 (44b 3x4 4x6)
Eoin Morgan39 (35b 1x4 1x6)
Ramith Rambukwella 2-0-20-0
Farveez Maharoof 3-0-26-0
15.6
2
RLB Rambukwella to Buttler, 2 runs

flatter hit this time as he backs away and drills it back past the bowler, top work by the long-off fielder who dived full length to his right before deflecting the ball to the long-on fielder

15.5
6
RLB Rambukwella to Buttler, SIX runs

makes room, gets underneath the flight and lofts him straight into the sightscreen. He gave away his intentions even before the bowler delivered the ball, and it didn't make a difference to the end result

15.4
1
RLB Rambukwella to Morgan, 1 run

worked with the angle to long-on

15.3
RLB Rambukwella to Morgan, no run

steps out but the bowler does well to slow it down, Morgan, who didn't get to the pitch, offers a dead bat

15.2
1
RLB Rambukwella to Buttler, 1 run

too full, flicked to deep midwcket

15.1
1
RLB Rambukwella to Morgan, 1 run

slides one into middle and leg, tipped towards square leg for an easy single

Rambukwella back into the attack

end of over 1512 runs
ENG: 120/2CRR: 8.00 RRR: 4.20
Jos Buttler59 (41b 3x4 3x6)
Eoin Morgan37 (32b 1x4 1x6)
Farveez Maharoof 3-0-26-0
Angelo Mathews 4-0-27-2
14.6
Maharoof to Buttler, no run

another slower ball, predictably, punched to cover

14.5
1
Maharoof to Morgan, 1 run

back of length delivery slanting across Morgan, who runs it down to third man

14.4
1
Maharoof to Buttler, 1 run

leg-cutter this time, but too short, Buttler wrists it to deep midwicket. The call was for two, but they settled for just a single

14.3
1
Maharoof to Morgan, 1 run

bunted into the leg side, the long-on fielder started running even as the shot was played

14.2
2
Maharoof to Morgan, 2 runs

pulled, but not entirely off the middle. Long on and deep midwicket converge, enough time to hare back for the second as the ball was hit between the two boundary riders

Sabyasachi Chow: "Good to see a matured and calm-headed innings from Buttler. Danger signs for oppositions if he can mix caution into his batting repertoire along with his aggression "

14.1
2
Maharoof to Morgan, 2 runs

uses the pace of the bowler to steer it behind point, two easy runs

14.1
5w
Maharoof to Morgan, 5 wide

missed everything. Slower ball, but gets the direction horribly wrong. Morgan missed the flick, Chandimal, blinded by that, also couldn't hop over to his right. Result: Five wides

This is a cruise, could be over very quickly if Sri Lanka don't get couple of wickets now. Maharoof is back