bowled him! Dernbach is appealing at first but realises soon enough he's won the match for England! Spearing yorker bursts under the bat and rattles the stumps! England go wild, the crowd goes wild! Cook has pulled off victory in his first series as full-time captain
England vs Sri Lanka, 5th ODI at Manchester, Jul 09 2011 - Ball by Ball Commentary
England win by 16 runs and take series 3-2. We've been waiting for a close finish and finally we got one. This match has gone one way and the other and back again before settling in England's favour. They may still have a lot of work to go before they are a proper ODI side but Cook can be very pleased with securing a series win. Sri Lanka have, at times, looked a vastly superior side this series - their first since Murali's retirement - but have come away second. Nevertheless in Dinesh Chandimal especially they have real talent for the future.
Really was an excellent final match, Swann was superb, as was Bresnan and Dernbach's double at the end proved he has the mentality, at least, to succeed at this level. The pitch was not the classic seamer England routinely feel comfortable on but they managed to fight their way to victory.
Atherton leads the press conference and Jonathan Trott is named man of the match. Wouldn't like to be sitting next to Bob Willis right now. "It was a lot easier coming in after Cook and Kieswetter had done such a good job," he says. "We wanted to have a quick look then go as quickly as possible. There is a lot of belief in our changing room and we're very pleased to have beat Sri Lanka in conditions today that are similar to Colombo."
Alastair Cook is named player of the series Wonderfully, Atherton has to present him with that award. Good series for a plodder eh? "To play well under the pressure of a deciding match was very pleasing. We don't want it to be close but we handled the pressure excellently today. There is stuff to improve on but this is a step in the right direction." Cook is somehow managing not to look very smug and is disarmed by Atherton asking if "it's nice to prove the critics wrong, given that I was one of the biggest ones?". Smiles all round. Aw.
Well, that ends the England v Sri Lanka summer. It was nice to get a good finale after a summer series that hasn't quite sparked off. Still, thanks for all the emails. That's all from me, Sahil Dutta, Liam Brickhill, Andrew McGlashan, and Andrew Miller.
That could just about be the final blow. That 15-run partnership between Anderson and Dernbach at the end of the England innings has been pivotal.
slower ball has done for Mathews! Dernbach screams to the heavens! Great delivery! Mathews was completely deceived, played much too early, lost one hand off the bat and it looped to Bresnan at short third man who held on. Brilliant innings but it might not be enough
Dernbach, what are you made of? In his first series he has a huge task here.
shot! Shot Malinga! What a strike! He's just waltzed down the track and crashed this a mile into the stands over long-on! That's changed the things completely!
Malinga is the new man he has the experience but can he keep his cool? This has been an excellent final over from Anderson.
panic from Sri Lanka! Randiv has gone without facing a ball! Mathews drove nicely out to deep cover and Randiv desperately wanted to come back for a second, Mathews didn't have any of it and the batsmen ended up at the same end, eventually Randiv turned back but far too late
Randiv has done so much in this match and now needs to partner Mathews to the finish.
Kulasekara has gone! Another slower ball is swung out to deep midwicket, Eoin Morgan looking into the sun steadies himself under it and takes the catch. Dot ball, too
slower ball bouncer is swung away to deep midwicket but it's just a couple. Sri Lanka need a boundary this over
oof Anderson gets away with this! Full ball, swinging into the pads with fine leg up. Just flicked the pad but got enough of it to take the pace off
slower ball from Anderson to Kulasekara on a good length, the batsman eases a drive through cover to bring Mathews back to the business end
Anderson will finish off now, leaving Bresnan and Dernbach with the last two. Big pressure on the Dernbach in his first series. Fine leg and third man are up in the circle. Anderson has to get it right if he's going full with inswing.
Kulasekara drives his first ball stylishly down the ground to take a single that keeps the strike. Patel is done for the day and his last over was a good one. The game is still very tight and it's the big three pacemen to finish off
smart bowling from Patel, quicker ball that Mathews guides into the off side for a single
ah, after shots as good as the one before why try to reverse sweep!?
wonderful stuff again from Mathews! Gets down the track and leg side of the ball, picks a gap between deep cover and long-off and drives sweetly to the boundary
Mathews gets well outside leg to open out the off side and Bell's misfield at cover allows him to come back for a second
It's all on Mathews now, Kulasekara will struggle to time the ball straight away on this deck. Patel makes his first real impact on the match at a crucial time.
Mendis falls trying to clear the boundary! England strike gold with Patel. Mendis was down the track trying to smear Patel over cow corner, didn't get enough of it and Pietersen waited coolly underneath to pouch the chance!
Crucial over this: Samit Patel.
over ends with Mendis squeezing out a drive through cover all along the ground. Good over for the tourists getting nine
This is, by far, Mendis's top score, by the way.
slower ball again from Anderson, Mathews gave himself room to chop to third man but got too much and steered to deep point
fantastic batting to bring up the 100 stand! Anderson gets his length slightly wrong and Mathews gets all of leg-side clip, timing it brilliantly and bisecting the two deep-set fielders. Brings up his fifty too!
somehow Mathews gets power on this drive from a yorker length, very swift running turned it into a much-needed couple
top bowling from Anderson, lands a slower ball excellently. Mendis tries to run it past the keeper but can't
good delivery, full and straight. Mendis manages to force down the ground
Anderson continues...