Taylor makes his statement
ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from Colombo
Alan Gardner in Colombo
07-Dec-2014
James Taylor make the most of his chance back in an England shirt • Getty Images
The statement shot
It had been over a year since James Taylor played for England, more than three since his debut, so his cautious start was understandable. He moved to 11 from 29 balls when he decided there was something about Thisara Perera's medium pace that he liked. The delivery was maybe a touch full and wide of off stump, allowing Taylor to skip nimbly out of his crease and cart the ball over wide long-on with a heavy bottom-handed swipe of the bat. It was the first boundary of his innings and his first six in international cricket.
It had been over a year since James Taylor played for England, more than three since his debut, so his cautious start was understandable. He moved to 11 from 29 balls when he decided there was something about Thisara Perera's medium pace that he liked. The delivery was maybe a touch full and wide of off stump, allowing Taylor to skip nimbly out of his crease and cart the ball over wide long-on with a heavy bottom-handed swipe of the bat. It was the first boundary of his innings and his first six in international cricket.
The stretch for the line
Throughout his innings, Taylor had a few tricky moments with his running, particularly to mid-on, where he took a number of sharp singles. In the 19th over, he pushed Jeevan Mendis firmly towards mid-on and took off down the pitch before changing his mind. Joe Root was at the non-striker's end and he had to first get out of the way of the ball, then respond to the call, then attempt to regain his ground having lost footing on the pitch. With a desperate, outstretched arm, he got his bat back.
Throughout his innings, Taylor had a few tricky moments with his running, particularly to mid-on, where he took a number of sharp singles. In the 19th over, he pushed Jeevan Mendis firmly towards mid-on and took off down the pitch before changing his mind. Joe Root was at the non-striker's end and he had to first get out of the way of the ball, then respond to the call, then attempt to regain his ground having lost footing on the pitch. With a desperate, outstretched arm, he got his bat back.
The intimidation
A couple of times during the partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Jordan supplemented his get-down-really-close-to-the-batsman follow through with a feint at throwing at the stumps. He didn't actually go through with it - in fact, once he failed to actually pick up the ball - but for what was perceived as an unnecessary attempt to intimidate Sri Lanka's batting heroes, Jordan felt the full force of a Colombo crowd derisorily hooting him down. As the chase got tighter and Angelo Mathews took Sri Lanka towards victory, Jordan tried it again and got an even bigger pelting.
A couple of times during the partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Jordan supplemented his get-down-really-close-to-the-batsman follow through with a feint at throwing at the stumps. He didn't actually go through with it - in fact, once he failed to actually pick up the ball - but for what was perceived as an unnecessary attempt to intimidate Sri Lanka's batting heroes, Jordan felt the full force of a Colombo crowd derisorily hooting him down. As the chase got tighter and Angelo Mathews took Sri Lanka towards victory, Jordan tried it again and got an even bigger pelting.
The new toy
Sangakkara cruised past 50 for the 109th time in a one-day international, putting him three behind Ricky Ponting in second place. He won't be catching Sachin Tendulkar's 145 50-plus scores, with retirement from at least the ODI format expected after the World Cup, but he has learned one of the old master's tricks. Leaning back to a Chris Woakes bouncer, Sangakkara put his dukes up and uppercut the ball directly over the head of the wicketkeeper - a classic Tendulkar stroke but seemingly a new addition to Sanga's armoury.
Sangakkara cruised past 50 for the 109th time in a one-day international, putting him three behind Ricky Ponting in second place. He won't be catching Sachin Tendulkar's 145 50-plus scores, with retirement from at least the ODI format expected after the World Cup, but he has learned one of the old master's tricks. Leaning back to a Chris Woakes bouncer, Sangakkara put his dukes up and uppercut the ball directly over the head of the wicketkeeper - a classic Tendulkar stroke but seemingly a new addition to Sanga's armoury.
The carefully-baited trap
England barely got close to touching Sangakkara, discounting a mistimed drive at Joe Root that fell just short of extra cover. But Eoin Morgan sometimes has a touch of magic about his captaincy and just when it looked like Sangakkara would be heading off into the sunset with the match in his pocket, his confidence got the better of him and he crashed an aerial cut shot straight to the man set back towards the cover boundary. So that's what England were playing for, the old deep point trap.
England barely got close to touching Sangakkara, discounting a mistimed drive at Joe Root that fell just short of extra cover. But Eoin Morgan sometimes has a touch of magic about his captaincy and just when it looked like Sangakkara would be heading off into the sunset with the match in his pocket, his confidence got the better of him and he crashed an aerial cut shot straight to the man set back towards the cover boundary. So that's what England were playing for, the old deep point trap.
Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick