Sri Lanka outplay defending champs England

Sri Lanka romped to a seven wicket victory against England at P. Sara Ground in Colombo today. The English batsmen never got to grips with the Sri Lankan spinners and were bowled out for just 123. In reply the Sri Lankan top order tore into some pretty ordinary English bowling, scoring the 124 for three wickets in just 24.5 overs.

The 1998 World Champions now have to beat India if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the semi-finals. Unfortunately the manner in which they played the spinners suggests that this will be very unlikely.

Meanwhile the Sri Lankans continue to grow in confidence. This selfconfidence is not unfounded either. They have a high quality and well balanced attack, classy batsmen and some electric fielders. Now clear favourites for the World Cup, complacency may be their greatest threat.

Speaking afterwards to CricInfo the English coach, Tim Boon, was fulsome in his praise of this young Sri Lankan side. ``There was some very exciting cricket by the Sri Lankan today with bat and ball. Their three exceptional spin bowlers put tremendous pressure on our batsmen. We did not show any mental resilience and continued to make unforced errors. It going to take a very strong team to beat these guys.''

England were on the back foot in this match from the time Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to field. On a damp pitch and in bright sunshine the tall fast bowler, Nissanka, generated pace and bounce from his strong, sideways on action. In the first over he produced an unplayable delivery that bowled the unlucky Ian Bell (0). In his second over Jimmy Adams, who was surprised by the bounce, popped up a catch tamely to short leg.

The left-handed Michael Carberry and Wallace then led a mini recovery with a partnership of 56 in 15 overs. Carberry was the more aggressive of the two, hitting Ian Daniels for two boundaries in his only over.

However the introduction of spin immediately led to his downfall and collapse of the middle order. Carberry (27) tried to use his feet to the off-spin off Pushpakumara, missed by a country and was easily stumped by Peries. The leaden footed Phillips (3) was the next to go. Trapped on the back foot he was leg before to the left arm spin of Dammika.

Dammika was the best bowler of the day. Varying his flight well and extracting significant turn, the English batsmen never got to grips with him. Not prepared to use their feet, their downfall was somewhat predictable. Dammika finished with 4-13 off his 9.2 overs.

The patient vigil of Wallace (27) ended when he was also leg before to Dammika. The inform Pratt and Captain Louden then briefly threatened a recovery. However with the score on 109 in the 27th over, Pratt ran out Louden (16), refusing his captain's request for a quick single.

A few balls later Pratt (17) charged the medium pace of Weeraratne and was caught easily by Nissanka at mid-off. This singled the beginning of the end for England, the last four wickets falling for just 14 runs.

In reply the Sri Lankan displayed the flair for which they are so universially admired. Both Daniels (46) and Mubarak (36), who came in after Weeraratne (6) had been bowled by Harrison, punished England loose bowling. A succession of half volleys were smashed to the boundary. The previously impressive Murtagh was savagely treated. His second and third overs costing 25 runs.

When the spinners came on the English players were treated to an exhibition on how to play spin bowling. Graeme Bridge first delivery set the tone when it was swatted dismissively over mid-wicket for six. Neither Bridge nor Phillips was allowed to settle into a rhythm. With both batsmen prepared to use their feet to get to the ball the bowlers were forced to bowl shorter. When they did, they were then worked square of the wicket.