England weighed down by one-day woes
Sri Lanka took first blood in the one-day series with an impressive 20-run win at Lord's based on fine career-best performances from Upul Tharanga and Lasith Malinga backed up by sharp fielding
Will Luke at Lord's
17-Jun-2006
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Before today, the opening one-dayer of the summer, England had lost 11
out of their last 15 one-day internationals against major Test-playing
nations. In increasing that to 12, they appear to be on an endless
uphill struggle to find their best one-day batsmen and bowlers, intent
on filling the side with the 1990s staple diet of "bowlers who can bat
a bit". Whatever
happened to bowlers who could bowl a bit, and batsmen capable of
hundreds? Sri Lanka, on the other hand, gave an excellent,
professional and highly confident performance which ought to set them
up perfectly for a series win.
Last week, Farveez Maharoof, Sri Lanka's allrounder, boldly claimed
that while his team need to be patient in this transitional period
(they have slipped to sixth in the world recently, a decade after
winning the World Cup) they nevertheless have the ability to win the
2007 tournament in the Caribbean. Clearly his rallying cry was heeded
by his team-mates who sensed a vulnerable and rather directionless
England side. They didn't so much pounce on England, as trip them up
with a slipper.
Curiously, all the pre-series talk of inexperience, for both sides,
amounted to very little. Indeed, it was the inexperienced Upul
Tharanga and Jamie Dalrymple, playing in his first serious ODI after
making his debut against Ireland, who made their worldly-wise team-mates
look rather less savvy than their hauls of wickets and mountain of
runs might suggest. Tharanga batted solidly, if without the flair that
he strives for and is capable of - but what a luxury for Sri Lanka to
have a young opener making hundreds so early in his career. That he
was benefited by a wayward, desperate England was by the by;
Tharanga's determination shone as brightly as the June sunshine.
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The precedent was set early by Harmison whose first over, although promisingly
fast, was woefully inaccurate. Wobbly first overs happen from time to
time, but Harmison is far too experienced a bowler to be so loose.
With a minimum of just 18 games left before their opening World Cup
match, their bowling attack could hardly be more unsettled.
Harmison was upstaged by his opposite number, the 22-year-old Lasith
Malinga. His extraordinary horizontal-armed slingshots appear to be
delivered from the umpire's midriff but, like all unorthodox bowlers,
seem to have a habit of landing on a sixpence, or rising up into
batsmen's throats. Playing in just his ninth one-dayer, he even
out-bowled the old man himself, Chaminda Vaas, with a succession of
moderate thunderbolts - including the wicket of Pietersen,
expertly caught by Mahela Jayawardene. Indeed, speaking in the
post-match conference, Jayawardene signalled his catch as the turning
point in the match.
"I had to reach to grab it - I was going up and up and it still wasn't
there," he said. "Those are the moments you cherish in your career
because it does change [the] game for the team. In fact, I think all
the guys fielded well, the standard is pretty good and we just need to
keep it going."
Andrew Strauss, who made just 12, had a day to forget but he remained
unfazed by England's dire performance.
"It was a big learning experience for us all, and hopefully we will be
better on Tuesday," he said. "One-day cricket is about discipline - with
our bowling and our batting. The bowlers, after a poor start, came
back well in the second half and I'm still excited about the potential
this squad has."
Excited Strauss might be, but it will take more than great potential
to settle England's problems. Work must be done, and fast, if they are
to avoid going 2-0 down to Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Will Luke is editorial assistant of Cricinfo