†ENGLAND v SRI LANKA

At Peshawar, October 17. England won by 109 runs, Sri Lanka failing to achieve a revised target of 267 off 45 overs. Toss: England. By bringing in Hemmings and Athey, England looked a more balanced attacking side, although against such weak opposition the true value of the changes was difficult to assess. Most obviously effective was the revised batting order, which gave the quick run-getters time to build a big total. Broad (60 balls) never got going, but Gooch (100 balls, eight fours) and Gatting (63 balls) were in their element against commonplace bowling on a good batting strip of sun-baked mud. With Lamb (58 balls, two sixes, three fours) and Emburey (nineteen balls, one six, three fours) also partaking of the run-feast, the last ten overs realised 101 runs. England's greatest concern was with the dark clouds that had been rolling down from the Khyber all morning. The covers were out during lunch, but by getting in their 25 overs, they made sure that the result would be decided - in their favour - on run-rate should a storm break. Subsequently, only five overs were lost to rain, and Sri Lanka's revised target was still well beyond their reach.

Man of the Match: A. J. Lamb.