Joe Root guides England home in 150th ODI appearance

Joe Root’s measured 79 not-out was enough to steer England to victory against an improved Sri Lanka side at the Emirates Riverside.

It could not get much worse for Mickey Arthur’s side after three abysmal displays with the bat throughout the T20I series. But the tourists improved with captain Kusal Perera leading from the front with an impressive 73 runs.

However, a final total of 185 was always unlikely to be enough to beat Eoin Morgan’s side.

Chris Woakes starred with the ball and registered remarkable figures of 4-18 from his ten overs, and the Warwickshire all-rounder struck during his third over to take the first wicket of the day.

Pathum Nissanka was brought in to open following the suspension of Danushka Gunathilaka, who was one of three that breached the bio-secure bubble rules.

But the 23-year-old was out for just five after hitting a mistimed pull shot into the hands of Moeen Ali at short-midwicket.

Alongside Nissanka, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya Lakshan, and Praveen Jayawickrama were brought into the Sri Lankan side with the latter three making their ODI debuts.

As a matter of fact, Sri Lanka only had 195 caps shared amongst their XI whilst Morgan was playing his 244th game.

David Willey also staked a claim to become a regular member of his side’s ODI attack and took his first wicket of the match with Asalanka edging to Root at first-slip on debut for nought.

The dismissal of Dasun Shanaka for just one brought Wanindu Hasaranga to the crease alongside Perera and the duo provided stability to the Sri Lankan innings alongside some much-needed runs.

Hasaranga played with the type of conviction that had been lacking in the T20I series. He took on Rashid with two slog-sweeps over long-on and a lofted drive straight back over the leg-spinner’s head.

In the meantime, Perera brought up his half-century in an innings that was indicative of the upgrade in Sri Lanka’s batting from previous fixtures. Following a string of strong shots through the off-side early on, the captain then acted as a foil to Hasaranga and ensured the scoreboard ticked over.

Although, the partnership was broken soon after Hasaranga moved past 50 himself, and it was Woakes who did the business again.

Liam Livingstone took an impressive catch whilst sprinting in from deep-midwicket after the Sri Lankan all-rounder attempted to hook Woakes for six with the score at 145/5.

Both Lakshan and Mendis departed without troubling the scoreboard whilst Perera’s valiant knock came to an end after the skipper pulled into the hands of Sam Billings on the leg-side boundary for 73.

Chaotic running was a regular occurrence once the visitor’s tail came into bat. Karunaratne somehow survived Jonny Bairstow’s direct hit, following an initial mishap from the wicketkeeper-batsman.

Dushmantha Chameera was the victim of more shabby running from Karunaratne, but there was nothing fortunate about the run-out of Jayawickrama with Sam Billings producing a remarkable direct hit to bring the innings to a close.

Livingstone was provided with the opportunity to open the host’s batting in the absence of Jason Roy, but it was Bairstow who got the innings off to an electric start.

Consecutive boundaries off the first two balls set the tone with the Yorkshireman reaching 21 from just nine deliveries.

After hitting a free-hit for six, Livingstone was dismissed after slicing into the hands of Chameera with an attempted pull shot.

Then came a mini-collapse from England. Sri Lanka picked up four wickets at the cost of 24 runs with Bairstow chopping on for 43.

Morgan and Billings fell to Chameera, with the latter playing a flashing drive into the hands of Hasaranga at backwards-point to leave their side at 80-4.

It was so nearly 80-5 but Perera’s positioning behind the stumps meant he was unable to hold on to Ali’s edge and give Chameera his third.

Root and Ali then went about the chase in a professional manner. A lack of scoreboard pressure meant that they were able to benefit from safe singles and twos into the outfield without risking their wicket.

In his 150th ODI appearance, Root played the perfect innings and one he has done plenty of times. Whereas Ali looked unable to play his natural, hard-hitting style but nonetheless proved his value to the side.

By the time Chameera picked up his third wicket after forcing the Worcestershire all-rounder to drag on for 28, England only needed 15 to win.

Sam Curran hit the winning runs but despite seeing his side home, Root was denied the man of the match award which went to the classy Woakes who continues to prove himself after his lack of action throughout the winter.

Arthur and Perera will be encouraged by the improvements made with the bat whilst the bowling attack showed they do possess quality. But they have been convincingly defeated once again and need to find a way of testing this England outfit.

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