England collapse to massive defeat in Durham

England

Sri Lanka romped to a whopping 157-run victory over England in the second ODI at Durham on Sunday, with the hosts all out for 99 to level the series with three more to play.

Sri Lanka romped to a whopping 157-run victory over England in the second ODI at Durham on Sunday, with the hosts all out for 99 to level the series with three more to play.

Sri Lanka scored 256 for eight in their 50 overs, with Tillakaratne Dilshan's 88 the highlight. England were abject in the chase, with Eoin Morgan's 40 the only score above 12, and one of only two to reach double figures.

England won the toss and elected to field, with stand-in skipper Eoin Morgan flipping the coin in place of an injured Alastair Cook. Michael Carberry was called to replace Cook at the top of the order.

Sri Lanka's innings was not a brisk one, but more of an accumulation, and the first few overs were a shock to the system after weeks of T20 action. It took Lahiru Thirimanne 37 baals to make his 10 runs, before falling to James Anderson.

Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara then took the score from 33 to 129 over the next 21 over, with Sangakkara scoring 40 of the 96 runs. He too looked sluggish, but England's bowlers kept it tight on a difficult track.

The wickets fell in a burst after that, with Dilshan keeping the ship somewhat steady. Mahela Jayawardene was out for two, before Angelo Mathews made 30 to help Dilshan to his 88. The latter was out to Chris Jordan, bowled in the 38th over.

A set of cameo knocks pushed the score to defendable, as Ashan Priyanjan made the innings' second-best score of 43, adding to MAthews' 30. Harry Gurney took three wickets to keep things somewhat tight at the death.

England's chase was always going to be tricky, but they did not predict how much as Nuwan Kulasekara removed the top three batsmen before the score had even reached 30. Hi swing was no match for Carberry, Ian Bell and Gary Ballance.

Morgan had to watch from the other end as the rest of the order fell for single figures, with a duck for Joe Root, bowled by Lasith Malinga, and Sachithra Senanayake taking four wickets with his spin.

The third match will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester on 28 May.

England: Michael Carberry, Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, James Anderson, Harry Gurney

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Ashan Priyanjan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Dhammika Prasad

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