Paceman Lasith Malinga claimed 5 for 44 against England in the second ODI in Dambulla.
October 13, 2018: Sri Lanka failed to reach a revised target under the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern system, to lose by 30 runs to England in the second one-day international in Dambulla today.
Chasing England’s 278/9, Sri Lanka reached 140/5 in 29 overs when rain ended play. The DLS target was 172 in 29 overs.
Earlier, England rode on a superb 92 from captain Eoin Morgan to post the challenging total. At one stage, the visitors were set for a total in excess of 300, but Lasith Malinga produced a magnificent spell of cunning bowling to restrict England from 218 for 4 to 254 for 9.
Malinga dismissed Morgan for 92 and then followed up by bowling Moeen Ali first ball for a duck. The paceman finished with 5 for 44 and also reached his 500th wicket in international cricket.
Sri Lanka was never in the hunt for victory after losing the first three wickets for 20. Only an entertaining unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 66 between Dananjaya de Silva (36) and Thisara Perera (44) brought some respectability to the total.
Sri Lanka has a lot to do to revive its batting order before the third ODI is played at Pallekela on October 17.
Scores:
England 278/9 (E Morgan 92, J Root 71, J Buttler 28, L Malinga 5 for 44) defeated Sri Lanka 140/5 (K Perera 30, D de Silva 36*, T Perera 44*, C Woakes 3 for 26) by 30 runs on the D/L method.
