Match Details

ENG vs SL 1st Matchth Matchth-Matchth-Match, SL vs ENG 2021

ENG

189-534.5

England won by 5 wickets

42.3185-10

Match info

Live

Scorecard

Player of the Match

Chris Woakes

England

4/18

ENG - 2nd Innings

Session	Open	PASS
10 Over	59	74
15 Over	96	91
20 Over	115	109

SL - 1st Innings

Session	Open	PASS
10 Over	43	47
15 Over	70	72
20 Over	93	98
30 Over	144	149
35 Over	172	158
50 Over	177	185

Commentary

That's all for the coverage. It was a pleasure bringing you all the live updates from the first ODI game. Till the next time, ta-ta and goodnight from me, Anurag Dasgupta, and my co-commentators, Arjun Bhalla and Vikhyat Jain.

Woakes on his bowling performance: I think opening the bowling, a big part of the job is assessing conditions and communicating. Taking wickets stems the run-flow but trying to be as accurate as possible. Don't want to give any freebies, width goes to the boundary, try not to leave the stumps, find the length that hits the bails until the batsman tries something different. My rhythm wasn't too bad, a bit short in first two overs, couple of games for Warks, hit my straps well."

Chris Woakes is the player of the match for his scintillating bowling figures of 4/18.

Eoin Morgan | England skipper: The way the guys started and persisted throughout was really good to see. They kept creating chances right through and full credit to them. We have our lead bowlers at mid-on or mid-off and the communication between them is key. He is one of the best in the world in most situations, he showed us today that if you do the basics it is easy to score. There are a lot of people are, you can't rule Root out. The schedule has not allowed Root to play a lot of T20 games.

Kusal Perera | Sri Lankan captain: I'm trying to back myself and domy basics. If I had batted till the 40th or 50th over, it'd have been great. He (Hasaranga) did a good job for the team with his bowling and batting. We got a partnership, but that didn't help. We have to get together and post a good total.

Stay tuned, presentation ceremony coming up in a while.

Earlier in the day, Eoin Morgan won the toss and England decided to field first. The Lankan Lions were off to a horrendous start, losing three wickets in quick succession. At one stage, they were tottering at 46/3, when the dangerous Wanindu Hasaranga joined hands with skipper Kusal Perera and the duo started to tickle the scoreboard. Amidst all the off-field controversies, Kusal Perera started on a positive note and went aggressive from the very first over. The right-left combination worked wonders for them as Hasaranga played a perfect anchor role. At 146/3, Sri Lanka looked set to get to a respectable total, but Chris Woakes had some other plans. Woakes dismantled the opposition and was the chief destroyer with 4 wickets under his belt. Once Hasaranga departed, wickets started tumbling at regular intervals and the inexperienced middle order crumbled under pressure. Kusal Perera made a well compiled 73, but even that was not enough as the visitors could only post 185 on the board, which was eventually too less to challenge the World Champs.

Chasing 186 against a wounded opposition, England started on an aggressive mode. Jonny Bairstow in particular was in a murderous mood and took on the Sri Lankan attack right from the word go. The Yorkshire lad struck some glorious boundaries and wanted to finish the match as early as possible. His new opening partner, Liam Livingstone, started cautiously and a break in concentration led to the fall of his wicket. Bairstow continued to play freely, but a loose shot and the dashing opener missed out on a well deserved half-century by 7 runs. The ghosts of the 2019 World Cup game between England and Sri Lanka returned and the hosts started to slightly crumble under pressure. First, Eoin Morgan perished and then Sam Billings threw his wicket away at a crucial stage of the match. Moeen Ali joined hands with Joe Root and the duo started to resurrect the innings. Root looked calm and composed and was unfazed by what was happening around him. Moeen Ali’s stumps were castled by Chameera, but Root’s stunning half-century steered his side past the victory line and in the process he reached 6,000 runs in ODI cricket.

Well, that’s the end of the match and England have won this game by 5 wickets in hand, and have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. This was a thorough professional performance by Eoin Morgan and his troops who outplayed the visitors in all three departments of the game.

34.5 B Fernando to S Curran

4 CURRAN FINISHES OFF THE GAME. A BOUNDARY SUBMITTED IN THE ALLROUNDER'S ACCOUNT AND ENGLAND GO 1-NIL UP IN THE SERIES. A five-wicket but an easy victory for the Three Lions in this series opener. It was a full toss on the pads and Curran puts all the power behind it as he slams it through the mid-wicket region for a boundary.

34.4 B Fernando to J Root

1 Pulls his length ball, marginally fuller length ball around off and the batter flicks it to short midwicket to equal the scores with a single run.

34.3 B Fernando to J Root

0 Too full around off, almost a yorker delivery. Root skips down and digs it to fine thirdman.

34.2 B Fernando to S Curran

1 Good length ball outside off and Curran lashes hard but edges it to third man for another run. 2 to go now.

34.1 B Fernando to J Root

1 Single more. Back of a length around off, Root on the backfoot allows the ball to come into him and then flicks it past square leg. They are just three runs away.

OVER 34.0

England

182/5

Sam Curran

4(7)

Joe Root

77(84)

Dushmantha Chameera

3-50(8.0)

33.6 D Chameera to S Curran

0 Bangs it short at middle and leg, Curran respects Chameera in a fiery speel and ducks under it. Dot ball and end of the over.

33.5 D Chameera to S Curran

0 Yorker that onto the off and Curran brings the bat down on time and digs it in the offside, but another dot ball.

33.4 D Chameera to S Curran

0 Too full outside off for Curran who smashes a drive but only till extra cover. No runs.

33.3 D Chameera to J Root

1 Short into Root who pulls it down to cow corner for a single run.

33.2 D Chameera to J Root

4 FOUR!!! Edged but England would surely take it. They cruising towards a victory. Fuller delivery outside off , Root goes to smash a drive though covers but edges it past the keeper for a boundary fine off third man.