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England scrape
through with a nervous two-wicket win |
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England scraped through
with a nervous two-wicket win in a low scoring
day nighter at Dambulla in the third ODI to take
the lead in the 5-match series. The tourists
slipped into a losing position at 197 for 7 in
pursuit of a target of 164 but a 40-run stand
between Graeme Swann (25 from 37) and Stuart
Broad (unbeaten 20 from 44) brought them back in
the hunt. Graeme Swann continues to have a
remarkable International Comeback after seven
years with an inspiring all-round show. England
won this rain-affected match with just seven
balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, Sri
Lanka having decided to bat first had to halt
their innings twice because of rain breaks.
Although the rain looked pretty heavy, the
groundstaff could do the recovery work in
quicktime which reduced the match to a 48-over
one. The Sri Lankan innings lacked the rhythm
right from the start as they kept on losing
wickets in a heap. Just when it appeared that
they would be bowled for a paltry total,
Tillakaratne Dilshan put on a decisive
partnership of 46 with Dilhara Fernando. Dilshan
was the only good performer for Sri Lanka with
the bat scoring 70 in 84 balls with six fours.
The chief destroyers for England were Ryan
Sidebottom with 3 for 19 in 8.1 overs and off
spinner Graeme Swann with 4 for 34 in 10 overs.
Stuart Broad picked up a neat 2 for 26 in 8
overs.
England in
their chase were put on the backfoot by a triple
blow from the inform Farveez Maharoof that saw
they shaken up at 47 for 4 which included the
wickets of Pietersen and Bell. A 47-run
partnership between Skipper Collingwood (32 from
71) and Owais Shah (19 from 53) frustrated the
Sri Lankan bowlers until Sanath Jayasuriya got
rid off both these right handers. Sri Lanka had
England on the mat at 107 for 7 before Broad
combined with Swann to take their side close to
victory. Eventually it was the unbeaten
partnership of 17 between Broad and Sidebottom
that clinched the game. Among the Sri Lankan
bowlers, Maharoof bowled well for his 3 for 34
and Jayasuriya kept it tight with 2 for 23 in
their respective quotas. Graeme Swann was the
Man of the Match for his efforts.
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