Sri Lanka defeated England by 19 runs in the opening match of the three-match ODI series in Colombo, thanks to Kusal Mendis’ brilliant knock and Dunith Wellalage’s all-round performance.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first. Their openers Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara added 50 runs for the first wicket. However, the main partnership of 88 runs off 98 balls came between Mendis and Janith Liyanage, which laid the foundation for a decent total on the board. Mendis was the highest scorer of the innings as he remained unbeaten on 93 off 117 balls, including 11 fours, at a strike rate of 79.49. Liyanage supported him with 46 off 53 balls. Wellalage played a quickfire knock of an unbeaten 25 off 12 balls to take Sri Lanka to 271/6 in their 50 overs. For England, spinner Adil Rashid picked up 3/44 at an economy rate of 4.40.
In reply, England lost Zak Crawley early. After that, Joe Root and Ben Duckett took responsibility and stitched together a partnership of 117 runs. However, England then lost wickets at regular intervals, and none of the other batters could make any significant contribution as they were bowled out for 252. For Sri Lanka, Pramod Madushan claimed three wickets, while Wellalage and Jeffrey Vandersay took two wickets each. Wellalage was adjudged the Player of the Match.
The second match of the series will be played on January 24.
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