BBC SPORT | Special Events | 2000 | England on Tour

Second one-day international:
England 160 all out (45 overs)
Sri Lanka 226-6 (50 overs)

Sri Lanka claimed victory over England in the one-day series thanks to an emphatic win in the second match in Colombo by 66 runs.

The result provides some semblance of revenge for the Sri Lankans, who had squandered a 1-0 lead to lose a dramatic Test series to the tourists last week.

England were always struggling to reach the target of 227 and as the run-rate increased the wickets tumbled with the pressurised batsmen playing an array of poor shots.

Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed three wickets, but the star of the day was unquestionably Mahela Jayawardene who scored a sensational unbeaten century and performed marvels in the field.

Alec Stewart was the only man to shine with the bat for England, while Robert Croft and Alan Mullally grabbed two wickets apiece with good support from Darren Gough.

Shining with the willow

The day started spectacularly for England, with Gough claiming the scalp of Sanath Jayasuriya, bowling out the skipper on only the second ball of the innings.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana celebrate
Sri Lanka celebrate another England wicket

Romesh Kaluwitharana (18) was the second to fall - caught at a comfortable height by Graeme Hick at square leg off Mullally.

Marvan Atapattu scored a majestic 57 - but was caught adroitly deep on the leg boundary by Andy Caddick off the bowling of Croft - the Welshman then caught and bowled Kumar Sangakkara (6).

Caddick grabbed his first wicket of the day as Indika de Saram (14) dragged the ball on to his stumps from a slower delivery.

Blaze of glory

Mullally's persistence and accuracy was rewarded after getting Russel Arnold caught behind by Stewart for a duck.

Sri Lanka's total was built mainly with the help of Jayawardene - his unbeaten 101 came off 115 balls after he bravely pushed for runs in the final overs suffering from cramp.

Mahela Jayawardene plays a shot on the off side
Mahela Jayawardene plays delicately on the off-side

England's innings started poorly with Marcus Trescothick (6) being caught by Kaluwitharana after a wild swipe off Nuwan Zoysa.

Andrew Flintoff blazed a quickfire 10 but was spectacularly caught by Muralitharan off the bowling of Chaminda Vaas.

A sweet victory

The spin bowler initially dropped the ball but a dive at full stretch meant the excitable home support erupted with delight.

Graeme Hick made hard work of his 11 runs - finally undone by Sanath Jayasuriya, stumped by Kaluwitharana and then their prize wicket came.

Graham Thorpe (11) was caught by Jayawardene after a loose shot off Kumar Dharmesena and England's demise looked assured as a jaded Stewart was brilliantly caught by Jayawardene after scoring 55 off 102 balls.

Michael Vaughan hit 26 but Sri Lanka closed in on victory quickly - Craig White (0) was run out, Croft was bowled by Muralitharan and Andy Caddick was clean bowled by Kumar Dharmasena.

A delighted Sri Lanka wrapped up their win with Mullally run out for just one run.

Sri Lanka: S T Jayasuriya (Capt), R S Kaluwitharana (Wkt) M S Atapattu, K Sangakkara, D P M D Jayawardene, R P Arnold I De Saram, H D P K Dharmasena, W P U J C Vaas, D N T Zoysa M Muralitharan.

England: M E Trescothick, A J Stewart (Wkt), G A Hick G P Thorpe (Capt), A Flintoff, M P Vaughan, C White, R D B Croft A R Caddick, D Gough, A D Mullally.

Umpires: B C Cooray and D N Pathirana


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