By Matt Somerford
Sri Lanka coasted to an eight-wicket win after bowling England out for 185 in the rain-reduced second one-day international in Colombo.
Ravi Bopara’s second successive half-century was a rare highlight of an England innings that lasted only 43 overs and presented Sri Lanka with a straight-forward chase that they completed in 34.2 overs.
While England did make two early breakthroughs, any hope was snuffed out when Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene locked into the type of risk-free pursuit they have completed with such regularity during their long careers.
They combined for a remarkable 36th century stand in international cricket together – after no other partnership in the match had passed 50 - using clever dabs, jabs and the occasional big stroke to guide their side into a 2-0 series lead ahead of the third match in Hambantota on Wednesday.
England will head to the southern port town knowing they need to improve on a batting display that never got going once they lost three wickets to spin inside the opening 10 overs.
England managed just eight fours during their innings – a figure Sri Lanka had surpassed by their 12th over – and have now been bowled out in six of their past seven ODIs.
Ajantha Mendis was the pick of the home attack, taking 3-33, while Tillakaratne Dilshan returned 2-32 after opening the bowling and removing first-game centurion Moeen Ali in his first over.
The match began on a sombre note with players and officials observing a minute’s silence in memory of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes.
Both teams had already shown their support for the worldwide #LeaveOutYourBats tribute to Hughes – by displaying their bats on the pavilion balcony – which has reflected the support of the entire cricket family in the wake of the 25-year-old’s tragic death after being hit by a ball while batting for South Australia in a Sheffield Shield match in Sydney this week.
Alastair Cook then won the toss, after rain reduced the match to a 45-over contest, and elected to bat on the same pitch that was used in Wednesday’s 25-run defeat.
Moeen struck a brilliant maiden century in that match but departed in just the second over when he swiped at Dilshan only for the ball to hit his back pad and then the stumps.
Ian Bell, playing his 150th ODI, and Cook then fell to catches in the deep as England’s quest to take the attack to Sri Lanka backfired.
Any reconstruction effort was then undermined by a steady flow of wickets and Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews’ knack for provoking a wicket with a bowling change.
Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler immediately fell victim to bowling changes and when Mathews brought himself back he trapped Joe Root in front after he had studiously battled away for 42.
Bopara was left to piece together another mature innings as he tried to haul England beyond 200.
He hit just a single boundary in getting to his half-century, from 66 balls, but England’s hopes of a defendable score were lost when he picked out midwicket off Ajantha when trying to increase the tempo.
England therefore needed early wickets with the ball and they got them by removing both openers inside the first 10 overs.
Steven Finn, back in the side in place of Ben Stokes after overcoming a groin injury, cramped Kusal Perera with a short ball that he scooped to Bopara at square-leg.
Moeen then removed Dilshan, who had set off at pace, when he skied a high ball that Chris Woakes got under.
But from there Sangakkara and Jayawardene took charge in textbook fashion.
Both took their time to get off the mark but once they found the pace of the surface they knocked the ball around at will to leave an air of inevitability over the contest long before it ended.
Jayawardene was first to his fifty, from 66 balls, while Sangakkara coasted to his milestone from 80 deliveries.
With the finishing line in sight, and yet another century stand under their belts, they picked up the pace before Sangakkara completed the task with a straight boundary from Harry Gurney.
Match Scorecard / Live ball-ball commentary
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Post-match Reaction
England captain Alastair Cook said:“We thought it was a good toss to win. I’m not sure I made the right decision in the end.
“The result of the toss doesn’t always influence the result of the game. Sri Lanka totally outplayed us in all facets of the game.
“It’s been a tough few days. We haven’t had any practice time. In a seven-match series we can bounce back, but credit to Sri Lanka. They’re playing well.”
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews, whose bowling changes regularly led to wickets, said:“The bowlers were brilliant up front. I keep changing my bowlers because all the bowlers are really good.”
Mahela Jayawardene, man of the match for his unbeaten 77, said:“One-hundred-and-eighty is always going to be a tricky score (to chase). We lost a couple of wickets early and had to make sure that we batted positively.”
Sri Lanka Innings
11.42am - RESULT! SRI LANKA WIN BY EIGHT WICKETS! - Sri Lanka 186/2 (Sangakkara 67 Jayawardene 77) - Sangakarra smacks Gurney back over his head for four and that is a comfortable eight-wicket win wrapped up for the hosts with 10.2 overs to spare to go 2-0 up in the series.
11.40am - Sangakkara lofts Tredwell for a couple of boundaries. Four runs needed.
11.37am - The end is close. Sri Lanka need just 13 now as Sangakkara and Jayawardene start to accelerate towards victory, the latter consecutively hitting Gurney for a four and a straight six.
11.27am - FIFTY! Sangakkara (80b 5x4 0x6) - The left-hander pulls Woakes away for the two runs he needs to reach his 88th ODI half-century, not to mention 19 hundreds. It won't be remembered as one of his best, but it is the latest in a long line of innings to help his country to victory.
11.22am - CENTURY PARTNERSHIP! - Sangakkara punches Tredwell through the air and past mid-on for a boundary that brings up the century partnership. That is the 36th time these two have combined in a 100-run stand in international cricket.
11.21am - FIFTY! Jayawardene (66b 5x4 0x6) - Jayawardene has his second half-century of the series and just the 76th of his career in ODIs to go with 17 tons!
11.14am - DROPPED! - Sangakkara drills a low chance back to Woakes who can not hold on. The ball was back on him before he knew it and while he did manage to get two hands on it the chance was spilled.
11.10am - Tredwell is back into the attack with figures of 5-0-14-0. Jayawardene sweeps at him hard - a rare risky stroke - and the ball falls just short of a diving Finn in the deep.
11am - Sri Lanka have faced 25 overs and they are 115 for two. They need 71 more runs.
10.52am - Cook turns to Bopara and his first over costs only two. Moeen is coming back on at the other end.
10.40am - These are the types of run-chases that Jayawardene and Sangakkara have knocked off so many times throughout their careers together - especially in home conditions. They appear to be working to a well rehearsed routine now. Little dabs behind the wicket, jabs into the gaps and the odd big stroke amount to some pretty risk-free cricket.
10.32am - James Tredwell beats Sangakkara with flight, but his miscued drive falls safely between cover and point. Jayawardene then brings up the 50-run partnership from 67 balls. With 3.73 runs per over needed these two are happy to pick England off.
10.29am - Gurney returns but when he slides down the leg side Jayawardene flicks him over square-leg for four. There is an air of inevitability about matters just now. Can England change that?
10.16am - It is drinks in Colombo with Sri Lanka 71 for two. England need to break this partnership between Sangakkara and Jayawardene to have any chance of winning the game. How many times have teams around the world said that in the past 15 years? It will be no easy task.
10.12am - Away from Sri Lanka for a moment and ecb.co.uk have been speaking to Yorkshire seamers Jack Brooks and Liam Plunkett while they are on duty in South Africa with the England Performance Programme. Find out what they have in common with Olympic and world champion Christine Ohuruogu.
10.06am - Jayawardene sweeps away a couple of fours in the latest Moeen over - the second between wicketkeeper and leg slip - and Sri Lanka have now found the ropes more times than England did in their entire innings.
10.02am – Harry Gurney has made a good start, beating Jayawardene’s bat a couple of times as he has allowed just four from his opening two overs.
9.50am - Moeen is bowling well to Sangakkara too. The former skipper takes 12 balls to get off the mark, and when he does it is with a leading edge. That said the ball after the wicket he gets deep in his crease and forces away a cut shot to the rope. This stand with Mahela Jayawardene could be the key.
9.47am - WICKET! Dilshan c Woakes b Moeen 26; SL 37/2 - Moeen grabs the key wicket of Dilshan. The opener had been given license to try and knock off as many of these runs as quickly as he could so England needed him gone. They do thanks to a skier that Chris Woakes holds onto at mid-off.
9.45am – Dilshan adds another two more boundaries in the latest Finn over, first with a well-timed straight drive and then by helping a short ball on its way.
9.37am - Finn completes a wicket-maiden and Cook has indeed turned to spin early. Moeen Ali has been tossed the ball. He got Kumar Sangakkara in the first game and did so in England during the summer too.
9.32am - WICKET! c Bopara b Finn 9; SL 27/1 - Finn strikes. That's a great reply to the early pressure Sri Lanka have put on. He cramps Kusal Perera with a short ball that he spoons to Ravi Bopara just forward of square-leg.
9.27am – Kusal Perera crashes Finn through the covers for another boundary. These Sri Lanka openers are looking to attack straight away. Alastair Cook may be tempted to look at spin early if this continues.
9.17am - Tillakaratne Dilshan starts in a hurry. He takes three boundaries from Steven Finn's opening over. England only hit eight boundaries in their entire innings.
9.13am - The players are on their way to the middle. The weather remains fine for Sri Lanka's reply.
England Innings
8.43am - WICKET! Gurney b Prasad 1; Eng 185 all out - England have failed to bat out the overs as last man Harry Gurney drags Prasad back onto his stumps after trying to make space for himself. Gurney's exit left 12 balls unused.
8.35am - WICKET! Finn b Ajantha 0; Eng 180/9 - Ajantha tosses up a wrong-un and Finn doesn't pick it as he presses forward in defence. The ball sneaks between bat and pad and into off stump.
8.32am - WICKET! Bopara c Mathews b Ajantha 51; Eng 180/8 - Bopara picks out Mathews at midwicket as he looked to up the tempo in these final overs. A valuable innings ends, but England's hopes of breaking 200 are in jeopardy now.
Well played @ravibopara#SLvENGpic.twitter.com/50MZJqQHTd
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) November 29, 2014
8.28am - FIFTY! Bopara (66b 1x4 0x6) - Bopara turns away a single to bring up a much-needed half-century for England - his 14th in ODI cricket and the third in his past four innings. Just the one boundary in that fifty, which is reflective of the situation he was cast into.
8.27am - The batting powerplay is done and England took 31 runs from it for the loss of Woakes. Five overs left.
8.24am - WICKET! Woakes st Sangakkara b Ajantha 15; Eng 173/7 - Woakes loses his discipline momentarily and pays for it with his wicket. We have a review for a possible no-ball and while Ajantha Mendis is close to over-stepping he's got some of his heel behind the line.
8.22am - CHANCE! - Bopara is dropped on 44 by Mathews. A rare mistake from the Sri Lanka skipper. Bopara gets a top-edge as he tries to help the ball behind square and Mathews set off at pace before a spilling the ball after a full-length dive. He was lucky not to collide with Thisara coming in from the deep, who was probably better placed.
8.18am - Bopara is playing another mature innings after his efforts in almost steering England home in the opening game. He's had to sit in more today, but he is working effectively - pushing the singles and using his feet when needed - to try and develop a total that might be defendable. Woakes is playing well too, and he's just profited from an under-edge than has reached the rope.
8.10am – Woakes steers away England’s first boundary for almost an hour. It was 78 balls in coming since the last four and owed, in part, to a misfield on the third-man rope. The first four balls of the powerplay were dots but Prasad bowled a no-ball, which Bopara got away for one, and then Woakes picked him off expertly.
8.05am - Time for the batting powerplay with the score 143 for six. England have taken 35 runs from the past 10 overs. With 10 to go, they now have no other option but to show greater urgency.
7.57am - Prasad is getting the ball to move about, which might not be the worst news for England when it is their turn to bowl. For now Bopara and Chris Woakes are trying to ensure a late surge is possible with the bat.
7.49am - WICKET! Buttler b Prasad 7; Eng 132/6 - Mathews makes a bowling change and you guessed it, Sri Lanka strike. Dhammika Prasad is thrown the ball for the first time and he finds just enough movement off the wicket to find Buttler's inside edge and then the stumps.
7.44am - It is drinks with England 130 for five from 31 overs.
7.28am - WICKET! - Root lbw Mathews 42; Eng 117/5 - Mathews does it again. This time he brings himself on and strikes in his first over. Root misses a straight ball that was crashing into middle. He knew a review was not worthwhile.
7.20am – CHANCE! - Root is given a life on 38. He sweeps at Jeevan Mendis and Kumar Sangakkara initially takes the ball down the leg side only to then spill it. The umpire does not signal for a wide so he must have thought Root hit it.
7.15am - England reach 100 after 23.4 overs. With this game reduced by five overs each England will hope for a score in excess of 250 from here. It will be hard work on a slow wicket against mainly spin.
7.09am - Ravi Bopara breaks a wait of 68 balls, and 43 minutes, for a boundary by confidently striking an over-pitched Thisara delivery through the covers. Nice shot.
6.57am - WICKET! Morgan c Thirimanne b Thisara 17; Eng 75/4 - Morgan pushes at Thisara and offers a catch for Lahiru Thirimanne who dives forward from short cover to scoop up the ball. Mathews has a Midas touch when it comes to bowling changes. His decision to go with the fast-medium pace of Thisara pays immediate dividends.
6.48am - REVIEW! - Root survives by the skin of his teeth. He moves across his stumps to flick Dilshan down the leg side and misses. Umpire Steve Davis turns down the initial appeal but Dilshan is convinced. The replays show the ball would have taken leg stump, but not enough to overturn the Aussie official.
6.36am - Root is batting in a cap with spin operating from both ends. It is hot out there too.
6.29am - Joe Root and Eoin Morgan are tasked with settling matters down now. They have made a busy start to the job, using their feet or getting back in the crease to push the ball into gaps and get the scoreboard ticking that way.
6.19am - WICKET! Cook c Kusal b Dilshan 22; Eng 37/3 - Cook top-edges a sweep to deep square-leg. Good captaincy from Mathews. He kept the field up for Cook, despite the powerplay ending, and asked him to go over the top and when he did he didn't quite get it right.
6.18am - The initial nine-over powerplay is over and England are 37 for two.
6.15am - WICKET! Bell c Thisara b Herath 11; Eng 36/2 - Bell, playing his 150th ODI, tries to go over the top again but he doesn't strike the ball cleanly and Thisara Perera runs around from long-off to hold the catch.
6.12am – Rangana Herath replaces Mathews so we have spin at both ends after just six overs. Bell responds by trying to be positive, lofting a couple of strokes over a packed infield.
6.06am – Cook unfurls a signature cover drive to the ropes off Mathews before Bell uses his feet to force Dilshan away for three runs through point. Dilshan then finds a bit of turn to spin the ball beyond Cook’s bat as he stretches forward.
6am – The early indications are that this is a slightly slow wicket. Ian Bell pats back a drive in the air that was just out of Dilshan’s reach. It might be hard work to get in on this surface.
5.56am – Alastair Cook pulls away the first boundary of the match. Mathews gets a touch short and the skipper was all over it.
5.51am - WICKET! Moeen b Dilshan 2; Eng 7/1 - Spin works first up for Sri Lanka. Moeen charged at Dilshan who spears the ball in at his legs. The ball deflected off his back pad and into the stumps. The centurion from the first game is gone early.
5.48am – Moeen Ali survives a strong shout for a catch behind and then clinks a lofted dive just over mid-on. Three taken from the first over bowled by Angelo Mathews. Sri Lanka are going to start with spin from the other end - Tillakaratne Dilshan to bowl.
Pre-Play News
5.38am - The players and officials are observing a minute's silence in memory of Phillip Hughes. The flags at the R Premadasa Stadium are at half mast.
5.32am - The pitch we are using today is the same one that was used three days ago. The amount of rain in Colombo since then has ensured that the pitch is nowhere near as tired as you might expect - it actually looks a belter. That said the local knowledge is that it should take more spin, and slow up, as the game wears on.
So here are the two line-ups, with Sri Lanka are unchanged. http://t.co/nwF7CTjH4K#SLvENGpic.twitter.com/7xjOgVidhc
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) November 29, 2014
5.25pm - The rain has reduced the game to 45 overs per side. The initial powerplay will therefore be reduced to nine overs. The batting powerplay remains at five overs.
5.20am - England have made just the one change with Ben Stokes dropping out for Steven Finn, who has recovered from the groin niggle he picked up in training earlier this week. Sri Lanka are unchanged.
Eng v SL: Cook, Ali, Bell, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Bopara, Woakes, Tredwell, Finn, Gurney #SLvEng
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) November 29, 2014
5.18am - Cook has won the toss again but this time around he has elected to bat. He says the wicket "looks a good wicket and the sun is out". Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews said he would have batted too.
5am - There is no official word yet, but the talk is that the toss may be conducted in 15 minutes. Play would usually start 30 minutes after that.
The covers are coming off. Amazing how quickly the staff here clear the ground. #SLvEngpic.twitter.com/WCrpwWQVru
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) November 29, 2014
4.45am - The covers are coming off! We can start thinking about a start time I reckon. When the teams are released Ian Bell’s name will almost certainly appear which will mean he plays his 150th ODI for England. The 32-year-old is England's second-leading run-scorer in ODI cricket – 196 runs shy of Paul Collingwood – having hit 4,896 at an average of 36.81.
4.30am - This game will, of course, be played to the backdrop of a sombre mood following the tragic death of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes during the week. Yesterday both captains, including Alastair Cook, paid their respects to Hughes while the England team joined in the worldwide #PutOutYourBats tribute which has reflected the support of the entire cricket fraternity at such a sad time. Both teams will sign a book of condolence for the Hughes family at today's game.
4.15am - With the covers across the field we will have a delayed start. The forecast is for the rain to clear so, like a couple of days ago, we're just going to have to sit tight for a bit and let this pass.
4am - Welcome to our live coverage of the second one-day international in Colombo as England look to bounce back from that opening 25-run defeat.
It has just started raining at the R Premadasa Stadium, but after Wednesday - when the weather cleared for a full game - we can remain positive about the hopes of play.
Good morning from Colombo. An early start, especially if you are following from the UK! Teams are warming up #SLvENGpic.twitter.com/NLkWoXw7zJ
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) November 29, 2014