Related Links : England in Sri Lanka 2007/08 : Scorecard
England has won the second ODI at Damubulla by an emphatic margin of 65 runs to level the 5-ODI Series. It was a bounce back in style for Collingwood’s team as they were down with embarrassing defeat in the first ODI at this same venue a couple of days back. Owais Shah and the seamers were the heroes for England in today’s day nighter.
Having decided to bat first, England were shaken up by a couple of early wickets and the repair work just didn’t seem to get going as they got reduced to 61 for 4 in the 19th over. Kevin Pietersen failed yet again leaving them in dire straits. But the pair of Collingwood and Owais Shah could slowly take their side forward with a 78-run stand. Collingwood contributed a 50-ball 42 with 2 fours and a six before getting out in the 35th over. With a platform in place, Owais Shah (82 in 92 with 5 fours) accelerated the scoring along with Graeme Swann (34 in 37 balls) to take England to a respectable 234 for 8. For Sri Lanka, the bowling star was once again Farveez Maharoof who took 3 for 30 in 9 overs along with two maidens.
England’s three seamers – Jimmy Anderson, Ryan Sidebottm and Stuart Broad got the ball to seam around under lights which saw Sri Lanka lose some quick wickets at the top. Sri Lanka slipped to a very hopeless 38 for 4 in the 15th over with all the main batsmen gone with the exception of Mahela Jayawardene. Stuart Broad took two wickets in consecutive deliveries which were separated by an over. Tillakaratne Dilshan (44 from 70 with 3 fours) in the company of Skipper Mahela Jayawardene (23 from 51) got the resurrection act but both batsmen fell almost at the same time to have Sri Lanka ruled out of the contest. Mahela Jayawardene was cleaned up by a classical off break from Graeme Swann after setting him up to play the cover drive against the turn. The hosts were eventually bundled out for 169 in 44.3 overs. Middle order batsman Jehan Mubarak remained helplessly unbeaten on 44 from 70 which reduced the margin of defeat through his last wicket partnership of 43 with Dilhara Fernando (20).
The spoils were equally shared amongst the England bowlers with the exception of James Anderson. Sidebottom with 2 for 23 and Swann with 2 for 27 in their respective 10 overs were probably the pick of the bowlers. Owais Shah was the Man of the Match. This interestingly is only the first ever ODI victory for England in Sri Lanka in the last 25 years.