SOUTHAMPTON (Sri Lanka won toss): Sri Lanka beat England by two runs
THE party mood of Twenty20 turned flat last night when Ed Joyce, in his first week as an England cricketer, left the field in an ambulance after what seemed to be a serious injury to his right ankle. As the players walked off and Joyce writhed in agony, thoughts inevitably turned to the accident suffered by Simon Jones at Brisbane four years ago.
Play was delayed for about 12 minutes but better news followed when X-rays showed no break. A dislocation has been put back and soft tissue damage will be reassessed this morning. The news represented a second blow after Glen Chapple was released earlier in the day because of a stomach muscle problem. Kabir Ali will join the squad.
A close game, in contrast to the one-sided encounter against Australia last year, finished 30 minutes behind schedule and, in the sickening context of Joyce’s mishap, the result carried limited importance. Had it not been for Marcus Trescothick, who struck 72 from 57 balls, then Sri Lanka would have won with ease.
Advertisement
His run-out, courtesy of a direct hit by Kumar Sangakkara, left England 12 runs short with nine balls remaining but Dilhara Fernando allowed batsmen little freedom to swing their arms in a composed final over. Tim Bresnan, on his international debut, needed to score five from the last ball. His expansive drive soared high rather than long.
Sri Lanka were good value for the success overall. England were shoddy in the field and allowed Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga to make a heady start before the bowlers, Paul Collingwood in particular, pegged back the innings by taking the pace off the ball. Players were clearly unsettled by Joyce’s misfortune.
He twice landed badly on his right ankle at third man as he misjudged an attempt to catch an uppercut by Jayasuriya in Stephen Harmison’s first over. He called for help immediately and the stern appearances of Dr Peter Gregory, the ECB chief medical officer, and Dean Conway, the physiotherapist, augured badly.
The severity of the problem must have been lost on a section of the crowd in the stand nearest to the area. That is the only charitable explanation for some of the barracking that prompted an agitated Geraint Jones to complain to a steward after his attempt to relay the bad news was greeted with another senseless comment.
Tharanga might have been a boy of primary-school age when Jayasuriya was whirling away at the 1996 World Cup but he has clearly been well schooled to judge from the way he matched his little partner stroke for dazzling stroke. England bowled too short and wide until Collingwood, backed by Jamie Dalrymple, plugged the runs.
Advertisement
Collingwood made the breakthrough when he forced an inside edge from Tharanga on to the stumps and he proceeded to make liberal use of his slower ball to return figures of four for 22, the best in the short history of Twenty20 internationals. Interestingly, all seven have now been won by the side who have also won the toss.
Jayasuriya himself was unlucky to be adjudged leg-before but with Harmison rattling the lower order at speeds up to 94mph, England could feel satisfied at having restricted Sri Lanka to some way below their initial target of 190. However, any boundaries had to be hard earned with the rope a long way from the middle.
England had a better idea of the pitch and wanted to try to save wickets for the later stages. That did not prevent Strauss from forcing four fours in succession off Ruchira Perera but the loss of Kevin Pietersen, to a wonderful catch by Lasith Malinga to his right at long leg, was a big setback.
Trescothick had played against his instinct in a supporting role before starting to make room and pierce the gaps. “It was so close to being the perfect innings,” he said. In the end England did not have the experience or, without Joyce, the depth to build on his efforts.
SCOREBOARD
Advertisement
SRI LANKA
S T Jayasuriya lbw b Collingwood 41
W U Tharanga b Collingwood 34
*D P M D Jayawardena run out 0
T M Dilshan c Jones b Dalrymple 2
†K C Sangakkara c Strauss b Collingwood 21
R P Arnold b Collingwood 7
C K Kapugedera c Pietersen b Mahmood 22
M F Maharoof run out 8
S L Malinga c sub b Plunkett 13
C R D Fernando run out 3
P D R L Perera not out 0
Extras (b 1, lb 3, w 6, nb 2) 12
Total (20 overs) 163
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-75, 2-75, 3-84, 4-84, 5-102, 6-117, 7-136, 8-154, 9-161.
BOWLING: Bresnan 2-0-20-0; Harmison 4-0-29-0; Mahmood 4-0-34-1; Plunkett 4-0-37-1; Collingwood 4-0-22-4; Dalrymple 2-0-17-1.
ENGLAND
Advertisement
M E Trescothick not out 27
*A J Strauss b Fernando 33
K P Pietersen not out 10
Extras (lb 4, w 6) 10
Total (1 wkt, 11.1 overs) 80
E C Joyce, P D Collingwood, J W M Dalrymple, †G O Jones, T T Bresnan, L E Plunkett, S I Mahmood and S J Harmison to bat.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-59.
BOWLING: Perera 3-0-28-0; Malinga 2-0-11-0; Fernando 3-0-17-1; Maharoof 3-0-20-0; Jayasuriya 0.1-0-0-0.
Umpires: I J Gould and N J Llong