After sweeping the Twenty20 series (3-0) against Sri Lanka at the end of the last month, an overconfident English team has also secured the three-match One Day International series against the Lankans with a game to spare. The second match was once again a one-sided affair, with England winning by 8 wickets at the Kennington Oval in London. England have also climbed to the top of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League table, while Sri Lanka remain at the bottom of the standings. This article discusses some significant moments from the second match of England vs. Sri Lanka ODI Series 2021.
England vs. Sri Lanka ODI Series 2021: The Second Match Report
It was a do-or-die match for the visiting Lankan side, but as predicted they had failed to come up with a solution against a very strong and aggressive English team in the second match of England vs. Sri Lanka ODI series 2021 on Thursday (June 1) at the Kennington Oval.
England's new phenomenon Sam Curran was excellent with the ball, picking up his first 5-wicket haul and assisting England in restricting Sri Lanka to under 250 runs on a batting-friendly Oval track. While despite being a bit expensive, David Willey took four wickets for England.
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Sri Lanka only managed to score 241/9 in their allotted 50 overs after being asked to bat first. Though the Lankan middle-order deserves a lot of credit for carrying the innings forward after a horrible start.
The Sri Lankan top order had been rocked by Sam Curran's dangerous inswinging deliveries, and at point, they were 21/4 in 7 overs. Curran had dismissed the top three Sri Lankan batsmen.
Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka (47) helped Sri Lanka exceed the 200-run mark with a 78-run sixth-wicket stand. Dhananjaya played the best 91-run knock, which included 13 boundaries.
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England comfortably chased down a modest winning target of 242 with seven overs to spare.
Two experienced openers – Jason Roy (60) and Jonny Bairstow (29) – gave England a good start with a 76-run first-wicket partnership. Later, an unbeaten 140*-run partnership between Joe Root (68*) and skipper Eoin Morgan (75*) helped England to clinch the match as well as the series in the 43rd over.
It was another comprehensive victory for England against the visitor Sri Lanka who are now at the bottom of the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup Super League points table. Sri Lanka must rediscover their limited-overs form otherwise they will be at risk of missing out on a top-eight spot.
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On the other side, England are now in the top spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League points standings with 60 points after clinching the ODI series. Bangladesh are presently in the second position with 50 points, ahead of Pakistan (40), and Australia (40). (40).
There are a lot of ODI Super League matches this month, thus the standings might change drastically. On the other hand, Bangladesh would have a chance to reclaim first place in the points table if they whitewash Zimbabwe in their forthcoming ODI series.
Bottom Line
One of the best limited-overs sides in the world, England have shown in the ongoing England vs. Sri Lanka ODI Series 2021 that why they are the reigning ICC Cricket World Cup champion. The Lankans were outplayed by the 'Three Lions' in all three departments in the second match and the host eventually have won the bilateral series with a game in hand. If England whitewash Sri Lanka in this bilateral contest, they would have a 20-point edge over second-placed Bangladesh in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League points table, while Sri Lanka will be in serious trouble with only 8 points in the standings.
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