Sri Lankans registers yet another victory in the series against England - The Sri Lankans were leading the 7 match series 2-1 prior to the 4th ODI and were looking to extend their lead after a loss in the previous match against England. This match was being played at the Premadasa stadium in Colombo. The English side was high on confidence and after winning the toss elected to bat first.
Alex Hales replaced Alastair Cook in this match but he failed to score a single run as lost his wicket in the 1st ball he faced. Moeen Ali too didn’t contribute much as he lost his wicket scoring only 19 runs. James Taylor and Joe Root controlled the innings but in the 26th over of the game Root after scoring 36 runs lost his wicket leaving the team at a score of 122/3. Eoin Morgan was the man who came and along with Taylor took the team to a better position. The team was able to score only 265 runs as the home bowlers didn’t allow them to fly away with the game. Taylor scored 90 runs while Morgan scored 62 runs as they played a great role in the match. Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis took 3 wickets each in the match.
The Sri Lankan side needed a good batting display in order to have a commanding lead over the series. The openers didn’t perform well but it was once again the experience that played a great role in the match. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene together controlled the game for the home side. They took the team to a better position. Jayawardene after scoring 44 runs lost his wicket but Angelo Mathews never let the English side come in control. Sangakkara scored 86 runs before losing his wicket. Mathews scored 51 runs and made sure that the team crossed the required runs with 2 balls remaining. Kumar Sangakkara won the man of the match award for anchoring the innings. The Sri Lankans now leads the series 3-1.