Sri Lanka clinch the five match series with clinical performance against England - After three one sided matches the fourth one ended had a nail biting finish as Sri Lanka ensured that they had a chance to win the series in the last ODI at Edgbaston. Batting first at Edgbaston the English side failed to score a good fighting total on the board. Both the openers gave the team a great start as Ian Bell and Alastair Cook had a 76 run partnership before Bell got out at a score of 37 while the later went on to score a half century. Though the team had a great start but the middle order failed to build upon it as England lost next five wickets at regular interval and hence the team was left at 170/6 in 38th over. Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan had a partnership going when a controversial run out of Jos Buttler took place and the match turned around. The home team failed to score much in the end over’s as the team got out for just 219. Latish Malinga was the top wicket taker for the visitors as he took 3 wickets.
The Sri Lankan openers gave their team a great start as the team crossed 50 run mark in just 6.2 over’s without even losing a wicket. The first was to go was Tilakaratne Dilshan as he scored 28 runs before giving his wicket to James Tredwell. Soon Sri Lanka lost two more wickets adding up only 7 runs to the total. The wickets included the crucial wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, this downfall seemed to have opened up the gates for the English side. But Mahela Jayawardene and Lahiru Thirimane had different plans. Both the batsmen had an almost 100 run partnership as the team cruised to 160 in 39th over. The victory seemed eminent for Lankans as Angelo Mathews and Thirimane in the end made sure that the team crosses the line easily. Thus Sri Lanka won the game and the series with some clinical performance. Thirimane won the man of the match award while Latish Malinga was named as the player of the series.