Sri Lanka seek first win on tour as England look to wrap up ODI series

Overview:

England vs Sri Lanka, second ODI
The Oval, London
1 July, 01:00 PM local

Nothing seems to be going Sri Lanka's way on the tour of England as they succumbed to yet another defeat in the first ODI of the series. Bar Kusal Perera and Wanindu Hasaranga, none of the batsmen looked comfortable at the crease while Dushmantha Chameera was once again the lone bright spot amongst the bowlers. Skipper Perera might be looking to make a couple of changes in the batting lineup as the batsmen let the team down yet again in the first game.

England meanwhile will be quite pleased with their performance so far and have shown why they have been one of the finest white-ball teams of the last few years. Though the batsmen are yet to fire on all cylinders, the bowlers have starred in all the games. England will look to win the second ODI and build an unassailable lead in the series.

Remember the last time:

England beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets to go 1-0 up in the three-match ODI series. The result also took them to the top of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League table.

After England won the toss and chose to bowl first, Chris Woakes and David Willey tore through the Sri Lankan top order. Fifties from Perera and Hasaranga bailed the visitors out of trouble. However, once the set batsmen were dismissed, it didn't take much time for the rest of the pack to fall apart as they were bundled out for 185.

It looked at one point that England would breeze through to a win after Bairstow got them off to a flying start. Sri Lanka, however, managed to make a comeback into the game before Joe Root and Moeen Ali steadied the ship and sealed the game with a 91-run stand. Chris Woakes was adjudged Player of the Match for his sublime spell of 4/18 in 10 overs.

What they said:

Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera: "I am trying to back myself and do my basis, try to bat to the 40th over, 50 would have been great. But two more games to go. Hasaranga did a good job for the team, we got a partnership but not enough for the team. It's a team game, we have to get together to get a good score."

England captain Eoin Morgan: He's [Joe Root] one of the best in the world, in most situations. Notable in training how easy he finds things, never seems to struggle. I think you can't rule Joe out [of T20 World Cup] the role he played in 2016 was a big part in getting us to the final, and the knock he played in the final was outstanding."