Sri Lanka avoid whitewash as match called off

The England players celebrate the dismissal of Oshada Fernando

Sri Lanka escaped a 3-0 whitewash at the hands of hosts England as the third and final ODI fixture was called off due to persistent rain yesterday. 

Tom Curran put England on top against a struggling Sri Lanka outfit as the pacie picked out four wickets to limit the visitors to a paltry score of 166 in the fixture played at Bristol. 

England captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and opted to bowl first against Kusal Perera’s Sri Lanka amid a forecast for rain. Curran (4/35) was the pick of the bowlers, while Chris Woakes and David Willey also scalped a couple of wickets each. For Sri Lanka, only Dasun Shanaka put up a fight as he scored an unbeaten 48, with no other batsman going past the 20-run mark. 

Skipper Perera (09) fell first off Woakes in as early as the third over, while Avishka Fernando (14) followed two overs later. Pathum Nissanka and Dhananjaya de Silva were both dismissed by the end of the ninth over. After Wanindu Hasaranga fell for 20, Shanaka began the resistance but kept losing partners on the other end. 
Rain came into play as England were set to get their innings underway, and ultimately the match was abandoned.