England bag series after rain marred 4th ODI

England beat Sri Lanka by 18 runs via the Duckworth Lewis method in the rain-marred fourth one-day international on Saturday to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Chasing a target of 274 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, England were comfortably placed at 132 for two after 27 overs when rain forced the players off.

No further play was possible in the penultimate match of the series and England were 18 runs ahead at that stage under the scoring method governing such rain-shortened fixtures.

England’s test captain Joe Root was unbeaten on 32 at the crease with his ODI counterpart Eoin Morgan 31 not out, the duo adding a crucial 56 for the unbroken third-wicket partnership to keep their team ahead of the run rate.

Sri Lanka had a chance to break the stand when Root was caught at short fine leg off spinner Dhananjaya de Silva but the delivery was called illegal by the umpire as the hosts had more fielders outside the 30-yard circle than permitted.

Sri Lanka spinner Akila Dananjaya dismissed opener Jason Roy for an attacking 45 off 49 deliveries and Alex Hales for 12 but the hosts made no further inroads.

Earlier, half-centuries from opener Niroshan Dickwella and middle-order batsman Dasun Shanaka and some useful contributions from the lower order helped Sri Lanka to 273-7 after being put in to bat.

Dickwella hit a 70-ball 52 and with captain Dinesh Chandimal laid the foundation for Sri Lanka’s innings with a second-wicket partnership of 70 runs.

But the hosts slipped against the off-spin of Moeen Ali and leg spinner Adil Rashid, losing three wickets for 13 runs to be reduced to 102-4.

Shanaka then launched Sri Lanka’s counter-attack, taking the aerial route to hit the spinners for sixes and fours. He added 52 for the fifth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva to start Sri Lanka’s recovery.

The 27-year-old hit five sixes and four boundaries in his run-a-ball innings before getting run out.

All-rounder Thisara Perera made 44 off 41 balls as he and Shanaka added 58 for the sixth wicket. He then shared 56 runs with Akila Dananjaya who made 32 not out off 26 balls.

The fifth and final one-dayer will be played in Colombo on Tuesday.

Sri Lanka

 Niroshan Dickwella      lbw Moeen Ali                    52

 Sadeera Samarawickrama  c Jos Buttler b Chris Woakes      1

 Dinesh Chandimal        b Moeen Ali                      33

 Kusal Mendis            lbw Adil Rashid                   5

 Dhananjaya de Silva     c Jos Buttler b Tom Curran       17

 Dasun Shanaka           Run Out Eoin Morgan              66

 Thisara Perera          Run Out Ben Stokes               44

 Akila Dananjaya         Not Out                          32

 Lasith Malinga          Not Out                           4

 Extras                  0b 10lb 0nb 0pen 9w              19

 Total                   (50.0 overs)                  273-7

Fall of Wickets : 1-19 Samarawickrama, 2-89 Chandimal, 3-102 Dickwella, 4-102 Mendis, 5-154 de Silva, 6-212 Shanaka, 7-268 Perera

Did Not Bat : Aponso, Rajitha

Bowling:  Chris Woakes  10-0-45-1, Olly Stone     7-0-50-0, Curran     9-1-50-1, Moeen Ali     10-0-55- 2, Adil Rashid   10   0  36   1, Ben Stokes     4   0  27   0  6.75  1w

England

 Jason Roy    lbw Akila Dananjaya                         45

 Alex Hales   st Niroshan Dickwella b Akila Dananjaya     12

 Joe Root     Not Out                                     32

 Eoin Morgan  Not Out                                     31

 Extras       8b 0lb 1nb 0pen 3w                          12

 Total        (27.0 overs)                             132-2

Fall of Wickets : 1-52 Hales, 2-76 Roy

Did Not Bat : Stokes, Buttler, Ali, Woakes, Rashid, Curran, Stone

Bowling: Lasith Malinga        5-0-15-0, Amila Aponso          6-0-37-0, Kasun Rajitha         5-0-27-0, Akila Dananjaya       7-0-27-2, Dhananjaya de Silva   4-0-18-0