Tom Reeves reports on another disappointing one-day defeat for England…
Sri Lanka took an, almost unassailable 3-1 lead with a six-wicket victory over England in the fourth one-day international of the seven-match series.
England batted first and posted a respectable 265 with stand-in captain Eoin Morgan and James Taylor making an impact.
Taylor, into the side in place of suspended skipper Alastair Cook, made 90 and gave the visitors a good platform, while Morgan contributed his first half-century for 17 innings.
But the dismissal of Taylor sparked a collapse and the tourists were bowled out for 265; while Morgan, standing in for Cook who was banned for this game because of a slow over rate earlier in the series, was fined 20 per cent of his match fee for the same offence afterwards.
On a slow Colombo pitch that turned throughout, Sri Lanka bowled 36 overs of spin.
Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis took three wickets apiece.
In contrast, England took just the one wicket from their 16 overs of spin bowled by Moeen Ali and part-timer Joe Root.
The hosts began their response nervously and the contest appeared to be in the balance when Kushal Perera was dismissed by Mooen to leave Sri Lanka 69-2.
However, this only served to bring together Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
This time, it was Sangakkara who played the lead role with 86, while Jayawardene supported with a score of 44.
Chris Jordan bowled Jayawardene and was the pick of England’s bowlers with 2-35 from his 10 overs.
Jordan also eventually dismissed Sangakkara, although home captain Angelo Mathews saw his team home with two balls to spare through an unbeaten 51.
England will have to win all three of the matches left in the series to avoid a series defeat, starting at Pallekele on Wednesday.