An England record opening partnership of 256 between Alex Hales and Jason Roy led their side to a crushing 10-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international in Birmingham on Friday.
Both made centuries, with Hales 133 not out and Roy 112 not out as England stormed past Sri Lanka’s 254-7 in 34.1 overs at Edgbaston. The convincing win took England into a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after the first game was tied.
Sri Lanka opted to bat first after winning the toss but their total always looked insufficient on a good batting pitch at Edgbaston as England took wickets at regular intervals.
Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews shared a fourth-wicket stand of 82 to give their side a platform but it was never going to be enough against the mighty English batting line up.
Once Mathews fell for 44 and Chandimal was run out for 52 by Roy, things got bad to worse for Sri Lanka. Thanks to Upul Tharanga who struck an unbeaten 53 off 49 balls to give Sri Lanka some hope but England’s bowlers maintained a tight grip throughout, leg-spinner Adil Rashid the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-34 from 10 overs.
Hales and man-of-the-match Roy were completely in command against a toothless Sri Lanka attack. Hales smashed an unbeaten 133 off 110 balls with 6 sixes and 10 fours while Roy went to his second one-day international century (112 not out off 95 balls) with his fourth six before driving Seekkuge Prasanna to the cover boundary to seal the victory.
“Jason Roy and Alex Hales were absolutely exceptional,” England captain Eoin Morgan said. “They put on a clinic for everyone here watching.”
“It was fun but it started off with the bowling. They bowled well at the start, kept us subdued in the first 10 overs. Got a bit lucky I guess. I’m enjoying my cricket, love being back with these England guys. They give me a lot of confidence,” said the Man of the Match Jason Roy.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 254/7 in 50 overs (Upul Tharanga 53*, Dinesh Chandimal 52; Adil Rashid 2-34, Liam Plunkett 2-49) lost to England 256/0 in 34.1 overs (Alex Hales 133*, Jason Roy 112*) by 10 wickets.