Eoin Morgan steered England to a morale boosting six-wicket victory over Sri Lanka with a solid half-century in the Champions Trophy on Friday.
England achieved a 213-run target on a lively track with five overs to spare in the day-night match, thanks to Morgan (62 not out), man-of-the-match Paul Collingwood (46) and Owais Shah (44).
South Africa and Sri Lanka now have one win apiece from two games in the four-team group, while England were playing their first match after being thrashed 6-1 by Australia in a recent home one-day international series. New Zealand lost their opening match.
The top two sides will make it to the semi-finals.
“You can take a lot from victories like this. Our players played without fear and if we continue to do that we can be a good team,” England captain Andrew Strauss said. “Collingwood, Shah and Morgan played brilliantly. The key was not to lose too many early wickets. It was a sensible and professional chase.”
Sri Lanka spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, who were expected to keep the pressure on England, could not make an impact on a pitch which hardly helped slow bowlers.
England’s win was set up by pace men James Anderson (3-20), Stuart Broad (3-49) and Graham Onions (2-58), who bowled well to restrict Sri Lanka on a seamer-friendly track.
They were struggling at 19-2 when they lost openers Strauss and Joe Denly, but Collingwood put the innings on the right track with a vigorous counterattack.
Pace man Nuwan Kulasekara did the early damage when he removed Strauss (9) and Denly (5) in his sharp opening spell. Strauss fell pulling, with Thilina Kandamby taking a superb one-handed catch at short mid-wicket.
Collingwood then eased the pressure with his attractive cameo, advancing down the pitch to swing Kulasekara over mid-wicket for a six and then smashing the next two deliveries for boundaries.
He did not spare seamer Angelo Mathews, hitting two boundaries in an over and later swung Lasith Malinga for two sixes. His flourish ended when he inside-edged a Malinga delivery on to his stumps.
“It’s good when you contribute to the team’s victory. The way Anderson took wickets early on was crucial. Morgan did very well to see the boys home. We negated their spinners well,” Collingwood said.
Shah was involved in two partnerships, adding 63 for the third wicket with Collingwood and 76 for the next with Morgan.
Morgan then batted steadily to see England home, hitting seven fours in his seventh half-century in one-day internationals.
Kandamby and Mathews earlier hit impressive half-centuries under pressure as Sri Lanka recovered from a horror start to post a competitive total.
Sri Lanka were struggling at 17-4 before Kandamby (53) and Mathews (52) led the fightback with an 82-run stand for the sixth wicket.
“It was a good total. Thilan Samaraweera, Kandamby and Mathews played well,” Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara said. “We have a lot of homework to do before the next game. We played well, but need to be flexible. This wasn’t a typical one-day track, but we had to build a good score.”
It was a rare sporting gesture by Strauss that allowed Mathews to resume his innings after he was run out.
Mathews turned Onions to square-leg and completed the first run before colliding with the bowler going for a second, with wicketkeeper Matt Prior effecting the run out after receiving the throw.
The Sri Lanka batsman stood briefly by the pitch before walking back to the pavilion, but Strauss called him back.
Mathews, who was then on 51, failed to make the most of the opportunity as he added just one run more to his score before being caught behind off Luke Wright.
Kandamby added 64 for the fifth wicket with Samaraweera (30) and 82 for the next with Mathews.
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