Sam Curran on Thursday said that he felt “pure elation” after a maiden five-wicket haul for England set up a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka at his home ground, The Oval in London.
The Surrey left-arm paceman took 5-48 after sparking a top-order collapse, before England made easy work of chasing down 242 to win the second one-day international by eight wickets.
The victory put the 50-over world champions 2-0 up in the three-match series.
Photo: Reuters
Curran’s return was not only the 23-year-old’s first five-wicket return in internationals, but also his first in 164 professional white-ball matches.
A crowd of about 14,000 cheered on the local hero as The Oval welcomed back both England — and spectators — for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was really special, such a good moment that I can’t really describe it,” man-of-the-match Curran told reporters. “It’s pure elation and enjoyment. I had a few family and friends here, so I’m just happy with how it went. We’ve played a lot of cricket in front of empty stadiums for obvious reasons, so to be back in front of a home crowd at The Oval gave it that extra buzz. It’s one of my favorite grounds in the world and I showed that today.”
Curran dismissed three of Sri Lanka’s top order in his first two overs with the new ball as the tourists slumped to 21-4, but Dhananjaya de Silva’s run-a-ball 91 saw them recover to 241-9, with David Willey supporting fellow left-armer Curran by taking 4-64.
England made light of their chase, with Curran’s county colleague Jason Roy contributing 60 before captain Eoin Morgan (75 not out) and Joe Root (68 not out) sealed victory with seven overs to spare.
Morgan’s innings was his first half-century in 16 innings in internationals.
“It was really nice to see him back in the runs and showing his class,” Curran said of the World Cup-winning skipper’s timely knock. “The way we batted was just clinical, to make it look easy shows what this group is all about.”
Morgan said that England would likely field an altered XI for tomorrow’s series finale in Bristol, with Sussex all-rounder George Garton pressing for an international debut.
“I think we’ll see more changes,” Morgan said. “There’s an eye on the Pakistan series next week and 50-over cricket is a chance to bring guys in. We’re always looking to grow and get better.”
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Perera was left to rue yet another batting collapse on the tour.
“When we fell to 24-4, that is very hard to get back in the game, but it was good to see Dhananjaya de Silva and Dasun Shanaka get us back on track,” Perera said. “I was very pleased with De Silva’s innings, unfortunately he couldn’t get the hundred, but there were a lot of positives out there. We just can’t find any consistency at the moment and that’s what is letting us down.”
WEST INDIES V S AFRICA
AP, ST GEORGE’S, Grenada
The West Indies on Thursday overcame the loss of a key bowler to beat South Africa by 21 runs in the fourth Twenty20 international, leveling the five-match series at 2-2.
The fifth and deciding match is to be played today.
The West Indies lost left-arm spinner Fabian Allen to a shoulder injury suffered in the field as they defended their total of 167-6.
Dwayne Bravo stepped up and took 4-19, including the crucial wicket of Quinton de Kock for 60, as the West Indies restricted South Africa to 146-9.
Captain Kieron Pollard also played a vital role with the ball to compensate for Allen’s loss, taking 1-24 from his four overs.
Andre Russell had an increased workload, taking 2-20, while Chris Gayle failed with the bat, but claimed the wicket of opener Reeza Hendricks with his first delivery and finished with 1-11.
“Chris [Gayle] bowling that one over and getting a wicket ... sometimes you take a chance and it works,” man-of-the-match Pollard said.
Pollard said with Allen out of action, “straightaway we had to make up some overs.”
“In the first couple of games I didn’t bowl much, then I bowled in the last game,” he said. “It was a matter of trying to use a lot of experience. Having [Bravo] and Obed McCoy continuing to do well for us, and having Andre Russell coming into the game today... It was a total team effort from us, so let’s see what happens on Saturday.”
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
PINA BRACE: Claudia Pina scored in the 61st and 74th minutes, while Vicky Lopez added one as Spain notched their third victory in a final in the past four tournaments Claudia Pina scored twice and Germany crumbled on Tuesday as Spain retained the UEFA Women’s Nations League title with a 3-0 victory in the final’s second leg. Vicky Lopez also scored after Pina finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with Germany stubbornly hanging on as Spain had done in the first leg, a 0-0 draw in Kaiserslautern on Friday. Spain were without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who broke her leg in training on Sunday. Lopez took Bonmati’s place and Spain dominated from the start. Esther Gonzalez swept the ball just past the post and Mariona Caldentey forced a save
RSS