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.”
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