England clinch a thriller

England vs Sri Lanka
Leeds
Game Four -- Scorecard

England drew inspiration from a Test match played 21 years ago on the same ground to pull off one of the finest chases seen in recent times, defeating Sri Lanka by three wickets at Headingley, Leeds.

In 1981, England, following on 227 runs behind Australia, were 135-7 in their second innings, yet snatched victory from the jaws of certain defeat.

On Tuesday, a team effort forged with useful partnerships saw England chase the Lankan total of 241 in a 32 overs-a-side game.

Sri Lankan innings:

A little jubilation was in order for the Lankans after their agonising tour so far, losing the Test series and kicking off their NatWest triangular series in the worst possible fashion -- with two consecutive defeats against England and India.

Rain reduced the match to a 32-overs-a-side affair and the visitors from the Emerald Isles were further disadvantaged by losing the toss to Nasser Hussain and being asked to bat first. If Lanka were to stay in the triangular, they had to win this game. And for that they required skipper Sanath Jayasuriya to blaze away at the top.

To Lanka's joy, that is exactly what he did, scoring the most raging century of the summer off just 78 balls.

Failing to hit the right length, Matthew Hoggard, who has had the most mediocre summer, was taken apart by Jayasuriya, taking 19 runs of his first over.

Darren Gough, returning from injury, took his first wicket since March this year when Romesh Kaluwitharana picked the wrong length to pull and managed to miscue the ball to Hussain in the covers.

The plot went off the rails for the English seamers from that dismissal as Jayasuriya lay into them with the wrath of a tornado.

The hosts almost bailed themselves out when Gough, having dried up the boundaries, found the edge of Jayasuriya's bat in the fifth over. Andy Flintoff at second slip completed the catch only to cut short his celebrations as umpire Steve Bucknor signalled a no-ball.

Even as Hoggard searched for the pieces of his confidence, Jayasuriya flicked and cut lusciously to get Lanka to fifty in the sixth over.

Ronnie Irani missed another run-out opportunity shying at the non-striker's end with Jayasuriya miles from the crease.

Slicing an over-pitched delivery from Gough over point for a six, Jayasuriya propelled Lanka to a screaming start at 75-1 in the first 10 overs.

Another pull off James Kirtley for six over the mid-wicket fence and the Matara Mauler had registered yet another half-century off a mere 42 balls.

As the sun muscled its way through the cloudy skies, Jayasuriya sparked a lightning display with his pyrotechnics.

A chest-high full toss was dealt with a baseball hit for six. England had submitted themselves to the Lankan ambush.

Marvan Atapattu at the other end was smiling at his good fortune of getting to witness a great one-day knock from such close quarters, though he played his part well by rotating the strike and giving as much of it to Jayasuriya as possible.

Flintoff planting the ball on the right length brought about the dullest moments of the innings, dismissing Atapattu -- caught off a faint edge at the wicket -- and Mahela Jaywardene -- bowled through the gate -- in the space of three overs.

Jayasuriya reached his twelfth one-day century, his first in 16 months, with a quick single and sent the statisticians scurrying for their record books. The knock was the fastest one-day century ever scored in England, breaking the 27-year-old record of West Indian skipper Clive Lloyd in the first ever World Cup final. Lloyd had got his hundred off 82 balls.

Laced with seven boundaries and five sixes, Jayasuriya's hundred set Lanka in sight of huge total despite losing their fifth wicket in the same over. Avishka Gunawardene was run out for 20 after Jayasuriya refused him a non-existent single (171-4).

Jayasuriya departed after Lanka crossed the 200-run mark, caught by Kirtley off the bowling of Hoggard. His innings came off 87 balls and was a perfect example of a one-day knock. Nine fours and five sixes were balanced with 25 singles, taking the Lankans to a position of seeming unassailability.

Upul Chandana scored a quick-fire 30 of 13 balls as Lanka lost another two wickets to finish at 240-7 off their allotted 32 overs. An astonishing aspect of the knock was the fact that the Lankans conceded as many as 93 dot balls in their innings.

Gough showed why he is so important to the English one-day plan. Despite having missed international cricket for more than three months, the Yorkshireman bowled with a lot of spunk, claiming three wickets for 45 runs off his seven overs. The seamers made matters worse by contributing 27 extras to the Lankans.

England innings:

Nick Knight returned to the pavilion even before the spectators could scamper back to their seats. Chaminda Vaas grabbed a spectacular catch on his follow-through even as the ball was dying on him, and England lost their first wicket with just one run on the board.

Ronnie Irani, promoted up the order ahead of skipper Nasser Hussain, flung his bat around and found the fence with ease. Irani combined with opener Marcus Trescothick and piled up 68 runs in eight overs. At this stage the Essex skipper scooped a slog shot off the bottom of the bat to Mahela Jayawardene in the covers, ending his 28-ball knock of 27 runs (69 for 2).

Sri Lanka's tormentor in the first game of the series, Andrew Flintoff, then made his way out to the middle with England requiring 172 runs from 23 overs. Scoring a breezy 20 off 13 balls, Flintoff tore into off-spinner Russel Arnold, but failed to maintain the momentum and holed out to Jayawardene at cover as England began struggling at 97 for 3.

Three balls later, Hussain pulled Dilhara Fernando to Avishka Gunawardene at deep mid-wicket for a duck. England, in the face of a huge total, seemed to be crashing without making a match of it.

Trescothick, however, continued unfazed and soon after reached his half-century with a glide down to the third-man fence off Fernando in the 15th over. But in the same over, his partner Graham Thorpe was run out when the third-umpire froze the frame that had his bat on the line with the bails dislodged.

At the halfway stage, five of England's batsmen had been dismissed for 126 runs. Lanka seemed to have taken a stranglehold on the game.

But despite the fall of wickets, the Lankan bowlers failed to squeeze the flow of runs as Trescothick and Paul Collingwood kept abreast of the asking rate. Finding the fence with regular ease, the duo ran their singles swiftly, inflating the ones into twos and making the Lankan bowlers pay for their indisciplined length and Jayasuriya for his debatable bowling changes.

Trescothick played a calm knock of 82 off 60 balls before he chipped Jayasuriya down the ground and was caught by Vaas at the long-on fence in the 22nd over (171-6). But in the intervening seven overs, Collingwood and Trescothick had clawed England back into the match, making use of the lapses in the Lankan bowling with a 45-run partnership.

Veteran Alec Stewart walked out at number eight, hoisted leg-spinner Upul Chandana for a straight six and ended the over with a sweep that reached the boundary.

Along with Collingwood, who was chipping in with runs at a frenetic pace, Stewart cracked crisp boundaries and compiled a 66-run partnership for the eighth wicket as England coasted home by three wickets.

With this defeat Sri Lanka are all but on their way out of the series unless they can register big victories in the rest of their games. A tough ask, surely.

Sri Lanka's top six batsmen have made good starts in the series, but have failed to convert them into match-winning innings. In their two earlier games, only one batsman surpassed 50.

"What we need is to give ourselves a little bit more of a chance and score a few run at the right time and take the fight to the opposition. Then hopefully, we'll get a winning result," Lankan coach Dav Whatmore said before the game.

In the event, even a record-breaking century was not good enough.