(Reuters) – Chris Jordan claimed five wickets as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 67 runs, their third lowest total in one-day internationals, to help win the third ODI with a resounding 10-wicket victory yesterday.
England have a 2-1 lead in the five-match series heading into the fourth encounter at Lord’s on Saturday.
Jordan, who also secured the man-of-the-match award after impressing with bat and ball in the first ODI, continued to press his claim for a place in England’s test squad with another performance full of aggression and enthusiasm in Manchester.
“After we lost at Durham, we wanted to fight back hard,” Jordan told BBC radio. “We were surprised at how quickly we won but we’re happy. I had an advantage of assessing the conditions and the lengths which got the most rewards, after James Anderson.”
With rain in the air, England won the toss and elected to bowl first and that decision paid immediate dividends in the third over with Anderson grabbing the wicket of the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan (2), who scored 88 in the second match.
Anderson then accounted for Dilshan’s opening partner Lahiru Thirimanne for seven, also caught behind, before Jordan tore through the visiting middle order.
First the 25-year-old had the talismanic Kumar Sangakkara (13) caught by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler trying to play an extravagant shot before Dinesh Chandimal followed with a soft dismissal for six.
England’s fielding, a problem area recently, was notably better than in the lost second one-dayer as England increased the pressure on the shell-shocked batsmen.
Spinner James Tredwell ousted Mahela Jayawardene lbw for 12 before captain Angelo Mathews became Jordan’s third victim on 60-6.
Ashan Priyanjan was run out for two and then Jordan brought up his five-wicket haul with two further dismissals either side of Tredwell’s second victim as England took the last six wickets for the loss of nine runs.
Chasing the low score, England cantered across the finishing line with returning captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell carrying England to the required total in 12.1 overs.
Cook (30) and Bell (41) were rarely troubled chasing the meagre total and the easy victory was assured in style with Bell hitting Rangana Herath for six to secure only their fourth ever 10-wicket victory.
