Suryaa Sports Desk: Sri Lanka won the third match against England at Rawalpindi as part of the triangular ODI series. England... Sri Lanka won the third match against England at Rawalpindi as part of the triangular ODI series. Sri Lanka smashed the huge target of 430 runs set by England in the last ball and registered a memorable victory in the history of world ODI cricket. This is the second highest successful run chase in the history of ODI cricket and also holds the record for the highest score chase in the history of Sri Lankan cricket. In this match which was exciting till the last ball, the Lankan batsmen showed extraordinary fighting spirit and gave their team a historic victory. Sri Lanka, who came into the ring chasing a huge target, suffered an irreparable blow in the beginning. Opener Kamindu Mendis departed for 18 runs while captain Kushal Mendis walked to the pavilion without opening his account.
At this critical juncture, another opener Avishka Fernando played a responsible innings with 97 runs, while young player Pawan Ratnayake scored 130 runs off 106 balls to attack the opposition bowlers. All-rounder Dasun Shanaka, who came to the crease after Avishka's departure, created havoc with 97 runs in just 50 balls with 6 fours and 8 sixes. After Pawan Ratnayake and Shanaka were out in the closing stages, Janith Liyanage took the responsibility of guiding the team to victory. He scored 61 runs off 27 balls and fought till the end. In the last over bowled by Josh Tong, Sri Lanka Vijayan needed 8 runs and got a single off the first ball. As Sri Lanka lost wickets in the next two balls, the match seemed to be swinging towards England. But Ashita Fernando, who came to the crease, took a single, and when 6 runs were needed in the last two balls, Liyanage hit a huge six to give Sri Lanka a historic victory. Earlier, England, who won the toss and batted, scored a massive score of 429 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
Captain Harry Brooke smashed a brilliant double century. He scored 202 runs off 116 balls with 21 fours and 10 sixes and remained unbeaten. Along with him, Will Jacks scored 66 runs, Joe Root scored 69 runs and Tom Banton scored half centuries with 50 runs and provided a huge score for the team. But Brook's double century went in vain before the Sri Lankan batsmen fought back. Also Read: PV Sindhu was confused in the French Open.. Kidambi Srikanth was out in the first round.