Suryaa Sports Desk: The Sri Lankan team recorded a historic victory in one of the most thrilling battles in the history of ODI cricket. Rawalpindi as the venue... The Sri Lankan team recorded a historic victory in one of the most thrilling battles in the history of ODI cricket. Sri Lanka stunned the cricketing world by smashing the impossible target of 430 runs set by England in the tri-series match at Rawalpindi. In this match that kept the heart beating till the last over, Janit Liyanage took the team to victory with a sensational six in the last balls. It has written a new chapter in the history of ODI cricket as the second best successful run-scorer. Batting first in this match, the England team scored a massive score of 429 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
England captain Harry Brooke burst from all corners of the field and created a devastating second century with 202 runs off just 116 balls. In the end Will Jacks also added a quick run with 66 off 30 balls for England to score big. However, Sri Lanka, who came into the ring with Kondanta's target, suffered a setback in the beginning and lost two wickets for 24 runs, but after that the Lankan batsmen showed an amazing fighting spirit. Sri Lanka's innings was anchored by Pawan Ratnayake and Avishka Fernando with an invaluable partnership of 166 runs for the third wicket. Although Fernando narrowly missed a century on 97 runs, Ratnayake shone with a century of 130 off 106 balls. Later, Dasun Shanaka scored 97 runs in just 50 balls with 8 sixes and broke the England bowling attack. The duo added 133 runs for the fourth wicket as the match swung in Sri Lanka's favour.
No matter how hard the England bowlers tried, they could not stop the Lankan run rate. In the last over, when Sri Lanka needed 7 runs to win, two consecutive wickets fell, and there was a lot of excitement. But when 6 runs were needed off the fifth ball of the last over, Janit Liyanage overcame the pressure and Josh Tong hit a huge six over long off. Liyanage, who was unbeaten on 61 off just 27 balls, guided Sri Lanka to victory at 430 for 8 in 49.5 overs. Harry Brooke's double century went in vain, but this incredible team effort will go down in the history of Sri Lankan cricket. Also Read: Indian women's team wins against Zimbabwe.. Prateika Rawal century, Shafali Verma shine
