England v Sri Lanka ODIs - too close to call?

With new management on both sides, and potentially extra edge provoked by Paul Farbrace's desertion from Colombo to Lord's, there is some welcome uncertainty about the result of the forthcoming ODI series between England and Sri Lanka. In 21 home matches across 21 years to date, history records a 11-10 lead for England, although most of their victories occurred when he opponents were a relatively inexperienced international cricketing nation.

They met twice in the 1983 World Cup when ODIs were 60 overs a side, and England won fairly easily. The first was clinched by a David Gower century and a Vic Marks 'five-for' while bowler Bob Willis was the Man of the Match in the next, although it was India who went onto win a memorable final against red-hot favourites West Indies.

Sri Lanka's first triumph on English soil came five years later. In the final of a triangular 50-over tournament at Lord's, a century opening partnership between Nick Knight and Michael Atherton was ultimately in vain as the new head coach Marvan Atapattu struck an uncharacteristically brisk 132 not out to ensure a five-wicket success. England again won 2-1 in 2002. The margins were relatively small but in retrospect, Andrew Flintoff's 28-ball half-century and 3-44 at Trent Bridge probably decided the series.

Four years later, Sri Lanka delivered a 5-0 drubbing. The most spectacular batting performance came in the final fixture at Headingley, by which time the series had long since been decided. Thanks to Marcus Trescothick's 121, England posted a decent total of 321-7. Enter Upal Tharanga and the wily Sanath Jayasuriya, just turned 37. The openers put on 286 for the first wicket, still the third highest ever seen in ODIs. Most of the runs flowed from the bat of the senior partner, as the man from Matara plundered 20 fours and four sixes in an innings of 152 in 99 balls. Jayardene and Sangakkara had the simple task of seeing SL to a series whitewash with more than twelve overs to spare!

In 2011, it was a much closer affair. Anderson and Swann got England off to a superb start at The Oval, but Mahela Jaywardene evened things up with his 144 in Leeds. Two days later at Lord's, Mahela scored another 75 runs but an unbeaten 105 by Dinesh Chandimal took his side to a 2-1 lead. England took the series to a decider after Cook and Kieswetter helped them to a ten-wicket slaughter. At Old Trafford, Cook opted to bat first. Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan scored half-centuries, then the SL openers were Bresnan-ed with the score on 12-2. Mahela didn't last long, but stands of 94 (Sangakkara and Chandimal) and 102 (Mathews and Jeevan Mendis) brought them back into the mix. However, with 37 needed in under four overs, Mathews was unable to marshal the tail, and England won the match by 16 runs and the series 3-2.

The most recent ODI encounter occurred last summer in the ICC Champions Trophy. A day-nighter at The Oval again saw England make a decent score thanks largely to Joe Root's 55-ball 68 and a late cameo from Ravi Bopara. However, this time, Sri Lanka made no mistrakes in their run chase. Sangakkara smacked an unbeaten 134 and Kulasekera discovered his inner Jayasuriya by clouting58 in 38 deliveries, and a seven-wicket victory was theirs. Both made the semis but neither won the competition.

Next up, I'll look back at the best players in the England-Sri Lanka ODI history. I promise the usual candidates and a few surprises!

Sangakkara (nearly) at the Double

Poor Kumar Sangakkara. In two consecutive Tests, he has narrowly missed out on reaching a double-century, a landmark he has previously reached eight times. Last week he was cruelly left high and dry on 199 not out, something only Andy Flower had experienced in Test history. This week, at Colombo, he was dismissed to an airy-fairy shot for 192 when well set with no pressure given that the match was heading for a certain draw.

Let's face it, he's not so poor really. Aged 34, he has one of the highest career Test averages in history, at almost 57, with 30 hundreds to his name from 110 games, and an aggregate fast approaching the magic 10,000 runs. Yet this week we will consider his excellent innings to be 'failures'! With more and more Test series these days, double centuries have become more common, but Sri Lankans seem to be particularly associated with scores of 200+. Indeed, of the ten batsmen to have achieved the feat at least six times, three hail from the island: Sanga on eight, Mahela Jayawardene and Marvan Atapattu on six.

Unsurprisingly, the incomparable Sir Don Bradman heads the list on twelve (in only 52 Tests), followed by Brian Lara, the only man to hit the dizzy heights of a 'quadruple'. The elegant Kumar is third on the list with a personal best of 287, struck against South Africa at the SSC six years ago. Five of his 'doubles' were on home territory, one each at Bulawayo, Karachi and Abu Dhabi.

So are home pitches behind the record run-getters from Sri Lanka? In that innings when Sangakkara compiled 287, amazingly he was not the highest scorer. His partner, Mahela Jayawardene, slightly senior to Sanga, made an incredible 374 as his side racked up a first innings lead of - wait for it - 587 runs! And yes, they did win that game against the Proteas. For such a great player, his statistics would be somehwat less impressive if you exclude home matches. Four of his 'doubles' have been in Sri Lanka and all in the Asian subcontinent. In fact, his highest score outside Asia is a mere 141, in Napier, New Zealand.

Marvan Atapattu last played for Sri Lanka in 2007 after a 90-Test career. He usually played second-, or even third fiddle to the likes of Jayasuriya, Da Silva or Sangakkara. He was often the rock at the top of the innings while others flashed their blades and enjoyed a good conversion rate of single- to double-hundreds, progressing to 200 six times out of sixteen. Like his two compatriots, four were struck in Sri Lanka and the other two in Zimbabwe. Marvan's career was almost still-born. On his debut against India at Chandigarh, he bagged an embarrassing pair and didn't play again for two years. He then improved, scoring 0 and 1! He then played only one Test in the next five years. Hardly surprising given that in February 1994, he was again twice dismissed without scoring against India. Fortunately he was batting well in domestic cricket and after being given an extended run in 1997 he finally cracked it with 108 in Mohali. In total, his record includes 22 ducks, more than his century count. Of the other notable double-centurions, only Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle and Stephen Fleming can claim this unfortunate record.

While Atapattu has retired from first-class cricket, Sanga and Mahela roll on and, with more home Test series, they will surely add to their tally of 200s. If any man deserves the 'poor' tag this week, it's Mohammed Hafeez. Before Kumar went for 192, the Pakistani opener had been bowled on 196, missing the sweep which would have presented him with a very first double-century. Gutted!