Anderson and Kieswetter get captain Cook’s reign off to best possible start
NEW ENGLAND one-day captain Alastair Cook put personal disappointment him to hail his side’s crushing 110-run win over against Sri Lanka at the KIA Oval as the perfect performance.
Torrential rain and thunderstorms saw the match reduced to 32 a-side overs and England set about their task as if it were a Twenty20 fixture and ended their innings on 229-8.
In response Jimmy Anderson – who also took three catches – and Tim Bresnan produced excellent opening spells to decimate the tourists top order before some belligerent lower order slogging took Sri Lanka past three figures.
Cook, who fell for just five strangled down the leg-side off Lasith Malinga, said: “It doesn’t get much better than that.
“I thought it was an outstanding performance from all our bowlers but Jimmy up front – to get them 15 for four and get their danger men out got us ahead of the game.
“The way we batted and handled the rain break was very special as well.” England’s solid total was built largely on an innings of 61 from 56 balls from the recalled Craig Kieswetter at the top of the order, while there were also handy contributions from Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen.
It looked no more than par score, however, but once Sri Lanka’s much vaunted top four – including Sanath Jayasuria playing the final match of a distinguished international career – were back in the hutch for a combined score of 13 – it was rendered a match-winning total.
Despite his obvious delight at having tamed the side who ended Andrew Strauss’s tenure as ODI captain with a 10-wicket defeat in the World Cup quarter-final, Cook was cautious about the remainder of the five-match series. “It’s a really good start, let’s not get too carried away about how I did or the team did,” he said.
“It’s just a good start and we have to keep our feet on the floor. We’re not in it for personal plaudits, we’re in it to win games of cricket.”
Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan added: “We had to take chances but the risks we took didn’t pay off.
“For the last two days it has been sunny conditions but when it comes to the match it is rainy and overcast which is normally a help to the English bowlers.”
CAPTAIN’S LOG | THE COOK REPORT
BATTING
If Alastair Cook ends his one-day career with a strike rate of 166.66 nobody will dare suggest he doesn’t score fast enough. Unfortunately, although the strike rate was fine yesterday, he only managed five runs before an unlucky dismissal. In terms of his captaincy it was encouraging to see Eoin Morgan promoted up the order – too many times in limited overs cricket he has been left batting with the tail, while Craig Kieswetter’s recall paid instant dividends.
BOWLING
No marks for originality in selecting James Anderson to open the bowling but Tim Bresnan, back from injury, rewarded his new captain’s faith with a controlled initial spell. Stuart Broad looks like he’ll have to get used to life as a first change, while Jade Dernbach, selected in preference to star of the recent Test series Chris Tremlett, performed solidly. Cook didn’t have to try anything too adventurous with his field placings but kept the pressure on throughout.