Dhananjaya rescues SL in second ODI against England

The 29-year-old right-hand middle order batsman was well set to complete his maiden hundred after having surpassed his previous best of 84 against South Africa at the Pallekele Stadium in 2018.

But after having worked hard for his runs, the all-rounder fell to the trap set by paceman David Willey and offered an easy catch to Joe Root at square-leg

Until his dismissal Sri Lanka looked in sight of putting up a much bigger total in this day night encounter following a disastrous start to their innings where Sam Curran exploited the conditions to claim three early wickets. Sri Lanka lost their Captain Kusal Janith Perera and Avishka Fernando as early as in the second over after England, who are already one-up in the series, had won the toss and elected to field first.

Pathum Nissanka departed in the next over and when Charith Asalanka went in the seventh over, Sri Lanka were in real danger having slumped to 21 for four.

Wanindu Hasaranga joined de Silva and the pair partially repaired the innings with a face-saving fifth wicket stand of 65 runs, which lasted for more than 13 overs.

De Silva completed his seventh half-century from 58 deliveries inclusive of seven boundaries and added a further 78 for the sixth wicket along with Dasun Shanaka who went on to make a valuable 47 with one six and two boundaries. (Agencies)