Flintoff ignites English win over Lanka

England’s domination of Sri Lanka continued beyond the Test series as the hosts registered a thumping 44-run victory in the opening mat...

England’s domination of Sri Lanka continued beyond the Test series as the hosts registered a thumping 44-run victory in the opening match of the triangular One-day series here last night.

England scored an imposing 293 for six in their alotted 50 overs after electing to bat in the day-night encounter and then restricted Sri Lanka to 249 for nine in a fine all-round performance that saw Andrew Flintoff excel with the bat as well as the ball.

	SCOREBOARD
England: 293/6 Sri Lanka: S Jayasuriya c Hussain b Hoggard 12, R Kaluwitharana c Thorpe b Collingwood 52, M Atapattu c Irani b Flintoff 47, M Jayawardene b Collingwood 29, R Arnold run out (Hoggard) 29, K Sangakkara c Kirtley b Flintoff 22, U Chandana c Thorpe b Flintoff 1, N Nawaz not out 15, C Vaas b Kirtley 10, N Zoyza b Kirtley 0, D Fernando not out 5; Extras: (b-1, lb-10, nb-6, w-10) 27 Total: (for 9 wkts, in 50 overs) 249 Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-91, 3-149, 4-152, 5-214, 6-215, 7-215, 8-238, 9-238 Bowling: Hoggard 10-0-49-1, Kirtley 10-0-40-2, Irani 10-0-39-0, Flintoff 10-0-49-3, Giles 5-0-30-0, Collingwood 5-0-31-2 Story continues below this ad

Flintoff hammered 50 off just 28 balls after comeback men Alec Stewart, who topscored with 83 and Ronnie Irani (39) had laid a strong foundation for England.

Flintoff capped his batting efforts with three wickets for 48 runs to as Sri Lanka, who lost the Test series 0-2, struggled to keep pace with the climbing asking rate.

Sri Lankan run chase became a victim of some splendid catching and ground fielding by England and the fight was all over when Russel Arnold (29) and Kumara Sangakkara (22) fell in quick succession immediately after crossing the 200-run mark.