***England vs Sri Lanka*** 5th and Final ODI Live

First topic message reminder :

Saturday, July 9, Old Trafford
Start time 10.45am (0945 GMT)


Brief per cricinfo....

It is not often that after four desperately one-sided games(2-2), you can head into a final match all square. But that's exactly how Sri Lanka and England have ended up after this curious one-day series.

Tillakaratne Dilshan launched his England tour with three hundreds in four games, but a fractured thumb at Lord's - courtesy Chris Tremlett - disrupted his rhythm and since returning to the side for the one-dayers he has scraped together just 13 runs in four innings. Sri Lanka have managed to do more than simply keep the series alive without his regular contributions at the top of the order, but the pressure will surely be more keenly felt in Saturday's decider and the stage could well be set for a Dilshan special.

Stuart Broad broke a four-match drought with two scalps at Trent Bridge, but they were hardly prestigious wickets - Suraj Randiv gloving down the leg side and Jeevan Mendis top-edging an uppercut - and he is still struggling back to his best. He's been publicly backed by his captain, but Tim Bresnan's return from injury and England's current surfeit of talented quicks means this may well be his last chance to nail down his place ahead of India's arrival.

Team news
"I think it's important we've stayed unchanged [in the series], it shows we've got faith in our cricketers," said Alastair Cook after England's series-levelling win at Trent Bridge, and England will in all likelihood go into the final match unchanged, even though the Old Trafford wicket has been noticeably favourable to the spinners in recent domestic Twenty20 matches.

England (probable) 1 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 2 Alastair Cook (capt), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ian Bell, 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Anderson, 11 Jade Dernbach.

Sri Lanka may have more cause for tinkering than their hosts. They may well lose their leading wicket-taker Suranga Lakmal, who has picked up a side strain, with Dhammika Prasad and Thisara Perera the two most likely replacements. Given the conditions, Ajantha Mendis could also come into the equation. It's also quite possible that Thilina Kandamby, despite being vice-captain, could be dropped after contributing just 36 runs in his last three innings and looking unfit for the demands of limited-overs cricket. If that's the case, opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratne could be in line for an international debut, and if he slots in in position Dilshan will be bumped down to No. 3.

Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Jeevan Mendis, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Dhammika Prasad, 10 Suraj Randiv, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Pitch and conditions
This will be Old Trafford's first international since the square was rotated to prevent problems caused by the setting sun in autumn as part of ambitious redevelopment plans. No relaying has taken place, the new wickets being basically made up of the old ones, and it's said to have lost a lot of the pace it used to have. Recent scores in domestic Twenty20s have been low - Derbyshire were restricted to just 81 for 8 here last week - and taking pace off the ball could be key. Manchester was dank and grey on Friday but Saturday is expected to be warmer, with sunny intervals and a high of 20.




Your comments.....on this grand finale......

nooo huge drop.

a bloody sign it's sl's day.

darn it.

Dammit Dernbach. That was easy.

As long as we don't let them get away in the powerplays, Swann and Patel should hold them back.

Bresnan and Jimmy looking dangerous

yeah that was dire from him. no excuse, he was perfectly positioned.

might have just dropped the match.

Tad early to say that. Anderson gets Sanga's edge but its short of Swann.

In his catch and his drop, i think we've seen why Dernbach fields at fine leg/3rd man

Dernbach really should have caught that, hopefully Patel/Swann can work well in tandem like Swann/Yardy have in the past.

Wow that felt like a big miss by Dernbach. Good bowling from Bresno though.

Can JD make amends here ?

indeed.

much work to do.

the edge was a shame but it dropped short so fair enough.

good bowling.

Gone Cook. Jayawardene gone. Plain sailing for England so far

Gone! Good catch from Cook, great pressure from England!

Anderson silencing some critics, he's bowling well and the sun is out!

Well said trebs!

This could be a rout at this rate. Jimmy and Bresnan have taken the top order apart

Great catch. Thankfully we didn't pay for the Jaya drop.

It's all on Sangers shoulders now.

This just shows how well our openers did. After the top 5 we struggled and should have got 20 or 30 more but that start might just have been crucial.

Sky said we didn't get more than 8 in an over from about the 22nd over to the 50th. Put the ball in the right places and the run rate is gonna skyrocket.

Bresnan, Anderson, Swann, Patel... great bowling line up

Dernbach? Still not sure... views from the Surrey lot?

Do you think it would be worth giving Pieterson/Trott a few overs today?

actually Chanders looked good the other day. Ok so it's on these two. Break them up and it's serious trouble for lanka. If they build they could still do it.

we haven't even seen spin yet though.

I would give KP a go, He can get some turn.

Afternoon all

Haven't seen a lot of today's play but I can see it has all gone pretty well for England ... with Jimmy adding Jayawardene to the collection I ask if it is too early to start celebrating a series win?

Perhaps better get Sanga first...

Yep Alfie, I think Sanga (as always) is the key for them. If he plays through and scores 100 they'll win IMO.

But, Swann/Pate/KP yet to bowl on a spinner friendly pitch...

Dernbach's in so they can have a look at him. I think the idea is using his variations that Sky love on the subcontinent when Jimmy and co don't get swing. I imagine Finn or Tremlett will get a go vs India.

We had double their score at this stage with 3 more wickets. Gonna take something special from Sanga and Chandi to pull this back.

Yeah get these two Alfie. Chandimal did well the other day too, clearly he can bat.

I think it's good that we are throttling them even with seam because this pitch looked much worse once SL started spinning it.

ook.. as i say that they hit a big 6!!

[jinx]

they are soaring to victory, can't lose

[/jinx]

I agree with Greg. They are still set to win this if Sangers stays and they probably feel on top as i don't think they're bothered by us.


14 runs out of the last 4. You can feel them building and sensing victory here.

Time to tear one of them out of their.

Can't wait to see the spin. Seam is much easier to play here.

Id prefer someone like James Harris/Chris Woakes to be in the team over Dernbach.

Bresnan is really starting to look the player in this ODI side isnt he.

this looks bad, they are scoring freely now.

big trouble. This pair are in and looking comfortable now.

Bresnan is turning in great performance after great performance...

We're in a bowling powerplay, where was the Slip?

I asked that too. A wicket was wasted again.

Where is our man in catching? Surely we should be on the attack with a slip?

Patel on soon surely?

this looks bad. they're tearing us apart now.

sl look certain to win then. keep going at this rate now and they'll be done in 46 overs.

Chandy looks like quite a good player today...

of course it is a batting pp so that does influece the scoring rate here.

Good start from Patel there. Tidy after some expensive stuff.

Dernbache expensive tere.

This is worrying. If we can't get another wicket then the very cocky way this Chanda is playing means they'll smash us just like in the WC.

This is about pride now Eng. Start showing some or give way to players who will.

Chand could go on and get 50 here.

Patel looking good, he could definitely do a job in the test squad (at 4 instead of KP if his form continues to dip?). Hussain slagging Patel off again...

What a shot from Chandy!

50 partnership...

50 partnership already.

we've blown it again.

this young kid doesn't know his limits and we're doing nothing to get rid of him.

Good series win for SL then it seems.

Why so negative? There is still a long way to go.

Great from Swann but Sanga comfortably in

Good fielding from Swannage but sadly it did not remove Sangers.

and now typically for and England ground you can hear the "foreign" fans more than the English.

Negative cause they now look much more comfortable than we did and they don't look like making the stupid mistakes we did to get out to average spin.

we're finding ways to mess it up again.

I still think its in the balance. If Patel or Swann can get either Sanga or Chandy here then its game on again...

Its looking a bit ominous now for England, these two are really giving it a go.

Yep. One of these goes they are in trouble.

They stay they win.

Get the kid, he needs to learn a lesson.

Chandy is playing without fear, great maiden from Swann.

Dernbach is the week link for us today I fear...

This really is a dangerous partnership, it has to be broken soon.

indeed Billy. Probably the defening one in this game.

SL are a funny team. Utter tosh once you get the top boys but so very good at the top.

Swann comes back from getting hit for six with a maiden in his second ... I can see young Chandimal is playing well but it still looks like England in charge.

Not a lot of batting to follow for Sri Lanka.

10 overs from Patel
10 overs from Swann
10 overs from Anderson
10 overs from Bresnan

Where do the other 10 come from? Dernbach didnt look great on this surface... try and sneak a few in from KP and maybe a couple from Trott?

Im worried for us against India...

Agrred. Derbache will win the game for SL.. Some KP?

2 maidens in a row from Swann!

Gower got that right. These two stay and eng are deep in trouble.

they don't look like there's any way to get them out at the mo.

Gregers wrote:Chandy is playing without fear, great maiden from Swann.

Dernbach is the week link for us today I fear...

He may indeed be the weak link ... but he may not have to bowl his ten

KP could send down a few ... and possibly even Trott