Staff Reporter.
England comfortably beat Sri Lanka again in the second one-day international at The Oval to clinch the series with a game to spare.
Sam Curran took 5-48 – his first five-wicket haul for England – as the hosts restricted Sri Lanka to 241-9 from 50 overs.
Curran took three wickets in his first two overs and, at 21-4, Sri Lanka were in danger of being dismissed before many of the 14,000-strong Oval crowd had taken their seats.
Dhananjaya de Silva rescued the hosts with a run-a-ball 91 but England still cruised to their target with seven overs and eight wickets to spare on a flat pitch.
Jason Roy, fit again after a hamstring niggle, hit 60 from 52 balls, sharing an opening stand of 76 with Jonny Bairstow.
The Surrey right-hander clubbed seamer Chamika Karunaratne to mid-wicket in the 18th over but England were well ahead of the required rate and Joe Root (75*) and Eoin Morgan (68*) eased them to victory with a chanceless unbroken stand of 140.
It sealed a fifth heavy defeat for Sri Lanka in five matches on this white-ball tour – these ODIs following a dominant 3-0 win for England in the Twenty20 series.
The final ODI takes place in Bristol on Sunday.
England captain Eoin Morgan: “It was a good day all round. As a captain I don’t think massively about my batting. Today it was nice to get some time in the middle and hopefully the runs continue.”
England’s Sam Curran: “It was awesome to pick up some wickets on my home ground with my brother and another Surrey player in Jason Roy too.”
Former Sri Lanka batter Russel Arnold: “It was pretty much the same story again from Sri Lanka. Whatever confidence they might have had went during England’s innings.
“They will feel pretty deflated having not really put up a fight. The gap between the sides is widening rather than closing up.”