Mahmood checks Sri Lanka progress

12 April 2012

Sajid Mahmood claimed the prized early breakthrough for England as they attempted to restrict Sri Lanka's free-scoring batsmen in their crunch Super Eight match.

The Lancashire seamer struck in the eighth over of the day to remove dangerman Sanath Jayasuriya just as he threatened to deliver yet another explosive innings and propel Sri Lanka to a daunting target.

Mahmood struck by inducing Jayasuriya, who became the world's most capped one-day international player with his 385th appearance, into chopping onto his stumps to leave Sri Lanka 60 for one after the first 15 overs.

Jayasuriya had given England an early warning of his intent with Mahmood's first ball of the day, clipping him off his legs down to fine leg for the first boundary of the day.

He also took a liking to James Anderson, hitting him for two boundaries in his next over to leave England captain Michael Vaughan desperately searching for ways to restrict Jayasuriya's strokeplay.

England's last meeting with Jayasuriya and opening partner Upul Tharanga resulted in the pair forging a 286-run stand in less than 32 overs and when Mahmood was hit for six in his next over by the Sri Lankan veteran, they must have feared the worst.

But Mahmood's extra bounce surprised Jayasuriya after he had raced to 25 off 26 balls, including a six and four fours, and the ball crashed into his stumps as he pushed forward off the front foot.

England had chosen to resist the temptation to change their line-up and named an unchanged team despite speculation they were due to recall Andrew Strauss as a replacement for Middlesex team-mate Ed Joyce.

Sri Lanka also named an unchanged line-up having crushed West Indies several days ago as they searched for the victory which would take them a step nearer a semi-final place.

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