England vs Sri Lanka, 4th ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Sri Lanka tour of England, 2016 Venue: Kennington Oval, London Date & Time: Jun 29, 01:00 PM LOCAL

Roy brought up his second century of the ODI series. © Cricbuzz

Hello and welcome to the live updates of the fourth One-Day International (ODI) between England and Sri Lanka at the Oval. The hosts lead the five-match ODI series 1-2 after the first match ended in a tie and the third got washed off. Despite noyt having secured a win so far in the competition, Sri Lanka are still in with a chance of winning the series.

While Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Perera are in good form with the bat, their rest of the line-up has failed to show consistency. They will need to pick up in order to outshine an inspired and changed ODI outfit of England.

Squads:

England (From): Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, Steven Finn, James Vince

Sri Lanka (From): Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Angelo Mathews(c), Seekkuge Prasanna, Upul Tharanga, Dasun Shanaka, Farveez Maharoof, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhananjaya de Silva, Suraj Randiv

Eoin Morgan, England skipper, won the toss and elected to field. Even as Sri Lanka have been struggling with their batting, they haven't made any changes to their line-up. Despite gloomy clouds across London, as for now there are no signs of rain in the stadium.

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal(w), Angelo Mathews(c), Seekkuge Prasanna, Upul Tharanga, Dasun Shanaka, Farveez Maharoof, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid

Well, it was raining for a while. However, the good news is that rain has stopped and as the drainage system at The Oval is very good, play will start on time. However, it still looks gloomy at the moment. Sri Lankan openers Kusal Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka are walking out to the middle. David Willey has the new Kookaburra ball in his hand and will look to generate swing.

England have struck early in the contest as Kusal Perera is run out. It was an ill-timed attempt for a single and it backfired on him.

ODI at The Oval? Watch on SS2 from 12.30pm.

ODis; who will finish on top at the end of the series?

2 1

England are cruising at the moment. 166 for 1 at the end of 21 overs and need another 142 from as many, with nine wickets in hand. They are about 20 runs ahead of what Sri Lanka had at this point in their innings.

There it is! Century for Roy, off just 74 balls! His second hundred of the series.

In the absence of his regular opening partner Alex Hales, there was more pressure on Roy to give England the right platform, given the rain could return any moment. But he has responded phenomenally. Take a bow!

Sri Lanka need a couple of quick wickets or else the series will slip out of their hands.

Jinxed! Gunathilaka breaks the 149-run partnership for the second wicket by dismissing Root for 65.

Eoin Morgan comes out to take England's chase forward.

Oh Gunathilaka, you beauty! What a catch, that. Dives full length to his right, at backward point, to intercept Morgan's elegant cut. The English skipper falls for 22 off 27 and Lakmal gets his first wicket of the night.

He's scored a fifty, broken a crucial 149-run stand that was on the verge of knocking Sri Lanka out of the game and now this.

England 221 for 3 now, need another 87 off 72 balls. Bairstow is the next man in.

Oh by. Just 5 short of England's all-time highest score. Roy departs. And epic knock comes to an end. He's very, very disappointed with himself, but deep down would be the satisfaction of having done the job for his time. Walks out to a standing ovation from his home crowd as well as his teammates. 162 off 118 balls - hats off!

Jos Buttler joins hands with Bairstow with England still 27 shy of a 2-0 series win.

Bairstow and Buttler have polished off the remaining runs and England have chased down 308, in 42 overs mind you, with such ease! All credit must go to Jason Roy who has broken several English records tonight with his epic 162.

A big hundred was what England required, especially after losing their other regular opener. And Roy responded beautifully to the pressure. The fact that he's scored more than half the runs in the chase tells you how valuable that knock was. Sri Lankan bowlers, yet again, didn't impress at all.

England win by 6 wickets and clinch the series 2-0 with the final game to be played on Saturday.

Join us two days later for the live blog of the fifth game. Till then, ciao!