Dhananjaya de Silva: The Sri Lankan all-rounder missed a golden opportunity of crossing the three-figure mark for the first time in white-ball cricket.
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During the second ODI of the ongoing Sri Lanka’s tour of England at The Oval, Sri Lanka all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva missed out on his maiden ODI century as he departed after scoring an eye-catching 91 (91) with the help of 13 fours.
Having made into the Sri Lankan Playing XI in this match, de Silva batted at No. 4 for only the second time in his 46th ODI innings. With England all-rounder Sam Curran running through the Sri Lankan top-order after captain Eoin Morgan invited the visitors in to bat first, de Silva found himself in the middle in only the second over.
It was from the word go that de Silva had given the impression of being a cut above the rest. Finding boundaries when other Sri Lankan batsmen were struggling to counter swing, de Silva played a pivotal role in stitching a rescue act after his team was reduced to 21/4 in the seventh over.
After putting together significant partnerships with all-rounders such as Wanidu Hasaranga and Dasun Shanaka, de Silva appeared to have ran out of patience as he was nearing his century.
It was on the third delivery of the 35th over when the right-hand batsman mis-timed a pull off David Willey only to hand a simple catch to Joe Root at deep square leg. With almost one-third part of the innings remaining, Sri Lanka badly needed de Silva to bat till the end.
Dhananjaya de Silva dismissal vs England
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