(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Buttler remained not out on 55 while Root was unbeaten on 48 as England reached their target with eight balls remaining.
Kumar Sangakkara plays a shot during the match against England. — Reuters
Hambantota — An unbeaten 84-run partnership between Jos Buttler and Joe Root helped England clinch the rain-curtailed 35-over match against Sri Lanka in Hambantota by five wickets on Wednesday night.
Buttler remained not out on 55 while Root was unbeaten on 48 as England reached their target with eight balls remaining. The hosts lead the series 2-1.
Earlier Kumar Sangakkara became only the fourth batsman in history to surpass 13000 one-day runs as Sri Lanka scored 242-8 off 35 overs. The 37-year-old left-hander reached the landmark when he took a single off Chris Woakes to move to 13 and celebrated by top-scoring with 63 in the innings.
Lahiru Thirimanne hit an unbeaten 62 off 47 balls in a match that was reduced to 35-overs-a-side when heavy rain stopped the game after just two overs had been bowled. The hosts who won the toss and elected to bat were reduced to 31-3 by the sixth over before Sangakkara and skipper Angelo Mathews (37) retrieved the situation by adding 87 for the fourth wicket.
Sri Lanka plundered 62 runs in the last five overs to set England a tough target. The hosts lead 2-0 in the seven-match series. Sangakkara now lies behind three retired batsmen in the all-time list led by Sachin Tendulkar of India who made 18426 runs in 463 ODI matches. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has 13704 runs in 375 ODI matches and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka has 13430 runs in 445 games. Sangakkara who made his international debut in 2000 is also just 12 runs short of completing 12000 Test runs. He has made 11988 runs in 128 Tests.
England made three changes. Ian Bell Harry Gurney and James Tredwell were dropped and replaced with Alex Hales Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan. Sri Lanka were without senior batsman Mahela Jayawardene who is not playing due to personal reasons.
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