England’s bid to move into an unassailable lead in their ODI series against Sri Lanka was foiled by rain as another polished bowling display counted for nothing at Wantage Road.
Steady drizzle turned heavier and forced the teams off the field after Sri Lanka’s innings had slowly unravelled from a solid platform of 53 for two from nine overs to 106 for nine in the 31st.
Chamari Athapaththu’s run-a-ball 34 put England under pressure but the Sri Lanka captain’s dismissal in Charlie Dean’s first over led to a momentum shift as the tourists again struggled with the bat.
Dean and Alice Davidson-Richards – recalled at the expense of the injured Emma Lamb and rested Mahika Gaur – took two wickets apiece, as did Lauren Filer, who continues to impress in England colours.
Hasini Perera anchored proceedings after Athapaththu’s dismissal, amassing 31 not out off 58 balls, but was helpless to stop wickets tumbling at the other end, with Sri Lanka’s plight encapsulated by Achini Kulasuriya being absent-mindedly run out by Kate Cross just before the players were brought off.
Any hope of getting back on was thwarted at 5.10pm, and the abandonment means Sri Lanka, who were hammered by seven wickets at Chester-le-Street, escape but still trail 1-0 in this three-match series.
After rain held up the start by half an hour, Sri Lanka were asked to bat first under murky skies, and while they were more purposeful than their meek 106 total in the north east on Saturday – thumping 15 fours and a six – their innings at Northampton followed a similar pattern.
Athapaththu clipped the first ball to the boundary then capitalised when Cross overpitched, driving handsomely in a match-up which brought the left-hander six fours and a meaty six over midwicket.
Cross had better luck against Sri Lanka’s other opener as her first ball to Vishmi Gunaratne brought an uncertain forward prod which grazed the outside edge and was accepted by Amy Jones, who took another simple catch when Harshitha Samarawickrama was persuaded to drive at a rare fuller Filer delivery.
Sri Lanka might still have been in the ascendancy after the powerplay had Dean not struck in the last over, with her arm ball thudding into the front pad of Athapaththu, who took a review with her.
Athapaththu’s downfall saw the runs dry up, with a watchful 23-run stand in 42 balls between Perera and Hansima Karunaratne only noteworthy as television cameras detected a marriage proposal in the stands.
Karunaratne was especially marooned and having made just eight, she was persuaded to hook her 22nd ball to Sarah Glenn off Davidson-Richards, while the occasionally dangerous Kavisha Dilhari was dropped at slip off her fourth delivery before chipping her sixth tamely back to Dean.
It was the first of four ducks for Sri Lanka – only Athapaththu, Perera and Oshadi Ranasinghe reached double figures, the latter showing intent to Glenn only to miss a sweep off the leg-spinner on 12, with England grateful for the on-field lbw verdict as a review showed the ball brushing leg stump.
Wicketkeeper Anushka Sanjeewani chopped on after a flat-footed push at Davidson-Richards while Filer, who caused problems with her extra pace and bounce, had her fifth wicket in just her second ODI as she ended a 15-ball scoreless stay from Udeshika Prabodhani as she edged through to Jones.
As a trickle turned heavier, the final act proved to be Cross’ smart run out of Kulasuriya, who was short of her crease after Perera had defended to cover. No run was attempted but Kulasuriya dawdled back to the non-striker’s end and her bat had not been grounded when Cross threw down the stumps.
A two-hour delay ensued but as puddles developed on the outfield, the match was abandoned with just 30.5 overs possible.
Babar relieved after Fakhar and Rizwan guide Pakistan past Ireland
Babar Azam was left relieved after Pakistan made light work of chasing 194 to keep their T20I series with Ireland alive and take it to a winner-takes-all-decider.
Andy Balbirnie's 77 helped Ireland to their first victory over Pakistan in this format on Friday, but Babar's side responded in style on Sunday with their own seven-wicket triumph.
Lorcan Tucker's 51 powered Ireland to an impressive 193-7 in Dublin as Shaheen Shah Afridi registered figures of 3-49 and Abbas Afridi managed 2-33.
Yet that total was far from imposing as Pakistan chased the target down with 19 balls to spare thanks to a remarkable partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman.
The pair combined for a 140-run stand off only 78 balls for the third wicket as Fakhar smashed 78 from 40, while Rizwan was unbeaten on 75 after facing just 46.
"I'm relieved, credit to all batters," Babar said after the win. "We lost a few wickets early on but we kept the momentum going.
"Fakhar is very experienced and played according to situation which demanded positive intent. It's a good side, we got positives in this match and will look to give 100 per cent in the next match."
Rizwan added: "They played really well against us. It was not an easy chase because the Ireland bowlers knew their conditions better.
"They gave us a difficult time early on, but we decided that chasing 194, we have to attack. You're always under pressure when you lose especially with World Cup around the corner."
The two sides will meet again in Dublin on Tuesday to settle the three-match T20I series.
IPL: RCB keep playoff hopes alive after dominating Capitals
Royal Challengers Bengaluru kept their unlikely Indian Premier League playoff hopes alive after a fifth straight win as they defeated Delhi Capitals by 47 runs on Sunday.
Faf du Plessis' side leapfrogged the Capitals with this victory, moving into fifth in the standings and just two points behind fourth-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad ahead of RCB's final game with Chennai Super Kings.
Rajat Patidar set the tone with a 32-ball 52, alongside Will Jacks' rapid 41 runs from 29 deliveries, before Cameron Green added an unbeaten 32 to guide RCB to 187-9.
Impact substitute David Warner mustered only one in response, with number three Abishek Porel also out for just two runs, as Delhi limped to 30-4 inside four overs of the second innings.
Yash Dayal managed to run out opener Jake Fraser-McGurk on 21 before Axar Patel – in as captain for the suspended Rishabh Pant – offered resistance with 57 from 39 balls in the middle order.
Yet Dayal dismissed the Capitals captain to claim an impressive 3-20, assisted by Lockie Ferguson's 2-23, as RCB wrapped up a convincing victory in bowling Delhi out for 140.
Data debrief: Capitals contained
Kuldeep's last over went for 22 as the Capitals leg-spinner finished with 1 for 52 off his four overs, the second time he has gone for over fifty runs after the four for 55 versus Sunrisers.
That dismal showing with the ball was in stark contrast to the RCB bowlers, with Green also chipping in with an economical 1-19 and Mohammed Siraj's 1-33.
Despite victory, Dinesh Karthik claimed an unwanted piece of history for the most ducks in IPL history, moving onto 18 and past Glenn Maxwell after falling to Khaleel Ahmed (2-31) in the first innings.
Broad fears for inexperienced England bowling attack after Anderson retirement
Stuart Broad fears an inexperienced England bowling attack could be exposed to problems after James Anderson announced his Test retirement decision on Saturday.
England's all-time leading wicket-taker Anderson will end his remarkable red-ball career after the first Test against West Indies on July 10.
Anderson has taken 700 wickets in 187 Tests, the most by any pace bowler in history, but the 41-year-old will play for a final time after Brendon McCullum signalled a change of plans for the future.
Matthew Potts, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson are all potential replacements, though Broad remains concerned for Ben Stokes' bowling options going forward.
"England could easily go into a Test match this summer with a very, very inexperienced bowling group," Broad told Sky Sports Cricket podcast.
"If you don't play a [Chris] Woakes, Mark Wood has a rest and there's no Jimmy Anderson, you could have three seamers and a spinner out there potentially with 20 caps between them.
"That's quite scary as a Test captain I would have thought. We don't know how much [Ben] Stokesy's going to bowl – we hope he does.
"But that could leave you a bit exposed. There's only one way to find out with bowlers, and that's to give them a go."
Anderson's opening-bowler partner Broad retired after last year's Ashes, having finished his illustrious career with 604 Test wickets.
Having neither of the pair available to lead the line with the red ball in future may pose problems and Broad reiterated his concern over the gaping gap Anderson's retirement will leave.
"There's going to certainly be a huge hole left by Jimmy Anderson that someone is going to have to step into," he added.
"And not just by swinging the new ball. But by communicating, by keeping calm if the boundaries are leaking, by tactically being aware of what field works at certain grounds, pitches and times of Test matches.
"Ultimately, you don't learn that unless you're thrown in."
Broad, however, remains hopeful that Stokes and McCullum will find the right combinations to take England into a new era of Test cricket.
"I think exposure for some bowlers now is really important, because there's talent out there," Broad continued.
"There's bowlers out there that need a bit of exposure to see what it's about in Test match cricket.
"They may need time to adjust their training plan and how they operate before a tour in two years' time."
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