Top 5 Sri Lanka vs England encounters

#1 Adelaide 1999, Sri Lanka won by 1 wicket

Sri Lanka v Eng ODI

t was one of those rare days in the 1990s when the English batting looked menacing. It was one of those days when the crowd enjoyed the novelty of belonging to no side and just engrossing in a great contest of cricket without worrying about loyalties. It was yet another thriller at a ground that has always been notorious for producing nail-biting encounters.

In the eighth match of the Carlton and United ODI series, England scored more in a one-day game more than they often did in a Test innings in Australia in that era. Graeme Hick's formidable 126(118), including four hits sailing over the ropes, set up England's massive haul of 302 runs. It was one of those days when even Sri Lanka's prime enforcer Chaminda Vass was carted around the park.

Till then only three higher chases had been successfully achieved in almost three decades of one-day cricket. But there was one person who did not conform much to conventions, Sanath Jayasuriya, whose quickfire 51(36) at the top of the order made Sri Lanka believe. While the rest of the top order crumbled under scoreboard pressure, Mahela Jayawardene played his breakout innings in the format, scoring 120(111), some of the finest of his 10k haul.

Farcical running by the Sri Lankan lower order gave England a sniff, but Alec Stewart having bowled out his specialist bowlers, had to throw the ball to the harmless medium pace of Vincent Wells, and Muralitharan and Wickramasinghe snuck their side home by two wickets and four balls in surplus to seal an epic victory after all seemed lost.