All series long, the Sri Lankan duo of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene loomed large for the England bowlers but in the end it was almost the lower order hitters who stole the headlines. However, this was England's day and England's summer. When the dust settled, Alastair Cook had led his team to a 3-2 series victory.
In the decisive ODI at Old Trafford on Saturday, Cook and Craig Kieswetter gave England an explosive start with a quickfire 85-run partnership for the first wicket. Eoin Morgan chipped in with 56 and, despite a wobble late in the innings, England posted a challenging total of 268-9.
Perhaps Cook would have liked an extra 20-25 runs, pushing the target closer to 300, but it always looked a defendable score. When Sri Lanka slumped to 29-3, the game appeared all but over yet Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal chipped away at the target, putting on close to 100 for the fourth wicket.
Suddenly Cook and his players looked anxious but the mood changed dramatically when both Sri Lankan batsmen fell in quick succesion. At 131-5, there really looked to be no way back. But again the tourists refused to throw in the towel. The dangerous Angelo Mathews and the emerging Jeevan Mendis rattled along to ensure a thrilling finish.
As England sweated, Sri Lanka were left to get 60 runs from the final eight overs with two settled batsmen at the crease. The momentum shifted several times in the closing overs as Mendis holed out to Pietersen then Sri Lanka slipped to 246-8 with the run out of Dhammika Prasad - only for Lasith Malinga to swing his first ball for six and cut the equation to 17 runs off 12 balls.
But England had the last laugh as Mathews tried one big shot too many and Jade Dernbach bowled Malinga to strand Sri Lanka 16 runs short. It was a pulsating finale to a gripping series and for Cook, who had taken his fair share of criticism in the media prior to the start of the series, it was a dream start to his ODI captaincy.
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