Kumar Sangakkara’s first century at Lord’s laid the platform for Sri Lanka’s nail-biting and series-levelling win against England in the fourth one-day international on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Just days after being shot out for 67 in a 10-wicket defeat at Old Trafford, Sri Lanka made 9-300 after losing the toss.<\/p>\n
Sangakkara’s 112, his first hundred at Lord’s in any format, was the centrepiece of the innings, the classy left-hander joining with Tillakaratne Dilshan (71) to put on 172 for the second wicket. In contrast, the pair managed just 15 runs between them in Manchester.<\/p>\n
England needed what would have been their joint second-highest total to win but Lasith Malinga reduced the hosts to 2-10, removing captain Alastair Cook and Ian Bell cheaply.<\/p>\n
But Jos Buttler, who came to the crease with England in dire straits at 5-111, brought the hosts back into the match with a brilliant maiden ODI hundred, the fastest ever scored at Lord’s.<\/p>\n
Together with Ravi Bopara (51), the man-of-the-match shared a sixth-wicket stand of 133 that left England eyeing a remarkable win…<\/p>\n