NOTTINGHAM: England captain Eoin Morgan praised Chris Woakes, Jos Buttler and Liam Plunkett for getting his side “out of a hole” as the first one-day international against Sri Lanka ended in a thrilling tie.
Set 287 to win, England collapsed to 30 for four and 82 for six in Nottingham on Tuesday.
But a stand of 138 between Buttler (93) and man-of-the-match Woakes, who made 95 not out — the highest ODI score by any number eight batsman — revived the innings.
England’s hopes of victory disappeared in a final over where they needed 14 to win in front of a capacity crowd at a floodlit Trent Bridge.
However, with six required to tie off the last ball, tailender Plunkett drove Nuwan Pradeep over long-off to seal the tie, in what was a stunning start to the five-match series.
This was Plunkett’s first match at this level since September, but the fast bowler said he was confident his reputation as a big hitter in county cricket would be maintained on the international stage.
“I was telling myself I have been hitting it well for Yorkshire — ‘stay still and hope I get enough on it to get it out of the ground’,” said Plunkett.
“You know when you have nailed the ball, it’s like on a golf course off the tee, a similar feeling.”
Morgan added: “You can always win the game from any situation, and today proved that a little bit.
“Getting out of the game with a tie is a big result,” the former Ireland batsman said.
“Towards the end, it was in Sri Lanka’s favour, there weren’t a lot of boundaries being hit, and they bowled well.”
