England pulled off a dominant performance to rout Sri Lanka by 122 runs and clinch a 3-0 victory in the Royal London One-Day Series finale at Cardiff.
Joe Root was the hero in Cardiff again, anchoring the England total of 324/7 with an assured 93, while Jos Buttler clouted a rapid 70 off 45 balls.
Then the bowlers dismissed Sri Lanka with a merciless and clinical display, David Willey finishing with 4/34 and Liam Plunkett 3/44 as the visitors' batsmen were outclassed and rolled out for 202, despite Dinesh Chandimal's valiant half-century.
Jason Roy carried on where he left off at the Kia Oval on Wednesday, smiting the quick bowlers Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal – as well as debutant Chaminda Bandara – to all parts of The SSE SWALEC.
A couple of brisk showers had delayed the start in Cardiff, as the Welsh crowd filtered into the stands and the weather gradually improved as the day wore on.
Many were still celebrating Wales’ stunning triumph over Belgium last night and Roy, along with James Vince (in the side for the injured Alex Hales) gave them more reasons to be cheerful in the opening exchanges.
The duo plundered the opening bowling square of the wicket, with Vince elegant through the off-side and Roy powerful through leg.
It was a surprise when Roy was dismissed, mis-timing a lofted drive into the arms of Perera at deep square-leg and even more shocking when part-time spinner Danushka Gunathilaka ripped one past an advancing Vince to have him stumped.
The Hampshire captain gave a good account of himself with a sturdy 51 but would have been frustrated to perish to the off-spinner.
England rallied through Root and Eoin Morgan, who took the score along to 137/3 before the captain was outstandingly caught at deep cover by a running, diving Kusal Mendis for 20.
It wasn’t long before Root his his straps with a couple of elegant driven fours through extra-cover and he was joined by fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow.
Wickets fell at regular intervals and when Bairstow lofted tamely to long-on to gift Gunathilaka his third victim, England were wondering whether they’d reach 300.
Then came the innings’ major partnership, as the inventive, unorthodox Buttler joined the more straight-laced Root for a stand of 109 in 14.3 overs. It was steadily-paced to start, but finished in style by Buttler, who boomed 70 off just 45 balls.
Root fell agonisingly short of his hundred, bowled by Pradeep attempting a big shot. Buttler had departed in similar fashion to give Bandara his first ODI wicket, leaving Plunkett and Woakes to clout a couple of late blows.
Woakes ended on 17 not out and England 324/7, a good effort considering the dodgy conditions at the outset of the innings and the fact that plenty of batsmen got starts, but none aside from Root and Buttler in the final furlong, went on to score big.
The Sri Lankan chase never really got going, especially after Perera went early LBW to David Willey’s left-arm pace and Bairstow’s rocket throw saw Mendis run out for 22.
England’s stars with the ball in this Royal London One-Day Series have been Adil Rashid and Liam Plunkett and the Yorkshire duo were at it again in Cardiff.
First, the burly paceman got rid of Gunathilaka – who enjoyed a very respectable game with 48 to add to his three wickets – then bowled Mathews with a leg-cutter.
At the other end, Rashid rattled through his 10 overs for 41 runs, accounting for Upul Tharanga, castled for a golden duck and Shanaka, who was smartly stumped by Buttler after Rashid floated a big-turning ball outside his off-stump.
After that, it was a case of going through the motions, with Sri Lanka a long long way behind the asking rate. Try as he might, Chandimal could not hoist the tourists into a potential winning position.
The keeper-batsman struck a few boundaries through his favourite mid-wicket region but was powerless to prevent the Engand charge, eventually bowled by Willey for a spirited 52.
The final three wickets came quickly, as a merciless England romped to their third victory of the series and take another step forward in their One-Day cricket renaissance under Eoin Morgan and trevor Bayliss. They will be hoping to complete a dominant period with victory in the sole T20 international at the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday.