SECOND ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL, Dambulla:

SECOND ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL, Dambulla:
England 234-8 (50 overs) bt Sri Lanka 169 (44.3 overs) by 65 runs

Owais Shah's 82 and some fine bowling helped England beat Sri Lanka by 65 runs to level the one-day series 1-1.

The tourists were 61-4 and 142-6 on a slow surface but Shah worked the ball around shrewdly as they posted 234-8.

Ryan Sidebottom and Stuart Broad took two wickets each to reduce Sri Lanka to 38-4 before captain Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan put on 52.

Graeme Swann and Paul Collingwood also struck twice and despite Jehan Mubarak (44), the hosts were dismissed for 169.

It was only England's second one-day international triumph on the island - their previous one was more than 25 years ago - and just the tonic they needed after an abject surrender in Monday's opener at the same venue.

Shah will quite rightly take most of the plaudits after a brilliantly paced knock which rescued his team after the top order had failed dismally to cope with the variations in pace and length the home seamers employed, particularly Farveez Maharoof (3-30).

Alastair Cook wafted leaden-footedly to slip, Ian Bell was lbw shuffling across his crease, while Phil Mustard and Kevin Pietersen - who scratched around for 41 balls for his 12 - spooned catches off ill-judged swipes.

Captain Collingwood was never totally at ease on a sluggish pitch but he passed 1,000 ODI runs for 2007 in helping Shah lay the foundations for the recovery.

They kept the scoreboard ticking against the spinners in a partnership of 78 with a measured approach which was studded with rare boundaries.

Collingwood pulled Dilhara Fernando for England's only six in the 35th over before he was pinned in front trying to work the seamer away on the leg-side and when Ravi Bopara lost his leg-stump to part-time spinner Dilshan, the visitors were still some way short of respectability.

Shah took them there with his fourth one-day fifty and Graeme Swann's support in a stand of 70, and only a brilliant catch from Chamara Silva ended his 92-ball defiance.

Sidebottom produced an impressive opening spell to rock the hosts

It was the best score by an Englishman in a one-day international in Sri Lanka, bettering Graham Gooch's 74 in that 1982 success.

And its importance was magnified when Sidebottom and Broad extracted bounce and movement from a pitch that quickened significantly in the evening.

Upul Tharanga edged Sidebottom to Cook at second slip and Sanath Jayasuriya - playing in his 400th ODI - cracked the left-armer to Bell at cover.

Kumar Sangakkara was dropped twice by Cook at slip and Mustard before the keeper redeemed himself with a superb catch, while Silva was snapped up at backward point when a Broad delivery reared up.

England were rampant but their fires were doused by Dilshan's aggression and the composed class of Jayawardene.

The duo seized on errors in line and length from Broad and James Anderson to pick up a flurry of boundaries as their fifty partnership came up in 44 balls.

However, Swann's third ball, a vicious off-spinner, ripped through Dilshan's defences and Collingwood saw his opposite number flip him straight to mid-wicket to land two hammer blows.

The same duo worked their way through the tail and although Mubarak struck several lusty blows and Fernando (20) made his highest one-day score, nothing could take the shine off Shah and England's day.

Australia destroy India in Kochi

SECOND ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL, KOCHI:
Australia 306-5 beat India 222 by 84 runs

Australia handed India a crushing 84-run defeat to earn a 1-0 lead in the seven-match one-day series.

Asked to bat first in Kochi, they amassed a mighty 306-6 and then needed 47.3 overs to bowl out the hosts.

Andrew Symonds hit 87 off 83 balls, but the most impressive innings came from unsung reserve 'keeper Brad Haddin.

Pressed into service after injuries to key batsmen, he hit 87 not out off 69 balls. India lost too many early wickets, Australia catching everything.

India began their chase with plenty of big shots, Robin Uthappa free-wheeling at the top of the order to make 41 off 30 balls with one outrageous six back over Brett Lee's head.

But a brilliant Mitchell Johnson delivery sent back Gautam Gambhir cheaply, before Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh played lazy shots, chipping catches to fielders in the inner ring.

When Uthappa stepped across his stumps to be lbw to the immaculate Stuart Clark, the score was 87-4.

Suddenly India had to play risk-free cricket, and the required run rate started going up.

Rahul Dravid (31) looked to push on, but hit a catch off Brad Hogg which Johnson took over his head at deep mid-wicket, standing no more than a few inches off the rope.

Many fans packed into the Nehru Stadium took that as their cue to head for the exits, though 25 overs remained.

They had the right idea, the remainder of the match descending into the sort of sterile contest that has given 50-over cricket a bad name.

Hogg continued to twirl away to earn figures of 3-40, while Clark and Michael Clarke each took two wickets.

Mahendra Dhoni was last man out for 58 in an innings which soaked up 88 deliveries.

Things had started so well for India, reducing Australia to 8-2 in the fourth over when Brad Hodge chased a wide outswinger from Sree Santh.

But Matthew Hayden hit a typically boisterous 75 to lay the platform for Symonds and Haddin.

We didn't bowl well in the last 20 overs and our batsmen failed to apply themselves Mahendra Dhoni

The batsmen were not concerned about pacing their innings, trusting their own batting skills to seize on anything loose.

And with the boundary markers brought in following rain in the run-up to the match, Symonds and Haddin shared five sixes - all beautifully struck.

Harbhajan Singh was one of two replacements for the hosts as he came in for the seamer RP Singh - the other being Uthappa for the injured Sourav Ganguly.

But the 21 overs of India slow bowling went wicketless, and were hit for 131.

In truth, India only matched Australia in the verbal exchanges and general posturing, which further marred a forgettable game of cricket.

Afterwards, India skipper Dhoni highlighted his team's failings: "We got a good start with the ball but didn't bowl well in the last 20 overs.

"That's the only concern for us. We lost a few wickets in the middle and that made the difference. Our batsmen failed to apply themselves."

Gilchrist's retirement from one-day cricket may come sooner rather than later following Haddin's recent success, and he said of his stand-in: "It is very satisfying to see new players come in and perform.

"With injuries come opportunities and Brad showed that today."

Though Haddin only played because of injuries to Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, he looks likely to play in the remaining five matches of the series.