Top 5 Sri Lanka vs England encounters

England and Sri Lanka take on each other once again come this Wednesday as the rejuvenated visitors embark on their quest of world domination, starting in one of the hardest countries to play cricket in. Partisan crowds, the humid tropical weather which a far cry from the calming breeze of the northern latitudes and the absence of the luxury of tailor-made batting tracks, England will truly have to raise their game to a higher level to be able to come out on top in the series.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka have had a torrid time in ODIs ever since their disheartening loss to South Africa in the 2015 World Cup quarter-final. They have had on-field and off-field synchronizing troubles, players have retired, captains have switched at a rate that would make the English summer of '88 look civil and in all, there has been a total disorganization in the ODI setup of a side that was once one of the most well-rounded sides in the world.

England and Sri Lanka have had a competitive ODI history, mostly banking on the fact that both the teams have always held a low-key reputation. So when they meet, there are no glorified losers, all that is there is a dogged winner. Let us look at some of the best contests between the two sides over the years.

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#5 Colombo 1982, England won by 5 runs

The first time ever England played an ODI on Sri Lankan soil, it turned out to be the right epitome of how contests between these two sides would pan out for the following years. An era of easily manipulative match regulations, it was a 45 over a side contest. England, batting first against a rather unassuming Sri Lankan outfit being the youngest Test nation, built a solid platform to capitalize on.

Fifties by Graham Gooch and Ian Botham made sure they had their sights on a dominating total. But they collapsed from 3/191 to all out for 211, thanks to Ashanta de Mel taking wickets left and right, finishing with 4/34 and a runout.

An inexperienced Sri Lankan side strung together small partnerships but their caution set them back in the chase. Anura Ranasinghe's half-century at number seven, coming at quicker than run-a-ball brought them back into the match. But Botham was too good for him as his canny bowling and furthermore, some shrewd captaincy from Beefy himself suffocated the Sri Lankan tail to keep them five runs from England's total.

While England went 1-0 up in the series, Sri Lanka established that they would be no pushovers, even going on to win the second and final match of the series by 7 runs.

#4 Nottingham 2016, Match Tied

Sri Lanka didn't go down 0-1 but the damage done was much more than that.

The 2016 series between the two sides marked the beginning of the reversing fortunes of the two sides in the wake of the 2015 World Cup. England had mixed results thus far with their new aggressive approach while Sri Lanka were excited by the prospect of fielding a young side. On England's ground for glory days, Trent Bridge, the tourists batted first and batted in bursts.

Angelo Matthew's rescue knock of 73(109) and Seekkuge Prasanna's blistering 59(28) gave Sri Lanka an ample total of 286 runs to play with. Matthews then paired with opening quick Suranga Lakmal to rock England into oblivion with early wickets to send them crashing to 3/17, which eventually became 6/82.

205 runs to get with 32 overs and 4 wickets as England's only resources, it looked game over. What happened next defined England's metamorphosis. Jos Buttler (93) and Chris Woakes (95*) put on 138 for the seventh wicket. After Buttler departed, Woakes took charge and it all boiled down to seven runs needed off the last ball.

Then Liam Plunkett simply went back into his crease and smoked Nuwan Pradeep's yorker over long-off sending Sri Lanka into agony and the English dug-out into a fervour of relief.

#3 Lord's 2014, Sri Lanka won by 7 runs

England v Sri Lanka - 4th ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

It was a year where England were confused. Shell-shocked from the disaster of the 2013/14 Ashes, not quite recovered from the thunderbolts of Mitchell Johnson, they went into their shell as a means of over-compensation. While Sri Lanka were on one of the best runs of their cricketing history, England were batting Gary Ballance at number three and tossing the ball to Joe Root as their first change bowler.

Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan set things up brilliantly for Sri Lanka, the former scoring an imperious 112(104) at the Home of Cricket, having previously scored his first Test hundred there earlier the summer. A late comeback by England thanks to now forgotten pacer Harry Gurney restricted Sri Lanka to 300.

England, in their chase, were thrown into the abyss by Lasith Malinga whose fiery opening spell made sure they lost their way early in the pursuit, crawling to 5/111 in 28 overs. Out came Jos Buttler, and with him the pyromaniacs. He blinded the Sri Lankan bowlers with an all-out attack, scoring the then fastest hundred by an Englishman (61 balls), taking them to 12 runs shy of victory in the last over.

As if for a brilliant script's anti-climax, Malinga sent in dipping yorkers at ease, giving only four off the last over, ensuring another heartbreak for England.

#2 Antigua 2007, Sri Lanka won by 2 runs

ICC Cricket World Cup Super Eights - England v Sri Lanka

Yet another occasion where the two sides battled but the outcome was a clear image of the sides' respective long-run fortunes in that period. In the Super-Eight match, England were still dealing with the consequences of 'Fredalo' and an eerie spookiness haunted their camp, while Sri Lanka were emerging to be secret contenders for the trophy, with their consistency and ability to fight back.

Batting first on the slow and low track of North Sound, Sri Lanka crawled to 235, Upul Tharanga and Mahela Jayawardene making half-centuries to guide their side to respectability. Even though England had the services of the fluent bats of Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, Sri Lanka were not unfazed, well knowing of their own bowling prowess.

They proceeded to execute a classic strangle of the English line-up and had them at 6/133. But then Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara orchestrated a good fight back to take England within a few good hits of victory but Dilhara Fernando's mastery at the death, an anthology of awkwardly pitched deliveries to choke England two runs short of the target.

#1 Adelaide 1999, Sri Lanka won by 1 wicket

Sri Lanka v Eng ODI

t was one of those rare days in the 1990s when the English batting looked menacing. It was one of those days when the crowd enjoyed the novelty of belonging to no side and just engrossing in a great contest of cricket without worrying about loyalties. It was yet another thriller at a ground that has always been notorious for producing nail-biting encounters.

In the eighth match of the Carlton and United ODI series, England scored more in a one-day game more than they often did in a Test innings in Australia in that era. Graeme Hick's formidable 126(118), including four hits sailing over the ropes, set up England's massive haul of 302 runs. It was one of those days when even Sri Lanka's prime enforcer Chaminda Vass was carted around the park.

Till then only three higher chases had been successfully achieved in almost three decades of one-day cricket. But there was one person who did not conform much to conventions, Sanath Jayasuriya, whose quickfire 51(36) at the top of the order made Sri Lanka believe. While the rest of the top order crumbled under scoreboard pressure, Mahela Jayawardene played his breakout innings in the format, scoring 120(111), some of the finest of his 10k haul.

Farcical running by the Sri Lankan lower order gave England a sniff, but Alec Stewart having bowled out his specialist bowlers, had to throw the ball to the harmless medium pace of Vincent Wells, and Muralitharan and Wickramasinghe snuck their side home by two wickets and four balls in surplus to seal an epic victory after all seemed lost.