Unnoticed things from Sri Lanka's batting in the 5th ODI vs England

Coming into this fifth and final ODI series, England have already won the series by a margin of 3-0. The first ODI of the series was washed away by rain. Though rain played spoilsport in the remaining three ODIs, England managed to win all those three ODIs courtesy DLS method and won the series.

The home team Sri Lanka went into the fifth ODI with nothing but to salvage some pride and they did so brilliantly with the bat in the first half of the game. The openers batted brilliantly followed by another superb partnership from captain Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis for the third wicket.

Sri Lanka finished with a massive 366 for 6 on the board in their quota of 50 overs.

Here are some of the statistical highlights from the first half of the fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and England at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

First 100+ opening wicket partnership in ODIs for Sri Lanka in 2018

Both Sri Lankan openers registered their respective half-centuries to help Sri Lanka register their maiden 100+ partnership for the first wicket in ODIs played in 2018. Samarawickrama scored 54 runs off 48 balls with 8 fours while Niroshan Dickwella fell in the nervous 90s - 95 runs off 97 balls with 12 balls.

This duo added 137 runs for the first wicket in just 19.1 overs before Moeen Ali cleaned up Samarawickrama with an off-spinner that turned just enough to dislodge the bails. On a lighter note, none of the fielders picked it up if the ball hit the stumps and that forced the standing umpire to take a review to check if the batsman is really bowled!

The 137-run stand between Samarawickrama and Dickwella is the first 100+ first wicket partnership in ODIs for Sri Lanka in 2018. The unbeaten 83* run stand between Upul Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka against Bangladesh in Dhaka is their best opening stand before this fifth ODI against England.

Maiden Fifty-plus score in ODIs for Kusal Mendis in 2018

Kusal Mendis

It was rather odd to notice that Kusal Mendis failed to score an ODI fifty in almost a year! However, he made it up with a brilliant counter-attacking half-century in the fifth ODI against England - 56 runs off just 33 deliveries with a four and 6 sixes. Before this ODI this year, a 38 against South Africa was his best score.

Mendis hit 6 sixes in his brilliant knock today. These are the most number of sixes hit by him in an ODI innings till date. His previous best was 5 sixes against West Indies during his 94-run knock at Bulawayo in 2016.

Surprisingly, Mendis was only out of from in the ODI format this year. In Tests in 2018, he scored 2 centuries and 2 half centuries with a best score of 196 to his name against Bangladesh. In T20Is in 2018, he scored four half-centuries with a best score of 70 against Bangladesh in February.

First time since 1998 that each of Sri Lanka's top-4 batsmen scored fifties

Dinesh Chandimal playing a shot

This was the third time each of Sri Lanka's top-4 batsmen scored half-centuries and the first time since April 1998. The three such instances for Sri Lanka - against Pakistan in 1997, against Pakistan in 1998, and against England in this game.

In this game against England at RPS Colombo, Niroshan Dickwella (95 runs), Sadeera Samarawickrama (54 runs), Dinesh Chandimal (80 runs) and Kusal Mendis (56 runs) all scored half-centuries to make this record after a gap of just over 20 years!

In the 1998 ODI game against Pakistan, Sanath Jayasuriya (57 runs), Romesh Kaluwitharana (54 runs), Aravinda de Silva (62 runs) and Arjuna Ranatunga (86 runs) all registered half century scores.

In the 1997 ODI against Pakiistan, Sanath Jayasuriya (96 runs), Marvan Atapattu (53 runs), Aravinda de Silva (90 runs) and Arjuna Ranatunga (80 runs) registered half century scores.

Zero ODI centuries for Sri Lanka in 2018

Angelo Mathews unbeaten 97* against South Africa is the best score for

a SL

player in ODIs in 2018

Sri Lanka have bagged an unwanted record this year in the ODI format. As per the current schedule, the fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and England will be the final ODI for Sri Lanka in 2018 and surprisingly none of their batsmen have registered a century this year in ODIs.

This is rather odd for a team like Sri Lanka and they want to really come out of this current pathetic situation as soon as possible. Last time Sri Lanka failed to score an ODI century in a calendar year was way back in the year 1991 - 81 runs was their best ODI score in that year.

Niroshan Dickwella (95 runs) and Dinesh Chandimal (80 runs) came close to scoring a century in the fifth ODI against England but they did just throw away their wickets with poor shots. Angelo Mathews had scored an unbeaten 97* runs against South Africa in August and that is the best score for Sri Lanka in ODIs in 2018.