After a traumatic week for all concerned normal service was resumed at the R Premadasa Stadium. Sri Lanka cruised to an unremarkable and routine victory by eight wickets with 64 balls to spare. Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, a mere 815 caps between them, calmly knocked off the runs after the odd early uncertainty.  Anyone who has watched any Sri Lankan cricket over the past 15 years will know exactly how they did it. The target of 186 was nowhere near enough for them to break sweat. Towards the end only boredom was a threat, but this pair do not appear to get bored with guiding their country to victory.  It has rarely been so simple for the home side. After Alastair Cook had won the toss the England innings spluttered like an old charabanc on a cold November morning, but it never came to life. Ravi Bopara hit a dutiful half-century to avoid utter humiliation and Joe Root offered hope until he played all around a straight ball from Angelo Mathews. Even for these two it was always a struggle.  The teams were playing on the same pitch as on Wednesday but it now had different properties. The ball came off a tacky surface more slowly and it would sometimes grip for the spinners. Naturally, Mathews understood this. He reserved his so-called opening bowler, Dhammika Prasad, until the 32nd over, a devious option and increasingly it was apparent that it was also the bleeding obvious one.  In their 43 overs of a match reduced to 45 per side after morning rain, England managed eight boundaries, two of struck unwittingly from the edge of the bat and Cook hit three of those. Moeen Ali could not rediscover the magic of Wednesday and was soon bowled off his pads by a skidding Tillakaratne Dilshan off-break.  This brought England’s venerable pair, Cook and Ian Bell, together though they did not seem minded to bat like wily old men on this cloying surface. It may be that they have been reading the papers. There have been constant calls for greater dynamism at the top of the order. Given their experience they must have recognised that this was a grafting sort of surface.  Even so, they felt obliged to play high-risk shots against the spinners. In swift succession Bell was caught from a mishit drive against Rangana Herath, while Cook’s top-edge when sweeping against Dilshan was caught at deep-backward square leg.  From 37 for three it was always going to be a trial as Mathews happily juggled his four spinners. Eoin Morgan threatened something alongside Root until he pushed a drive into the hands of Lahiru Thirimanne at cover. Cook’s recent travails have tended to disguise Morgan’s lean trot. In his last 12 innings in ODI cricket he averages 17 – Cook averages 30 in that time.  This is not to suggest that Morgan, effectively the team’s vice-captain, should be ditched from any World Cup plans. He can be a match-winner and should be part of the squad. But he is not undroppable. Actually, no one should be undroppable.  England’s biggest partnership was the 42 added by Root and Bopara, a paltry number for any team hoping to win a game. There was no late flurry at the end so England’s bowlers were left with an almost impossible task.  Any crumbs of comfort for the tourists came from the fact that Steven Finn, returning to the side, bowled a little better than his figures suggest. He dismissed Kusal Perera courtesy of some extra bounce; Moeen induced a skier from the bat of Dilshan. Three men could have caught the ball but there was a moment when none seemed inclined until Chris Woakes took responsibility. Then the old firm gradually took control in an unbroken 149-run partnership with Sangakkara meticulous and Jayawardene occasionally magical.  Cook acknowledged a poor performance: “We set our sights too high as a batting unit; 250 would have given us a good chance.” His mood was not lightened when informed of the latest call for him to resign from Kevin Pietersen on Twitter. “It’s a good job I’m not on social media,” he said.
England’s batting let them down as they descended to a 2-0 series deficit against Sri Lanka, and seventh defeat in their last eight one-day internationals