Five-wicket Curran savours 'pure elation' in England win

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) Sam Curran said he felt�pure elation” after a maiden five-wicket haul for England set up a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka at his Oval home ground on Thursday. The Surrey left-arm paceman took 5-48 after sparking a top-order collapse before England made easy work of chasing down a target of 242 to take the second one-day international by eight wickets. Victory put the 50-over world champions 2-0 up in a three-match campaign. Curran’s return was not only the 23-year-old’s first five-wicket return in international cricket but also his first in 164 professional white-ball matches. A crowd of some 14,000 cheered on the local hero as the Oval welcomed back both England — and England spectators — for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.�It was really special, such a good moment that I can’t really describe it,” player-of-the-match Curran told reporters. �It’s pure elation and enjoyment. I had a few family and friends here so I’m just happy with how it went.�We’ve played a lot of cricket in front of empty stadiums for obvious reasons, so to be back in front of a home crowd at the Oval gave it that extra buzz. It’s one of my favourite grounds in the world and I showed that today.” Curran dismissed three members of Sri Lanka’s top order in his first two overs with the new ball as the tourists slumped to 21-4. But Dhananjaya de Silva’s run ball 91 saw them recover to 241-9, with David Willey supporting fellow left-armer Curran by taking 4-64. England made light of their chase, with Curran’s county colleague Jason Roy contributing 60 before captain Eoin Morgan (75 not out) and Joe Root (68 not out) sealed victory with seven overs to spare. Morgan’s innings was his first fifty in 16 innings in all international cricket. Morgan, meanwhile, indicated England would field an altered XI for tomorrow’s series finale in Bristol, with Sussex all-rounder George Garton pressing for an international debut. Brief scores: England 244 for 2 (Morgan 75*, Root 68*, Roy 60) beat Sri Lanka 241 for 9 (Dhananjaya 91, Shanaka 47, S. Curran 5-48, Willey 4-64) by eight wickets MENAFN02072021000067011011ID1102383545