1st ODI: Liam Plunkett’s last ball six helps England settle for a draw against Sri Lanka

Jos Buttler guided England with a brilliant 93. Twitter
Jos Buttler guided England with a brilliant 93. Twitter

Internet Desk: Liam Plunkett’s final ball six gave England a draw against Sri Lanka in the first ODI at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler scored 93 and Chris Woakes made a brilliant 95 not out to snatch a share of the spoils.

Chasing 287 for victory, Buttler produced an innings of real quality to not only to remind what a talent he is but further his ambitions of a Test recall for the series against Pakistan next month.

Buttler, who was dropped from the Test side last November when Jonny Bairstow grabbed the gloves, came to the wicket with the ship sinking at 30-4 after the top order walked into an ambush early.

But, first in company with Eoin Morgan, the pair adding 42, and then with Woakes with whom he shared a 138-run partnership for the seventh wicket, he dragged them to within 67 runs of victory before holing out at long-on.

Until Buttler departed England had looked on course to reach their target, but his exit, with 67 needed from 45 balls, took away a chunk of belief and a degree of calm from the chase.

Woakes took over the leading role and with Plunkett (22 not out) kept the crowd on the edge of their seats. He claimed the highest England ODI score for a number eight batsman.

This was a reality check for England who have had little trouble dealing with the Sri Lankan threat over the course of the last seven weeks in the Test series.

But there were positives to take, not least of which the form of Buttler, who has responded to being dropped from the Test side in November last year in a positive fashion.

Woakes, too, continued his fine form from the Test series.

England had gathered confidence beforehand opting for two spinners in Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid ahead of Steve Finn and Chris Jordan and electing to bowl first.

And they got off to a decent start with David Willey sending both openers packing with slower balls which had the batsmen through their shots too early.

When Woakes got in on the act, bouncing out Kusal Mendis to leave Sri Lanka 56-3, it looked a case of just picking up where they left off at Lord’s.

But the middle overs proved a less fertile hunting ground as Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal dug in adding 64 for the fourth wicket then Seekuge Prasanna came up with the match-winning performance.

The 30-year-old all-rounder had served notice of what the could do against Ireland last Saturday, smashing 95 from 46 balls including nine sixes, in doing so coming agonisingly close to Sanath Jayasuriya’s 48-ball Sri Lankan record.

Here he started with 14 in 14 balls then unleashed, plundering 44 in his next 12 deliveries with four maximums to score 59 before mistiming a pull to Woakes off his own bowling.

England’s top order stumbled into the ambush, slumping to 17-3, then 72-5 when Morgan fell, and 82-6 when Moeen Ali dragged one on.