Centurion Jayawardene leads Sri Lanka to victory

LONDON, (Reuters) – Mahela Jayawardene stroked an elegant 144 to propel Sri Lanka to a 69-run win over England as the tourists levelled the one-day series 1-1 at Headingley yesterday.
Jayawardene hit his highest ODI score off 150 balls as Sri  Lanka piled on the runs on a batsman-friendly wicket to finish  on 309 for five.

England initially threatened to chase down the daunting  target while Eoin Morgan smashed a 37-ball half-century but,  after he was out for 52, they struggled to find any momentum and  were all out for 240 with

Mahela Jayawardene

more than four overs to spare.

“This was a very good response from the boys — 310 was a  bonus, we thought 270 would be a good total,” man-of-the-match  Jayawardene told reporters in Leeds.

“It was important for us to get back into the series after  that first game.”
Sri Lanka began their innings carelessly, losing captain  Tillakaratne Dilshan (nine) and Dinesh Chandimal (five) to run  outs.