England thrashes Sri Lanka by 10 wickets with 10.5 overs to spare

England thrashes Sri Lanka by 10 wickets with 10.5 overs to spare

A record opening stand powered England to an irresistible devastating victory over Sri Lanka  in the second ODI in  the Royal London series against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham to take a 1-0

lead in the 5 match ODI series, the first been tied.

Alex Hales 133* and Jason Roy 112* both hammered ruthless centuries as England completed a ten-wicket win with 95 balls remaining. In just 34.1 overs. This was England’s sixth such triumph in their ODI history and the highest score against which any side has achieved it without losing a wicket. It was the fifth time Sri Lanka has been defeated by ten wickets in an ODI.

Their stand was not only a record for England's opening pair - eclipsing Vikram Solanki and Marcus Tresocthick's 200 partnership against South Africa in 2003 - but the highest for any wicket in ODI’s by two England batsmen. Previously, Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott - who had added 250 together against Bangladesh here in year 2010 .

England has suffered frequently against Sri Lankan in ODI cricket. Apart from the 2006 ODI series which Sri Lanka won 5-0 - including overhauling England by an imposing 321 at Leeds with 12-and-a-half overs to spare - there have been memorable, and critical, defeats in the last two World Cups. The head to head tally of 66 matches now stands at Sri Lanka 34 England 31 and 1 tied.