LIAM PLUNKETT hit the final ball for a six to tie the first ODI with Sri Lanka

Liam Plunkett weighed when England wanted 30 off the last two overs. The next over – the 49^th – was the most productive of England’s innings, but that still left 14 off the last, to be bowled by Nuwan Pradeep with a steady supply of yorkers. Chasing 287 for victory, Buttler played match winning inning for england and remind what a talent and he will secure his place in test cricket and he may got a Test recall for the series against Pakistan next month. Buttler 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. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler scored 93 and Chris Woakes made a brilliant 95 not out to snatch a share of the spoils. 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. But, Buttler and Woakes 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. After , Woakes took over the leading role 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. Woakes, too, continued his fine form from the Test series. Earlier, England showed confidence to play with two spinners 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 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 in the middle overs Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal dug in adding 64 for the fourth wicket then Seekkugge 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.