No love lost Mullally takes apart Sri Lanka; Stewart steers England to win Click here for more on this story Posted: Tuesday June 22, 1999 07:48 PM   Chaminda Vaas (left) celebrates after Alec Stewart was caught for 88 runs. Laurence Griffiths/Allsport LONDON (CNN/SI) -- Hosts England got off to picture book start to the World Cup, when it defeated Sri Lanka winners of the World Cup in 1996 by eight wickets, in the opening match of the tournament. England's captain finally came through for his team as he put together a knock of 88 runs to lead his team to victory. Graeme Hick hit an unbeaten 73, including two fours and two sixes before concluding the match with a six. England collected the first two point of the tournament as it cruised to victory at Lord's to leave the Sri Lankans needing three victories from four matches to avoid the possibility of an early trip home. England left-arm fast bowler Alan Mullally grabbed four vital wickets as the home team restricted the defending champions to 204 all out eight balls to spare. The Sri Lankans, the surprise stars of the 1996 championship, looked a dispirited team after this lopsided loss and will have to improve against South Africa, one of the tournament favorites, on Wednesday, with games against Zimbabwe, India and Kenya to come. England also took nine catches, Graham Thorpe and wicketkeeper Stewart catching three each and Graeme Hick collecting two before Stewart, who has struggled in one-day matches for the past nine months, led the run chase. Nasser Hussain helped the England captain put on 50 for the first wicket before he was superbly beaten by the spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and stumped by Romash Kaluwitharana for 14. Stewart, who had not hit a half-century since scoring 51 against Sri Lanka at Lord's in August, never looked in trouble this time and reaches h s 50 out of 83 in the 23rd over and shared another 50 partnership with Hick, the first 100 coming up inside 25 overs. By the time they completed their century partnership off 126 balls, England needed only 53 runs off 85 balls and were cruising to a victory which will give the team a major boost after a gloomy spell of one-day losses. Stewart was 12 runs short of his century when he was judged to have edged a catch to Kaluwitharana off the bowling of Chaminda Vass with England 30 runs from victory with 50 balls remaining. It was a good all-round performance by Stewart's team, the bowlers and fielders having excelled earlier in the day. Mullally, England's in-form bowler, took three wickets in his first seven-over spell before Sri Lanka recovered from 65 for five, due to a defiant 84-run stand between top scorer Romesh Kaluwitharana (57) and skipper Arjuna Ranatunga (32). He then returned in a second spell to snare the vital wicket of Kaluwitharana before finishing with figures of 4-37 off ten overs. Mark Ealham made the breakthrough, just when the pair looked like taking Sri Lanka to a formidable total, he removed Ranatunga at 149 for six. An outstanding catch by Nasser Hussain at point ended the threatening stand and in the space of three overs Sri Lanka was reduced to 155 for seven. Kaluwitharana, who was forced down the order to make room for Roshan Mahanama at the top, played a firebrand innings, racing to 50 off 52 balls with seven boundaries. He plundered 12 runs from two Andrew Flintoff overs. Ranatunga was happy to let his junior partner dominate, despite depositing off-spinner Graeme Hick in the MCC members' stand for a six. England came back strongly after the sixth wicket stand and Sri Lanka mustered only 55 runs from the last 14 overs. After losing the toss and sent into bat, Sri Lanka put on 42 runs before losing five wickets in a 30-minute period as England seized the upper-hand over the defending champions. Mahanama vindicated Sri Lanka's decision to open with him, as he provided solid hand in his alliance with Sanath Jayasuriya, who scored 29. But Mahanama, having made 16, was the first wicket to fall, getting a top edge off a Mullally delivery and was well caught by Graeme Hick, who took the ball running back from second slip. Ian Austin, opening the attack with Darren Gough, quickly removed Marvan Atapattu for three before Mullally claimed the wickets of Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva (0) in the space of seven balls. Both batsmen edged catches to the slip cordon as they failed to keep down disconcertingly bounced deliveries. Jayasuriya, playing his first match since breaking his arm against Australia in Perth early this year, was strangely subdued as he tried to come to terms with the pace of the pitch. The left-hander, voted the most valuable player of the last World Cup, struggled for 52 balls for his 29 runs and hit four boundaries. The Sri Lankan openers did well to last 11 overs against the seam and swing of Gough and Austin either side of a 15-minute break for a light shower. England Alec Stewart (captain), Nasser Hussain, Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe, Neil Fairbrother, Andrew Flintoff, Adam Hollioake, Mark Ealham, Ian Austin, Darren Gough, Alan Mullally. Sri Lanka Arjuna Ranatunga (captain), Sanath Jayasuriya, Roshan Mahanama, Marvan Atapattu, Aravinda de Silva, Hashan Tillekeratne, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pramodya Wickremasinghe, Erik Upashantha. Umpires: Srini Venkataraghavan (India) and Rudi Koertzen (South Africa). TV Umpire: David Orchard (South Africa). Match Referee: Cammie Smith (West Indies)   Related information Stories Sri Lanka returns to basics for World Cup opener England hopes to retain its composure Whatmore: Dismiss Sri Lanka at your peril Multimedia Graeme Hick wrapped up the victory for England. (1.01 M) Alan Mullally kept Sri Lanka on the ropes. (1.09 M) Click here for the latest audio and video Search our site Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call 1-888-53-CNNSI. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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