They opened the scoring in their final Group A match through Ronald Gomez's

They opened the scoring in their final Group A match through Ronald Gomez's 20-yard free-kick but Poland hit back for a 2-1 victory thanks

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They opened the scoring in their final Group A match through Ronald Gomez's 20-yard free-kick but Poland hit back for a 2-1 victory thanks to a double from Bartosz Bosacki.. In charge of England, Sven Goran Eriksson has specialised in performances that defy comprehension, games that come with triumph and despair in equal measure and last night was his defining act. England won Group B but lost Michael Owen to a horrific injury. Their first half was uplifting, their second almost disastrous They are not making life simple for themselves. Ecuador await in the knock-out round in Stuttgart on Sunday and the South Americans may argue that while they are the relative unknown quantity, England under Eriksson are truly unknowable. Even after Owen made his heartbreaking two-yard crawl over the touchline in the first minute, dragging behind him a damaged right knee, this was an England performance that stirred the blood and was adorned by a brilliant goal by Joe Cole Then they collapsed..

"Dutch World Cup shock: no splits." In one tournament after another, the Netherlands squad have been riven by divisions Thirty years back it was Amsterdam against Rotterdam A decade ago there were allegations of a racial rift. Sangakkara's 50: 57 min, 40 balls, 5 fours, 1 six.EnglandM E Trescothick c Dilshan b Malinga 9 6 min, 8 balls, 2 foursA J Strauss c Muralitharan b Maharoof 18 42 min, 23 balls, 2 foursI R Bell c Muralitharan b Malinga 40 91 min, 50 balls, 4 fours, 1 sixK P Pietersen b Jayasuriya 73 100 min, 76 balls, 9 fours, 1 sixP D Collingwood b Jayasuriya 56 77 min, 62 balls, 2 foursJ W M Dalrymple st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya 37 48 min, 34 balls, 2 fours, 1 six? O Jones c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 8 9 min, 10 ballsT T Bresnan not out 11 19 min, 9 balls, 1 sixS I Mahmood run out (Sangakkara) 4 3 min, 4 balls, 1 fourL E Plunkett run out (Dilshan) 3 3 min, 3 ballsS J Harmison run out (Sangakkara-Muralitharan) 2 5 min, 3 ballsExtras (lb5 w5, nb2) 12Total (206 min, 46.4 overs) 273Fall: 1-10 (Trescothick) 2-48 (Strauss) 3-116 (Bell) 4-176 (Pietersen) 5-222 (Collingwood) 6-235 (Jones) 7-253 (Dalrymple) 8-258 (Mahmood) 9-263 (Plunkett) 10-273 (Harmison).Bowling: Vaas 8-0-42-0 (6-0-32-0, 1-0-7-0, 1-0-3-0); Malinga 8-0-45-2 (w2) (4-0-21-1, 1-0-4-0, 2-0-10-1, 1-0-10-0); Maharoof 7-0-39-1 (nb1) (4-0-20-1, 3-0-19-0); Perera 5-0-40-0 (nb1 w1) (1-0-11-0, 1-0-10-0, 3-0-19-0); Muralitharan 9.4-0-51-1 (w1) (6-0-24-0, 1-0-5-0, 2.4-0-22-1); Jayasuriya 9-0-51-3 (w1) (one spell).Progress: Power play 1 (overs 1-10): 49-2 PP2 (overs 11-15): 84-2 PP3 (overs 16-20): 117-3 50: 47 min, 63 balls 100: 90 min, 113 balls 150: 123 min, 157 balls 200: 164 min, 219 balls. 300: 200 min, 276 balls.Jayasuriya's 50: 95 min, 68 balls, 5 fours, 1 six 100: 154 min, 122 balls, 11 fours, 2 sixes Jayawardene's 50: 85 min, 50 balls, 3 fours, 1 six. But it is hard to believe the footballers will do the same to watch highlights of this.The Oval scoreboardSri Lanka won tossSri LankaW U Tharanga c Trescothick b Harmison 17 35 min, 30 balls, 2 foursS T Jayasuriya c Bresnan b Harmison 122 173 min, 136 balls, 15 fours, 2 sixes*D P M D Jayawardene run out (Bell-Dalrymple) 66 102 min, 62 balls, 5 fours, 1 six? C Sangakkara c Pietersen b Mahmood 51 58 min, 41 balls, 5 fours, 1 sixT M Dilshan b Bresnan 9 13 min, 11 balls, 1 fourR P Arnold c Strauss b Harmison 5 14 min, 8 ballsM F Maharoof run out (Collingwood) 0 1 min, 0 ballsW P U C J Vaas c Jones b Mahmood 13 12 min, 9 balls, 2 foursL S Malinga not out 2 10 min, 3 ballsM Muralitharan not out 1 1 min, 1 ballExtras (b4 lb7 w21 nb1) 33Total (for 8, 213 min, 50 overs) 319Fall: 1-34 (Tharanga) 2-194 (Jayawardene) 3-259 (Jayasuriya) 4-283 (Dilshan) 5-298 (Sangakkara) 6-298 (Maharoof) 7-304 (Arnold) 8-317 (Vaas).Did not bat: P D R L Perera.Bowling: Harmison 10-2-31-3 (w2) (6-2-9-1, 1-0-4-0, 2-0-13-1, 1-0-5-1); Plunkett 8-0-58-0 (w2) (4-0-26-0, 2-0-19-0, 2-0-13-0); Bresnan 6-0-38-1 (w4) (3-0-12-0, 1-0-11-0, 2-0-15-1); Mahmood 7-0-80-2 (nb1 w5) (2-0-26-0, 3-0-33-0, 2-0-21-2); Collingwood 5-0-30-0 (w1) (3-0-20-0, 2-0-10-0); Dalrymple 10-0-45-0 (w4) (3-0-14-0, 7-0-31-0); Pietersen 4-0-26-0 (w3) (one spell).Progress: Power play 1 (overs 1-10): 42-1 PP2 (overs 11-15): 78-1 PP3 (overs 21-25): from 112-1 to 144-1 50: 52 min, 74 balls 100: 83 min, 112 balls 150: 110 min, 153 balls 200: 144 min, 202 balls 250: 170 min, 251 balls. When they do it could become embarrassing.After the defeat the England team hastily left the Oval to watch the football. The 22 wides England bowled in Saturday's defeat ensured the attack received plenty of criticism prior to this game, and their discipline, with the exception of Harmison and Dalrymple, was little better here.Plunkett, Bresnan and Mahmood were guilty of bowling two lengths - short and full - both sides of the wicket.

When bowlers perform like this it is impossible for a captain to set a field, and Strauss, again, looked a forlorn figure attempting to maintain control.After 30 overs Sri Lanka, on 190 for 1, looked set to score far more than 319 and England, for the second consecutive game, were grateful that the tourists' lower order failed to make the most of a good start. Sri Lanka had obviously planned to target him and in his second over Jayasuriya cut the seamer for a four and a six.The Oval pitch suits Jayasuriya's fearless batting - he scored 213 here against England in 1998 - but even he had to work hard against Stephen Harmison, who bowled an excellent six-over spell with the new ball that conceded just nine runs. Harmison and Dalrymple were the only England bowlers to be treated with respect by the Sri Lankans, who launched a savage assault on the rest.Strauss rotated his bowlers and delayed the introduction of the third "powerplay" - a five-over period where only two fielders are permitted to be positioned outside the 30-yard circle - in an effort to regain control but it made no difference.Keeping a player of Jayasuriya's class quiet on an excellent pitch and fast outfield is a challenge for any bowler, but the wayward nature of England's three young seamers did not help. Mahmood must have sensed that it was not going to be his day when Jayawardene clipped the second ball of his opening over for six and hacked the next through the covers for four.

The pair struck battling half-centuries before being bowled by Jayasuriya, the man of the match. Jamie Dalrymple gave further evidence of his ability with a quickfire 37 but, with the required run rate constantly rising, risks needed to be taken and wickets inevitably tumbled.If England are to have any chance of winning next year's World Cup in the West Indies they need to be capable of chasing down totals of this size, but the reason for their defeat lay, once again, with the bowlers.Sajid Mahmood, who conceded 80 runs in seven unremarkable overs, had a day to forget, and Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan leaked 95 runs in the 14 overs they shared. Jayasuriya's hundred, his 20th - the entire England team have 18 - allowed the tourists to post 319, a record against England. Surpassing a total of this size was always going to be a huge challenge for England yet they looked capable of pushing Sri Lanka close while Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood were together. And while I'm preaching, more tolerance for others would also be nice.MORAY McCONNACHIEOXFORD Green bearskins Sir: It is suggested (letter, 19 June) that the Conservative Party is not environmentally friendly when it supports the idea that military bearskins should be real rather than made of "more modern materials".

The loss gave Sri Lanka a 2-0 lead in the five-match series and sent England crashing to their 12th one-day reverse in 16 matches. Inexperience is a constant excuse for England's woeful limited-over form and it was Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka's most capped player, who dominated with a brilliant 120 and three valuable wickets. Then the judge gave his verdict, and horse and trainer meekly entered the winner's enclosure, a pair of old friends immune to the gaze of 55,000 astonished observers. Janiak wrapped his arms round the neck of the fastest horse in the world, and nobody intruded on the moment until he was quite ready.. England's one-day misery continued here yesterday when they fell to a 46-run defeat by Sri Lanka in the second NatWest series match of the summer. After forcing a photo-finish with Benbaun, his coat was matted with sweat, like some tinker's cob on a hot day in Finglas.

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They opened the scoring in their final Group A match through Ronald Gomez's 20-yard free-kick but Poland hit back for a 2-1 victory thanks

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