England are punished for failing to follow Cook's lead

(GETTY)

England are in trouble. The depth of their difficulty was disguised but could not be concealed by their captain Alastair Cook's second one-day hundred yesterday.

Cook played with typical fortitude and offered a vigorous retort to those who suggested he was not the man for the job. But the side he leads succumbed to their second successive defeat in the one-day series against Sri Lanka.

England were defeated by six wickets, the sort of margin that was almost inevitable after their total of 246 for 7 in conditions that demanded and deserved at least 30 runs more. That England confounded their felony by being too imprecise, especially in length, eased Sri Lanka's task.

Mahela Jayawardene was again in sumptuous touch, caressing 79 runs in 77 balls before, mind-bogglingly, he sliced a long hop to point.

Dinesh Chandimal, who may one day assume Jayawardene's mantle, saw it through, which was particularly valiant considering that England peppered him with short stuff attempting to exploit a palpable weakness.

Chandimal reached his hundred with his second six but, whatever the significance of the milestone, it was missing the point.

England must begin addressing their batting order and perhaps the selectors should make that an order. Cook's 119 from 143 balls, which included 13 fours and 57 singles, was adequately paced but he lacked competent support for any length of time.

After the first 10 overs, a crucial part of any one-day innings, England were 32 for 2, Sri Lanka 61 for 1. The figures tell their own story. Briefly, when Kevin Pietersen was in, making 41 from a partnership of 49 with Cook for the third wicket, there was a chance that England might set a target which, if not exacting, might not be a doddle.

Cook probably suspected the worst and will have known that England needed early wickets to try to undermine Sri Lanka's challenge. It meant that they had to go searching for them and, perhaps in doing so, they lost a little of the discipline. It was all to Jayawardene's liking and he romped graciously to his 50 from 45 balls, playing exclusively authentic shots.