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Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from England

LEEDS, YORKSHIRE, Wednesday - England captain Nasser Hussain picked India as the favourites to win the NatWest one-day series after Sri Lanka had suffered their third defeat in a row at Headingley here yesterday.

Spearheaded by skipper Sanath Jayasuriya's 12th one-day century, Sri Lanka put up a tremendous performance to stay in contention, but in the end, were defeated by England's cold and calculated approach in chasing 241 runs at 7.53 runs per over.

The defeat almost puts Sri Lanka out of the competition. If they are to reach the final, Sri Lanka will have to win their remaining three games and even then, may yet lose out on the greater number of group matches between teams in the event of finishing equal on points. Already England has defeated them twice and India once.

The defeat yesterday was one more disappointment for Sri Lanka in what has been an unproductive summer. Thwarted by foul weather in their preparations, they had not enjoyed a single day of dominance since asserting themselves in the first three days of the opening Test at Lord's.

"India has got a pretty good batting line up. With Sri Lanka if four or five wickets go down you think you're through, but with India with Yuvraj Singh coming at six or seven their batting line up is pretty strong. You cannot afford to give people like (Sachin) Tendulkar two or three chances you have to take the half chance they give. India are the favourites in the competition and the side to beat," said Hussain.

"We gave Jayasuriya too many chances. He played out of his skin and exceptionally well. Sanath was very clever. A huge wind was out there and he used it very well. He was always trying to hit down wind. A lot of his shots ended on that side of the field. He was very clever and he used the conditions very well. We can't afford to give him such chances because now he is running in the series," he said.

Jayasuriya who time and again had failed at the top of the order set the tone yesterday as his side underperformed. Although it was a losing cause Jayasuriya let England feel the full blast of his blade as he carved out a long overdue century and laid the foundation for what ought to have been a Sri Lankan win.

Hussain said that people built on Jayasuriya's innings and Marcus Trescothick's equally valuable contribution of 82 off 60 balls was almost forgotten.

"Trescothick's innings was important. He was simply forgotten because he seems to go about his business with such ease. He has taken his game to a very special level," he said.

Hussain said that partnerships were the key to their victory over Sri Lanka. "We never got to 9-10 runs an over and we were never behind. It was an important time to get a partnership going with only three wickets left. There was no slogging, it was good stroke play and they played really well. You have to give them credit for finishing well," said Hussain.

Paul Collingwood and Alec Stewart put on 66 off 54 balls for the seventh wicket after Trescothick had got out at 171 in the 22nd over.

"The defeat against India at Lord's really hurt because I thought we played better cricket for longer periods of the game. Today we didn't play that well for long periods and won. I suppose that is what one day cricket is all about, you just hang in there and making sure you got a chance at the end," said Hussain.

"It's getting harder in one day cricket. You can see from the scores that people are getting clever and clever. Even death bowling and yorker bowling is going the distance," he said.

England plays India in the fifth match of the competition at Chester-le-Street in Durham under lights tomorrow. Sri Lanka's next play back-to-back matches against India at Edgbaston (July 6) and against England at Old Trafford (July 7). Both are day games.

Natwest series standings P W L NR Pts NRR India 2 2 0 0 8 0.31 England 3 2 1 0 8 0.31 Sri Lanka 3 0 3 0 0 -0.58

Note: 4 points for a win and 2 points for a tie or no-result.

Highest individual score: 112 - S.T. Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka v England (Leeds)

Fastest hundred: 78 balls - S.T. Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka v England (Leeds)

Fastest fifty: 28 balls - A. Flintoff, England v Sri Lanka (Trent Bridge)

Best bowling: 3/39 - A.F. Giles, England v India (Lord's) 3/39 - Yuvraj Singh, India v England (Lord's)

Highest total: 293-6 (50 overs) - England v Sri Lanka (Trent Bridge)

Lowest total: 202-8 (50 overs) - Sri Lanka v India (Oval)

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