England started well, with the openers Gooch and Cook putting together a partnership of 109 runs before Cook was dismissed as England's first wicket. However, they lost their second and third wickets at 122, and despite a 38 run stand from Botham their scoring slowed down. England had to score 14 runs from the last two overs, with five of their wickets remaining. The English batsmen, in an attempt to score quickly, lost their sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth wickets in quick succession, all of them run out. With two balls remaining in the match, England's last batsman Bob Willis hit the ball high in the air, and was caught by Madugalle. The match ended in victory for Sri Lanka, with England just 3 runs short of their target.