# 1998 Emirates Triangular Tournament

The Emirates Triangular Tournament was a One-day International cricket tri-series involving touring nations Sri Lanka and South Africa against each other and hosts England, in the 1998 international season which was seen as a prelude for the 1999 Cricket World Cup also hosted by England. Sri Lanka won the tournament by defeating England in the final, thanks to an unbeaten 132 by player of the tournament Marvan Atapattu.
These matches were the first official One-day Internationals played in England in coloured clothing, with England wearing light blue, South Africa in green and Sri Lanka in dark blue.

## Group Stage table

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | NR | T | Points | NRR |
| 1 | England | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +0.220 |
| 2 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | +0.210 |
| 3 | South Africa | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -0.430 |
| | ENG | SRI | RSA |
| England | XXX | W 36 runs | L 14 runs |
| Sri Lanka | L 36 runs | XXX | W 57 runs |
| South Africa | W 14 runs | L 57 runs | XXX |

### Table key

P = Games played W = Games won L = Games lost NR = Games with no result T = Games tied NRR = Net run rate

### Points system

Won = 2 points Lost = 0 points Tie or No result = 1 point Standard net run rate rules applied.

### Position deciders

The deciding factors, in order, on table position were:
* Total points
* Head-to-head result
* Net run rate

## Group Stage matches
### Match 1: South Africa v Sri Lanka

* August 14 (scorecard)
| Sri Lanka 258 (47.5 overs) | v | South Africa 201 (49 overs) |
| Arjuna Ranatunga 58 (91) Shaun Pollock 3/54 (8.5 overs) | | Pat Symcox 58 (87) Jonty Rhodes 54 (49) Pramodya Wickramasinghe 3/20 (7 overs) Kumar Dharmasena 3/41 (10 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 57 runs Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England Umpires: Barry Dudleston (ENG) and Peter Willey (ENG) Player of the match: Pramodya Wickramasinghe (SRI)

### Match 2: England v Sri Lanka

* August 16 (scorecard)
| England 247 (49.3 overs) | v | Sri Lanka 211 (49.3 overs) |
| Graeme Hick 86 (97) Alec Stewart 51 (67) Sanath Jayasuriya 3/36 (10 overs) | | Darren Gough 3/51 (10 overs) |
* England won by 36 runs Lord's Cricket Ground, London, England Umpires: Mervyn Kitchen (ENG) and Ken Palmer (ENG) Player of the match: Graeme Hick (ENG)

### Match 3: England v South Africa

* August 18 (scorecard)
| South Africa 244/7 (50 overs) | v | England 230 (48.5 overs) |
| Pat Symcox 51 (39) Darren Gough 3/43 (10 overs) | | Nick Knight 74 (114) Graeme Hick 64 (72) |
* South Africa won by 14 runs Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham, England Umpires: John Holder (WIN) and George Sharp (ENG) Player of the match: Pat Symcox (RSA)
Because England and Sri Lanka had the best run rates, they were ranked as the top two teams. England beat Sri Lanka and finished top of the group. South Africa's run rate meant they missed out on the final, despite having beaten England, and that a better run rate than Sri Lanka would have put them top of the table.

## Final

* August 20 Scorecard
| England 256/8 (50 overs) | v | Sri Lanka 260/5 (47.1 overs) |
| Nick Knight 94 (136) Muttiah Muralitharan 5/34 (10 overs) | | Marvan Atapattu 132* (151) Darren Gough 2/50 (10 overs) |
* Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets Lord's Cricket Ground, London, England Umpires: David Constant (Eng) and David Shepherd (Eng) Player of the match: Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)
* Alec Stewart (Eng) reached 3,000 runs in ODIs.
* Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) surpassed Joel Garner (WI) for best bowling figures at this venue (5/34).
Marvan Atapattu was named player of the tournament for his 356 run contribution to the victorious Sri Lankan side.