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

\| {\| class="wikitable" ! Pos ! Team ! P ! W ! L ! NR ! T ! Points ! NRR
align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"	1 \| align="left" \| {{cr\|ENG}}	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.220
align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc"	2 \| align="left" \| {{cr\|SRI}}	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.210
align="center"	3 \| align="left" \| {{cr\|RSA}}	2	1	1	0	0	2	-0.430

align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; text-align: center" class="wikitable"
style="background:#F0F0F0;" !align="left"\| !!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

align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; text-align: center" class="wikitable"

style="background:#F0F0F0;"

!align="left"| !!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=

{{Limited overs international

| date = August 14

| team1 = {{cr-rt|SRI}}

| score1 = 258 (47.5 overs)

| score2 = 201 (49 overs)

| team2 = {{cr|RSA}}

| runs1 = Arjuna Ranatunga 58 (91)

| wickets1 = Shaun Pollock 3/54 (8.5 overs)

| runs2 = Pat Symcox 58 (87)
Jonty Rhodes 54 (49)

| wickets2 = Pramodya Wickramasinghe 3/20 (7 overs)
Kumar Dharmasena 3/41 (10 overs)

| result = {{cr|SRI}} won by 57 runs

| report = [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/66/66338.html (scorecard)]

| venue = Trent Bridge, Nottingham, England

| umpires = Barry Dudleston (ENG) and Peter Willey (ENG)

| motm = Pramodya Wickramasinghe (SRI)

| rain =

}}

=Match 2: England v Sri Lanka=

{{Limited overs international

| date = August 16

| team1 = {{cr-rt|ENG}}

| score1 = 247 (49.3 overs)

| score2 = 211 (49.3 overs)

| team2 = {{cr|SRI}}

| runs1 = Graeme Hick 86 (97)
Alec Stewart 51 (67)

| wickets1 = Sanath Jayasuriya 3/36 (10 overs)

| runs2 =
Darren Gough 3/51 (10 overs)

| wickets2 =

| result = {{cr|ENG}} won by 36 runs

| report = [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/66/66342.html (scorecard)]

| venue = Lord's Cricket Ground, London, England

| umpires = Mervyn Kitchen (ENG) and Ken Palmer (ENG)

| motm = Graeme Hick (ENG)

| rain =

}}

=Match 3: England v South Africa=

{{Limited overs international

| date = August 18

| team1 = {{cr-rt|RSA}}

| score1 = 244/7 (50 overs)

| score2 = 230 (48.5 overs)

| team2 = {{cr|ENG}}

| runs1 = Pat Symcox 51 (39)

| wickets1 = Darren Gough 3/43 (10 overs)

| runs2 = Nick Knight 74 (114)
Graeme Hick 64 (72)

| wickets2 =

| result = {{cr|RSA}} won by 14 runs

| report = [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/66/66344.html (scorecard)]

| venue = Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham, England

| umpires = John Holder (WIN) and George Sharp (ENG)

| motm = Pat Symcox (RSA)

| rain =

}}

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

{{Limited overs international

| date = August 20

| team1 = {{cr-rt|ENG}}

| score1 = 256/8 (50 overs)

| score2 = 260/5 (47.1 overs)

| team2 = {{cr|SRI}}

| runs1 = Nick Knight 94 (136)

| wickets1 = Muttiah Muralitharan 5/34 (10 overs)

| runs2 = Marvan Atapattu 132* (151)

| wickets2 = Darren Gough 2/50 (10 overs)

| result = Sri Lanka won by 5 wickets

| report = [https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/emirates-triangular-tournament-1998-61030/england-vs-sri-lanka-final-66161/full-scorecard Scorecard]

| venue = Lord's Cricket Ground, London, England

| umpires = David Constant (Eng) and David Shepherd (Eng)

| motm = Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)

| rain =

| notes = Alec Stewart (Eng) reached 3,000 runs in ODIs.{{cite news |last1=Thawfeeq |first1=Sa'adi |title=Emirates Final: Sri Lanka v England |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998/OD_TOURNEYS/ETT/SCORECARDS/ENG_SL_ETT_FINAL_20AUG1998_DAILY_MR.html |access-date=26 March 2023 |work=The Daily News |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |date=20 August 1998}}

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.

References

Sources

[http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/ENG/1998_ENG_Emirates_Triangular_Tournament_1998.html CricketArchive]
[http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Events/ENG/Emirates_Triangular_Tournament_1998/Team_Averages.html CricketArchive: ODI series averages]
[http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1998/OD_TOURNEYS/ETT/ Cricinfo]

1998 Emirates Triangular Tournament

Group Stage table

=Table key=

=Points system=

=Position deciders=

Group Stage matches

=Match 1: South Africa v Sri Lanka=

=Match 2: England v Sri Lanka=

=Match 3: England v South Africa=

Final

References

Sources

See also