England came out all guns blazing in Pallekele and outplayed Sri Lanka when it mattered the most. For most of the part, it looked Sri Lanka were ahead, but England and its spinners spun a web around the Sri Lankan batters who succumbed under pressure. England batted first after losing the toss and thanks to a half-century from Philip Salt and handy knocks from Will Jacks and Jamie Overton, they got to 146/9 in 20 overs. Dunith Wellalage picked up 3 wickets for the Lankans.
In reply, Sri Lanka were blown away by England all-round bowling as Will Jacks picked up 3 wickets while Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, and Jofra Archer picked up 2 wickets apiece as only Dasun Shanaka scored 30 runs off 24 balls in that game. England won by 51 runs to go top of Group 2.
Philip Salt’s fighting 62 takes England to a competitive 146/9
Put into bat first, Philip Salt and Jos Buttler came out to open the batting for England while Dilshan Madushanka had ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Salt started well by hitting a maximum but it was a struggle for Jos Buttler out there in the middle. He struggled for timing as the opening duo put on 16 for the first wicket before Buttler fell for 7 off 14 balls pinged in front to Dunith Wellalage. Jacob Bethell came out to bat next.
Salt continued to do the heavy lifting while Bethell took his time to get in. Bethell and Salt managed to put on 16 runs for the second wicket before Bethell fell for 3 off 4 balls to Maheesh Theekshana as another wicket fell in the powerplay. Tom Banton came out to bat next. The powerplay score for England was 37/2 in 6 overs.
Banton and Salt tried to forge a partnership and put on 17 runs for the third wicket before Banton was run out for 6 off 7 balls. Captain Harry Brook came out to bat next and he was quickly off the blocks scoring runs for fun. The duo of Salt and Brook put on 19 runs for the 4th wicket before Brook fell for 14 off 7 balls with one six to his name to Wellalage. Sam Curran came out to bat with England on 68/4 in 10 overs.
Curran and Salt then tried to rebuild things for England with Salt scoring a fighting fifty while Curran did his best as well. The duo put on a handy 26 run stand for the 5th wicket before Sam fell for 11 off 11 balls with one six to his name to Dushmantha Chameera. Will Jacks joined Salt in the middle. Salt really handled the innings really well. The duo of Salt and Jacks put on 12 runs for the 6th wicket before Salt fell for a well made 62 off 40 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Dunith Wellalage. Liam Dawson came out to bat next.
Jacks and Dawson added another quick stand of 18 runs for the 7th wicket before Dawson fell for 6 off 11 balls to Theekshana. Jamie Overton came out to bat next. Overton and Jacks added another quick stand of 11 runs before Jacks fell for a useful 21 off 14 balls with 4 fours to his name to Dilshan Madushanka. Jofra Archer came out to bat next. He came and went for a golden duck as Madushanka had two in two balls. Adil Rashid came out to bat and got off the mark next.
Overton added handy runs towards the end as he and Rashid added 11 runs to the tally as England finished with 146/9 in 20 overs with Overton unbeaten on 10 off 10 balls with one six to his name as Adil Rashid was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 5 extras given by the fielding side.
Sri Lankan bowled bowled really well out there. Dunith Wellalage was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26 in 4 overs. Dilshan Madushanka finished with 2/25 in 4 overs. Maheesh Theekshana finished with 2/21 in 4 overs. Dushmantha Chameera finished with 1/34 in 4 overs. Dushan Hemantha finished with 0/38 in 4 overs. So, this meant Sri Lanka needed 147 runs to win off 20 overs.
All-round bowling display led by Will Jacks skittle Sri Lanka out for 95 in 16.4 overs
Chasing 147 for the win, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara came out to open the batting for Sri Lanka while Jofra Archer had ball in hand for England. The opening duo of Sri Lanka also did not get going properly as they put on 15 runs for the first wicket before Nissanka fell for 9 off 8 balls with 2 fours to his name to Jofra Archer. Kusal Mendis came out to bat next and got off the mark soon. But wickets were now going to fall now. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Mendis fell for 4 off 4 balls with a boundary to his name to Will Jacks.
Pavan Rathnayake came out to bat next. But Jacks had two in two balls as Rathnayake went for a golden duck. Dunith Wellalage came out to bat next. Another wicket fell soon after as Mishara now fell for 6 off 11 balls with one boundary to his name to Archer yet again. Kamindu Mendis came out to bat next. Another wicket fell in the powerplay as Wellalage fell for 10 off 10 balls with 2 fours to his name to Jacks.
Dasun Shanaka came out to bat to join Kamindu in the middle as the damage was done in the end. The powerplay score was 34/5 in 6 overs for Sri Lanka. Kamindu and Shanaka tried to rebuild the proceedings for Sri Lanka. The duo added 18 runs for the 6th wicket before Kamindu fell for 13 off 11 balls with one four and one six to his name to Dawson. Dushan Hemantha came out to bat next. Shanaka and Hemantha added 17 runs for the 7th wicket before Hemantha fell for 5 off 8 balls hit wicket off Jamie Overton.
Dushmantha Chameera came out to bat next. The writing was on the wall by now and now Net Run rate was the matter in question now. Shanaka and Chameera added 13 more runs to the tally before the final nail in the coffin happened as Shanaka who played decently fell for 30 off 24 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Adil Rashid. Maheesh Theekshana came out to bat next.
Chameera and Theekshana tried to forge some sort of a partnership as they added 12 runs to the tally before Chameera fell for 6 off 13 balls as he was cleaned up Liam Dawson. Dilshan Madushanka came out to bat next. He did not last long as just one run was added to the tally before Madushanka fell for a silver duck to Rashid who finished things off in style. Theekshana was unbeaten on 10 off 8 balls with one four to his name as Sri Lanka were skittled out for 95 in 16.4 overs. 2 extras given by the fielding side.
Will Jacks was the pick of the bowler with figures of 3/22 in 4 overs. Liam Dawson finished with 2/27 in 4 overs. Jofra Archer finished with 2/20 in 3 overs. Adil Rashid finished with 2/13 in 3.4 overs. Jamie Overton finished with 1/13 in 2 overs. So, England wins this game easily by 51 runs. Will Jacks was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies AheadÂ
So, England wins this game by 51 runs and go top of Group 2 after the New Zealand Pakistan match was abandoned due to rain last night. Group 2 action will resume on Tuesday. For now, we switch to Group 1 and coming up next is a heavyweight battle between India and South Africa in Ahmedabad. The game is on the line and up for grabs. Let’s see how things go in that game.
Also Read:Â ICC T20 WC 2026: England Break The Back Bone Of Sri Lanka Batting.