Hosts Sri Lanka went down fighting against England in the second T20I at Pallekele. They had their moments but could not quite seize the big moments and felt the price in the end. Rain interruption didn’t help as after the rain break the ball got wet and the chase became easier. It was a better performance from Sri Lanka but still not enough to boss England. There were a few areas where the Sri Lankans lacked and we will list it out for you.
Inability to score more against spinners in middle phase pegged Sri Lanka slightly.Â
Sri Lanka were put into bat and started well in the powerplay as the likes of Kamil Mishara and Pathum Nissanka made sure they score 58 runs in 6 overs for the loss of one wicket. But things changed a little when the spinners came onto the attack as the scoring rate dropped and Sri Lanka lost three wickets in that middle phase as well. But they tied Sri Lanka down.
The trio of Adil Rashid, Will Jacks and Liam Dawson put the brakes on the scoring for Sri Lanka in the middle phase. They may have picked up one wicket apiece only but gave away 81 runs in 12 overs and picked up 3 wickets and it shows the run rate scored is below 7 runs an over. This is the kind of impact they made while the pacers leaked runs and so they were kept under 200 due to these three spinners’ effort.
To put things into perspective, Sri Lanka were 58/1 in 6 overs and then gotten themselves to 139/4 in 15 overs scoring 81 runs in the middle phase of 9 overs for the loss of 3 wickets. Sri Lanka managed to get 50 runs off the last 5 overs and that elevated the score to 189/5. But one felt considering that Sri Lanka were 102/2 in 10 overs, 200 should have been bare minimum. But they left 20-30 runs in the field. Sri Lanka needs to play the English spinners better as numbers have shown their struggles against spin at home and those must improve with World Cup ahead of us.
Underperformance of Wanindu Hasaranga continues to haunt Sri Lanka
Defending 189, Sri Lanka managed to get two early wickets and had England at 57/2 in 7.2 overs when rain intervened in which DLS par score was 69 and England were behind the game. But after 75 minutes, when the game resumed as a 17-over a side contest, England’s target was 168 in 17 overs and needed 111 runs off 58 balls under revised playing conditions. But when play resumed, Sri Lanka lost Eshan Malinga due to injury and the ball was wet. They would have hoped Wanindu Hasaranga the experienced campaigner and wicket-keeper would stand up but it was not to be.
Wanindu Hasaranga did not get a chance to bat but he was not in his elements with ball in hand. He is having more off-days than good days at the moment. He should have used his experience to good effect and give Sri Lanka breakthroughs but it was not to be for him. He bowled too many loose balls and England batters like Tom Banton and Harry Brook the captain climbed onto him big time. They just tore him apart and he went wicketless and was expensive as well going for 44 runs. He is Sri Lanka’s premier match-winner and must shine if Sri Lanka wants to do well.
Sri Lanka will be hoping that in the remaining game against England, Hasaranga gets his mojo back because Sri Lanka will need the best of Hasaranga in the T20 World Cup 2026. If he performs well, Sri Lanka will challenge any side. If not, they will continue to struggle as they are doing at this stage. At the moment, England spinners are out bowling and outperforming Hasaranga which is a matter of grave concern for him and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan top 3 getting starts but not converting them to significant scores
Another notable thing to consider and reflect for Sri Lanka was when they came out to bat, a lot of batters gets starts and 30s but no one goes onto convert that to say a 50 or 60 or beyond. They are satisfied with 30s that they get because in T20 a 30 is celebrated as an achievement. In this game, the top 3 got excellent starts and looked in good order before they gave their wickets away by holding out in the deep. This is an area to look into as well.
Pathum Nissanka started the carnage in powerplay and scored 34 off 22 balls before dragging a delivery off Archer back into the stumps. Kamil Mishara looked good for his 36 off 30 balls before he fell to Will Jacks. Kusal Mendis batting at 3, came out solid out of the blocks and scored a quickfire 32 off 17 balls and was looking dangerous before he too fell to Liam Dawson. Pavan Rathnayake played well at 4 on his return to the side and scored an enterprising 40 off 22 balls.
No one could play the innings Tom Banton played as he converted the start to a 50+ score and stayed till the end to ensure England gets over the line with 2 balls left in DLS method. Sri Lanka needed one of their top 3 to play a long innings and that could have taken the score beyond 200 which may have created extra pressure on England. But that was not to be as England won the game quite comfortably in the end. Sri Lanka will look to address this issue before the final T20I takes place on Tuesday night.
What Lies Ahead
So, England have won the series 2-0 with one game to spare. The third and final T20I of this series will take place at Pallekele on Tuesday 3rd February from 7 PM IST onwards and local time. England will look to keep the momentum going and clean sweep the series 3-0 while Sri Lanka will aim to play for pride and end the series on a high with a 1-2 score-line. Which way is this clash going to go? Find out tomorrow evening in Pallekele.
Let’s see how the third T20I pans out and we hope the rain stays away from this clash for good.
Also Read: SL vs ENG: 3 Reasons For Sri Lanka’s Crushing Loss In 1st T20I