England held their nerves yet again and clinched the series 2-0 with a game to spare against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. England looked a determined lot and played the big moments better and the rain interruption also did not help their cause as well. They outplayed Sri Lanka when it mattered the most in big events. They put Sri Lanka into bat first and restricted the home side to 189/5 in 20 overs with Pavan Rathnayake scoring 40 and the top 3 scoring in the 30s while Jofra Archer picked up two wickets and the spinners bowled really well out there.
In reply, England lost Philip Salt and Jacob Bethell early as they were 57/2 in 7.2 overs when the weather intervened and after 75 minutes of play, the game resumed as a 17-over game and target was 168 for England. The visitors rode on unbeaten half-century from Tom Banton and handy 30s from Harry Brook and Jos Buttler while the finishing act came from Sam Curran as England got over the line in 16.4 overs winning by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare under the DLS method to seal the series 2-0 with a game to spare.
Pavan Rathnayake’s explosive 40 drives Sri Lanka to a competitive 189/5
Put into bat first, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara came out to open for Sri Lanka while Sam Curran had ball in hand for England. The openers got Sri Lanka off to a fast start in powerplay. Nissanka did the bulk of the scoring while Mishara was happy to play the second fiddle as they took the score past the 50-run mark. Sri Lanka almost went through the powerplay unscathed as the duo put on 56 in 5.3 overs before Nissanka dragged one back onto the stumps off Jofra Archer for 34 off 22 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Kusal Mendis came out to bat next.
Sri Lanka were 58/1 in 6 overs at the end of the powerplay. Mendis and Mishara started to go about their business and maintained a healthy run rate of around 10 runs an over as England struggled to keep things under check. The duo of Mishara and Mendis added exactly 50 runs for the second wicket before Mishara fell for 36 off 30 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Will Jacks. Pavan Rathnayake came out to bat next.
Mendis and Rathnayake maintained a good tempo as 22 runs were added by the duo before Mendis departed for a quickfire 32 off 17 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name to Liam Dawson. Captain Dasun Shanaka came out to bat next. But he did not last long as 3 runs were added to the score before Shanaka fell for 1 off 6 balls LBW to Adil Rashid. Charith Asalanka came out to bat next.
Rathnayake and Asalanka got together and aced the death overs phase and did well to add runs at a fair tempo. The duo of Rathnayake and Asalanka added another 50-run stand as they put on 56 off 36 balls with Asalanka being the aggressor of the two. Rathnayake got to 40 and with the score at 187 Rathnayake fell to Archer for 40 off 22 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name as a good innings came to an end.
Janith Liyanage came out to bat with 2 balls to go. The Lankans added two more in two balls as the hosts ended with 189/5 in 20 overs with Asalanka unbeaten on 28 off 22 balls with 4 fours to his name while Liyanage was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 17 extras given by the fielding side.
England bowled decently out there. Jofra Archer was expensive but picked up 2 wickets for 42 runs in 4 overs. Will Jacks finished with 1/24 in 4 overs. Liam Dawson finished with 1/32 in 4 overs. Adil Rashid was exceptional for his 1/25 in 4 overs. Sam Curran gave away 31 runs in 2 overs while Jamie Overton gave away 30 runs in 2 overs. This meant that England needed 190 runs to win the contest in 20 overs and seal the series 2-0 with one game to spare.
Tom Banton’s unbeaten half-century takes England over the line in rain affected game
Chasing 190 initially in 20 overs, Philip Salt and Jos Buttler the keeper batter came out to open for England while Matheesha Pathirana had ball in hand for Sri Lanka. Buttler was on the charge as he hit two boundaries off Pathirana before the bowler hit back by getting rid of Salt for 1 off 2 balls. Jacob Bethell came out to bat next. Bethell and Buttler got in and put on 28 for the second wicket before Bethell fell for 13 off 11 balls with 2 fours to his name to Dasun Shanaka. Tom Banton came out to bat next.
After 6 overs of powerplay at that time, England were 51/2. The duo carried on and took the score to 57/2 in 7.2 overs chasing 190 when the rain intervened and players went off the field and the DLS par score was 69 at that point with Sri Lanka ahead in the game. The rain relented and we resumed after 75 minutes and the match was reduced to 17 overs a game and the revised target was 168 in 17 overs. So, they needed 111 off 58 balls on resumption of play.
Buttler and Banton resumed with Eshan Malinga injuring himself and going off the field as well. Buttler looked good and so did Banton. The duo put on 43 runs for the third wicket before Buttler fell for 39 off 29 balls with 6 fours to his name. Captain Harry Brook came out to bat next and was a man on the mission. Brook decided to take the bowling and take the pressure off Banton which he did successfully.
Banton tore apart Pathirana by going over covers and mid-off for the maximum. He took the game away from the opposition as the duo of Brook and Banton complimented each other well and fair to say thanks to loose bowling took the game away from Sri Lanka. The duo put on an important 49-run stand for the 4th wicket before Harry Brook who hit two sixes off Pathirana got out to him for 36 off 12 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes to his name as Brook had done his job.
Sam Curran came out to bat with 38 needed to win off 27 balls. Banton put on a stellar show as Sam took his time to get in before finishing the job. Banton who may have dropped two catches in the field more than made up with the bat. Banton held the innings together and guided the chase as they had total control of the chase while Curran also got a decent workout in the middle. The duo made sure there were no more hiccups and took their side over the line.
They put on an unbroken 43 run stand for the 5th wicket off 25 balls to seal the win and series as England got over the line by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare under the DLS method. Banton remained unbeaten on 54 off 33 balls while Sam Curran remained unbeaten on 20 off 14 balls with one four and one six to his name as England finished with 173/4 in 16.4 overs with 10 extras given by the fielding side with Curran finishing things off with the maximum.
Sri Lankan bowlers tried but could not get the job done in the end. Matheesha Pathirana picked up 2 wickets and finished with 2/47 in 4 overs. Dasun Shanaka the captain finished with 1/24 in 3 overs. Dunith Wellalage finished with 1/30 in 3 overs. Eshan Malinga bowled 1.2 overs for 6 runs before going off injured. Wanindu Hasaranga finished with disappointing figures of 0/44 in 4 overs. Janith Liyanage finished with 0/18 in 1.2 overs. So, England win by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare under the DLS method. Tom Banton was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead.Â
England have sealed the series 2-0 with a game to spare. The 3rd and final T20I will be played at the same venue in Pallekele where it is the last game for both teams before the World Cup as both teams aim to fine tune and iron out a few areas. England will aim to seal the series 3-0 while Sri Lanka will aim to play for pride and make it 1-2 in the series.
Let’s see how things pan out in the third match on Tuesday night in Pallekele.
Also Read: SL vs ENG: Pavan Rathnayake’s Explosive Knock Enables Sri Lanka Post A Competitive 189/5