Captain Harry Brook played a blinder and scored 136 unbeaten off 66 balls to take the game away from England. Harry Brook was a man possessed and finished things off for England in the death overs and it was Joe Root who held the innings together with his 20th ODI ton as he finished with 111 unbeaten off 108 balls with Jacob Bethell scoring 65 runs as well, England amassed 357/3 in 50 overs.
In the chase, Sri Lanka came out all guns blazing but couldn’t sustain the momentum. Pavan Rathnayake scored a masterful debut ODI ton while Pathum Nissanka scored a quickfire 50 runs off 25 balls while the others chipped in as well, but they couldn’t go through with it and hence lost the game. Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Will Jacks all picked up 2 wickets apiece to get the win in the end for England by 53 runs.
Harry Brook & Joe Root’s Masterful Tons powers England to 357/3
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Rehan Ahmed and Ben Duckett came out to open for England while Asitha Fernando had the ball in hand for Sri Lanka. England got off to a steady start with Rehan being the aggressor of the two and Duckett playing second fiddle. The opening duo put on 19 for the first wicket inside 7 overs before Duckett fell for 7 off 17 balls to Dhananjaya de Silva reverse sweeping it to the point fielder.
Joe Root walked out to bat next. Rehan and Root tried to form a good partnership and upped the tempo. They took on Dhananjaya to the cleaners inside the powerplay. The powerplay score for England was a steady 40/1 in 10 overs at the end of the powerplay. The duo put on 21 off 22 balls for the second wicket before Rehan fell for 24 off 37 balls with 3 fours to his name to Wanindu Hasaranga as the catch was taken at short midwicket by Jeffrey Vandersay.
England were 40/2 in 10.3 overs when Jacob Bethell joined Joe Root in the middle. The duo started to counterattack as Bethell grew in confidence while Root looked a class apart. The duo complimented each other well and it was the Joe Root show and he was ably supported by Bethell. The middle overs were aced by England as they dominated the listless Sri Lanka attack.
The duo went at over run a ball with Bethell contributing more than Root. But both completed their 50s and looked good for more as they put on 126 off 124 balls to lay the foundation for others to step up. Against the run of play, Bethell fell for a well made 65 off 72 balls with 8 fours to his name to Jeffrey Vandersay. England were 166/3 in 31.1 overs when captain Harry Brook joined Joe Root in the middle.
Root continued his merry ways while Brook his time initially and then accelerated as the innings wore on. The platform was laid out as Root gradually moved towards his century while Brook showed his intentions clear and played his shots all around the ground. England reached 227/3 in 40 overs and the launchpad was there for England to go big.
This is the point where Harry Brook became berserk and just took his game to the next level. Root quietly played his shots and rotated the strike to get to his magical 20th ODI ton. But it was the Harry Brook show as he dazzled under the sunshine of Colombo. Coming into bat after calling the previous pitch the worst pitch he has batted ever, he showed his class on a good track and played good cricketing shots if we are being honest about it. Brook suddenly after playing 20 odd balls to get himself in just went into overdrive mode and made sure Root became a spectator.
The last 10 overs belonged to the England captain as Root slowly got to his hundred, but Brook was unstoppable from his end. He went to 50 in 40 balls and the accelerated even further after that. He suddenly was scoring runs for fun and hit the balls to all parts of the ground. No bowler was spared as he went inside out over extra cover a number of times for fours and sixes.
Harry Brook got to his century in 57 balls and he was far from done as he got to his 3rd ODI ton. He accelerated even more after the landmark and pulverised the Sri Lankan bowling who did not know what hit them. He was the main reason why England got around 124 runs in the last 8 overs. The game was somewhat in the balance when the last 10 overs started and after that it was all England thanks to their skipper. Harry Brook was in beast mode as all the bowlers went for plenty of runs.
Brook made an unbeaten 136 runs off 66 balls with 11 fours and 9 sixes to his name before the innings closed at 357/3 in 50 overs for England as the pair of Root and Brook added an unbeaten 191 runs off 113 balls to take the game away from Sri Lanka. Root scored an unbeaten 111 off 108 balls to hold the innings together with 9 fours and one six to his name as England ended up with a massive score on the board. 14 extras given by the fielding side.
It was a tough day for the Sri Lankan bowlers to say the least. Wanindu Hasaranga finished with 1/76 in 10 overs. Jeffrey Vandersay finished with 1/76 in 10 overs. Dhananjaya de Silva finished with 1/45 in 5 overs. Asitha Fernando finished with 0/77 in 9 overs. Janith Liyanage finished with 0/7 in 3 overs. Dunith Wellalage bowled decently with 0/49 in 10 overs. Captain Charith Asalanka finished with 0/20 in 3 overs. This meant Sri Lanka needed a mammoth 358 runs to win off 50 overs to win the series 2-1.
Pavan Rathnayake’s maiden ODI hundred goes in vain as England wrap up a memorable series win
Chasing 358 for an unlikely win, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara came out to bat for Sri Lanka while Jamie Overton had ball in hand for England. Sri Lanka had a plan to counter the England team and came out all guns blazing. They took the attack to the English bowling and tried to put them under pressure. Sri Lanka were going at almost 10 an over at one stage.
The duo put on 48 for the first wicket before Mishara was dismissed for 22 off 17 balls with 5 fours to his name to Will Jacks. Kusal Mendis came out to bat next and went all guns blazing while Nissanka was great with his timing. The run rate was going at breath-taking speed. Kusal was magnificent as he was off the blocks and meant business. The duo added 37 runs for the second wicket before Mendis fell for 20 off 9 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Jamie Overton. Pavan Rathnayake came out to bat next.
Nissanka soon reached his half-century. The duo added 9 runs to the score before Nissanka fell for 50 off 25 balls with 5 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Overton yet again. Captain Charith Asalanka came out to bat inside the first powerplay. Sri Lanka were 104/3 in 10 overs chasing a massive 358 for the win. Asalanka and Rathnayake tried to form a partnership and keep the tempo going. The duo added 37 runs for the 4th wicket before captain Asalanka fell for 13 off 16 balls with one four to his name to Adil Rashid.
Janith Liyanage came out to bat next. Liyanage and Rathnayake tried to rebuild things for the Lankans as the required rate was climbing up every minute. Both of them complimented each other well as they added 43 runs for the 5th wicket before Liyanage fell for a well made 22 off 36 balls before being run out. Dhananjaya de Silva came out to bat next. It was a struggle for Dhananjaya in the middle as Rathnayake kept the fight up from one end. The duo added 28 runs for the 6th wicket before de Silva fell for 9 off 16 balls to Jacks.
Dunith Wellalage came out to the middle with Sri Lanka firmly on the back foot. Wellalage came out all guns blazing while Rathnayake played his game as the duo added 50 runs for the 7th wicket. Wellalage was then dismissed for 22 off 24 balls with one four and one six to his name. Wanindu Hasaranga came out to bat next. Hasaranga made his intentions clear as he hit two boundaries to get his innings going. The duo added 12 runs for the 8th wicket before Hasaranga fell for 9 off 5 balls with 2 fours to his name to Rashid yet again.
Jeffrey Vandersay came out to bat next. Vandersay played his shots as well. Rathnayake soon got to his maiden ODI ton. The duo still kept fighting and made sure that Sri Lanka get past the 300-run mark. The duo put on 34 runs for the 9th wicket before Vandersay fell for 14 off 15 balls with one four to his name to Liam Dawson. Asitha Fernando came out to bat next.
Sri Lanka did go past 300 but they ended at 304 as 6 runs were added by the last wicket pair before Rathnayake was cleaned up by Sam Curran for 121 off 115 balls with 12 fours and one six to his name as the hosts finished with 304 in 46.4 overs. Asitha remained unbeaten on 0 off 2 balls. Just 2 extras given by the England bowlers.
The English bowlers bowled well and weathered the storm from the Sri Lankan batters. Liam Dawson was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/48 in 10 overs. Adil Rashid finished with 2/61 in 10 overs. Will Jacks finished with 2/43 in 8 overs. Jamie Overton finished with 2/48 in 4 overs. Sam Curran finished with 1/44 in 5.4 overs. Jacob Bethell bowled 5 overs for 28 runs while Rehan Ahmed finished with 0/31 in 4 overs. So, England win by 53 runs to win the series 2-1. Harry Brook was awarded the Player of the Match while Joe Root was awarded the Player of the Series.
What Lies Ahead
So, the ODI series is done and dusted with England winning it 2-1. We move now to the T20I series and the bandwagon moves from Colombo to Pallekele. The 3 T20I series will take place where Harry Brook will take on Dasun Shanaka. The first match is on 30th February from 7 PM IST onwards. All these matches are important with T20 World Cup 2026 keeping in mind.
Let’s see how the first T20I shapes up for both teams ahead of the big World Cup.
Also Read: SL vs ENG: Joe Root’s Magical 20th ODI Ton & Harry Brook’s Blazing Century Powers England Way Past 350