Banton, Brook help England seal series

Tom Banton's unbeaten 33-ball 54 led England to a thrilling 6-wicket win over Sri Lanka in a rain-affected match. Chasing a revised target of 168, England secured victory with two balls to spare, taking a series-clinching 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Sri Lanka, put in to bat, started strongly with Pathum Nissanka hitting three boundaries in the opening over. Both openers also struck sixes off Jofra Archer in the next over. Spinners briefly slowed the scoring before Archer dismissed Nissanka in the final powerplay over.

A half-century opening stand was followed by aggressive batting from Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathanayake, who targeted Archer and Jamie Overton through the middle overs. However, wickets from Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid reduced Sri Lanka to 131 for 4 by the 14th over.

Rathanayake attacked Sam Curran in the death overs, but lack of support restricted Sri Lanka to 189 for 5.

In response, Jos Buttler raced to a quick start, hitting four boundaries off his first 10 balls. Despite losing Phil Salt early, Jacob Bethell maintained momentum. Sri Lanka tightened up in the latter half of the powerplay, conceding only 51 runs.

Rain interrupted play with England at 57 for 2 in 7.2 overs, 12 runs behind the par score. After a break of over an hour, which reduced the match by three overs, England returned aggressively. Buttler fell soon after, edging Dunith Wellalage, but Tom Banton took charge.

Harry Brook joined Banton and was particularly destructive against Matheesha Pathirana, hitting three sixes off the pacer. Brook's 12-ball 36 shifted the momentum decisively.

On a day where most spinners performed well, Wanindu Hasaranga was expensive, conceding 44 runs. Banton hit three boundaries in Hasaranga's 14th over, turning the contest in England's favor.

Dasun Shanaka and Pathirana took the match to the final over, but with only three runs to defend, Curran sealed the win by hitting a six over long on.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 189/5 in 20 overs (Pavan Rathanayake 40, Kamil Mishara 36; Jofra Archer 2-42) lost to England 173/4 in 16.4 overs (Tom Banton 54*, Harry Brook 36; Matheesha Pathirana 2-47) by 6 wickets.