England spinners set up dramatic win as Sri Lanka collapse

In the space of five days, Sri Lanka have suffered two alarming batting collapses, finishing their last series before the T20 World Cup with a 3-0 defeat to England. For large parts of the game on Tuesday, Sri Lanka were primed to deny England a clean sweep after restricting the visitors to 128/9. However, their batters fell short, collapsing from 62/2 to 116 all out.

On a worn-out pitch in Pallekele, England remained in contention despite their modest total. Luke Wood gave England an ideal start, dismissing opener Kamil Mishara for a duck in the first over. A 14-run fourth over from Jamie Overton provided Sri Lanka momentum, with Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis building a partnership. Liam Dawson broke through in the fifth over, as a sharply turning ball induced Nissanka to toe-end a shot to cover.

Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake finished the PowerPlay strongly with a nine-run over but were stifled by Adil Rashid and Jacob Bethell at the start of the middle-overs. Rashid then bowled a brilliant googly to beat Rathnayake and rattle his stumps, sparking a dramatic collapse. Harry Brook capitalized on the turning conditions, introducing Will Jacks, who struck with his first ball. Mendis top-edged a sweep off a ball bowled down the leg side, falling to a fortunate dismissal.

Sri Lanka reached 90/4 in 13 overs and appeared favorites to chase down the target, but Jacks kept England in the game by trapping Kamindu Mendis leg before and having Janith Liyanage caught at deep square leg in his next over, reducing the hosts to 97/6. Dunith Wellalage and Dasun Shanaka guided the team past 100, but a triple-wicket over from Bethell shifted the momentum decisively. Jos Buttler took a sharp low catch to dismiss Wellalage, Dushmantha Chameera mistimed a drive to Brook at cover, and Shanaka was stumped off a sharply turning delivery. Bethell claimed his fourth wicket in the 20th over, removing Maheesh Theekshana to seal England's remarkable victory.

Earlier, a fighting half-century from Sam Curran propelled England to a defendable total after their top-order faltered early. Dushmantha Chameera, who finished with a five-wicket haul, struck in the first over, trapping Ben Duckett leg before with a sharply swinging delivery. A bowling-side review confirmed the dismissal for a duck. Matheesha Pathirana exploited the conditions to deceive Jacob Bethell with a slower ball, edged to Kusal Mendis behind the stumps. Dunith Wellalage claimed the third wicket of the PowerPlay, cleaning up Tom Banton with a slower delivery, while Pathirana added a fourth in the sixth over as Harry Brook mistimed an off-cutter to extra cover. England struggled to 35/4 in 6 overs and continued to lose wickets in the middle-overs.

Buttler attempted to stabilize the innings but was bowled by Theekshana. Curran launched a counter-attack from this point, despite running out of partners. Chameera returned in the 11th over to dismiss Jacks. Curran and Liam Dawson added 47 runs for the seventh wicket, hitting several boundaries to push England past 100.

They seemed set for a larger total, but Chameera struck again with a double-wicket over, removing Dawson and Overton. Curran reached his fifty in the 19th over and hit a couple more fours before becoming Chameera's fifth victim. A 10-run final over lifted England to 128/9, which ultimately proved sufficient.

Brief Scores: England 128/9 in 20 overs (Sam Curran 58; Dushmantha Chameera 5-24, Matheesha Pathirana 2-27) beat Sri Lanka 116 in 19.3 overs (Kusal Mendis 26; Jacob Bethell 4-11, Will Jacks 3-14) by 12 runs.