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Key events
8th over: Sri Lanka 85-2 (Nissanka 42, Rathnayake 0) After seeing his spinners go for 32 off three overs, Brook turned back to Overton. It looked like a blunder as Mendis went berserk with a bludgeon for four, a pull for six and a ramp for four. But then came the breakthrough. Still, Mendis made 20 off nine balls, whereas, at much the same stage of England’s innings, Ben Duckett managed only seven off 17.
WICKET! Mendis c Brook b Overton 20 (Sri Lanka 85-2)
A goal against the run of play! Mendis plays a loose drive and picks out Brook at mid-off.
7th over: Sri Lanka 70-1 (Nissanka 42, Mendis 6) Dawson continues and again gets it wrong with his first ball as Nissanka pulls for four. The mnidle of the over is fine, but the last ball is launched for six as Nissanka dances down the track.
At this stage, England were 20-1.
6th over: Sri Lanka 58-1 (Nissanka 31, Mendis 5) Jacks likes that long hop so much, he bowls it again, and again. Nissanka and Kusal Mendis give it what it deserves – a slap. Well done Jacks getting the wicket, but that may be the last we see of him for a while.
WICKET! Mishara c Rehan b Jacks 22 (Sri Lanka 48-1)
Harry Brook’s magic day continues! He gambles by bringing on Will Jacks, who starts with a rank long hop – and Mishara flaps it straight to Rehan Ahmed at backward point.
5th over: Sri Lanka 48-0 (Nissanka 26, Mishara 22) Yes, here’s Liam Dawson. He’s not easy to batter – but nobody told these openers, both of them cut him for four. England are still favourites, through sheer weight of runs, but Sri Lanka have made a glorious start.
4th over: Sri Lanka 38-0 (Nissanka 21, Mishara 17) Now it’s Curran’s turn to get a hammering. When he goes full, Mishara drives the ball back past him for four. When he goes straight, Nissanka flicks him past fine leg, who is up in the ring. When he slips in his celebrated slower ball, Mishara waits for it and late-cuts for four. Time for one of England’s six spinners!
3rd over: Sri Lanka 24-0 (Nissanka 16, Mishara 8) Overton continues, tightens up his line and manages half a maiden – but then all hell breaks loose. Nissanka lofts a half-volley for six, straight-drives for four and dabs for two. Sri Lanka are ahead of the rate!
2nd over: Sri Lanka 12-0 (Nissanka 4, Mishara 8) Sam Curran makes a strong start, five dots and a single. Sri Lanka are behind the rate! But they’ve still started with more intent than England, who crept to 20-1 off their first seven overs.
1st over: Sri Lanka 11-0 (Nissanka 3, Mishara 8) So how are the Sri Lankans going to approach this mammoth target? Fearlessly! Jamie Overton’s first over isn’t bad, as he has Pathum Nissanka technically dropped at midwicket by Ben Duckett, beats the bat of Kamil Mishara and then draws an edge that flies away for four. But there’s also a genuine four, a square drive from Mishara. Sri Lanka are ahead of the rate!
Thanks Rob and afternoon everyone. You don’t have to be a Sri Lankan bowler to be feeling a little dazed right now. Harry Brook has just played one of the greatest innings you’ll ever see. He gave Joe Root a 65-run head start – and ended up with 25 more than him, even though Root is in princely form. Off the last four overs of England’s innings, Brook hit 64 from 20 balls, while Root made four from four.
Remember when Brook hit a blistering 135 in New Zealand, four months and half a lifetime ago? This innings was 50 per cent faster than that one. Of the 29 ODI hundreds ever made by England captains, it was the second-fastest, just behind Eoin Morgan’s blitz against Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup. But that was at home – at Old Trafford, with the boundaries close enough to allow a batter to hit 17 sixes. This was in Colombo, at a ground where Brook had inched to 42 off 75 balls at the weekend. Today, he faced fewer balls than that (66) and made three times as many runs. Staggering stuff.
Sri Lanka need 358 to win
No team has chased more than 320 to win an ODI in Sri Lanka, so England should have enough runs. Thanks for your company and emails; the great Tim de Lisle will be here for the runchase.
50th over: England 357-3 (Root 111, Brook 136) Root hooks Fernando for a single to get Brook back on strike. I mean, it makes sense because Brook is hitting almost every ball to the boundary. He makes room to hit Fernando inside-out for his eighth six, then makes even more room to carve four over backward point.
One ball remaining… and Brook drives it lazily over extra cover for another six. With that, he reaches his highest ODI score. That was a helluvan innings: 136 from 66 balls with 11 fours and nine sixes. It included – and you’ll like this – 90 from his final 27 deliveries. Madon.
Oh, and Joe Root scored 111 at more than a run a ball as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Brook blasts a 57-ball hundred!
49th over: England 339-3 (Root 110, Brook 120) Brook clatters Vandersay to the cover boundary to reach a coruscating century, his third in ODIs: 57 balls, eight fours, six sixes. The second fifty took just 17 balls.
He celebrates by smashing the next two delliveries for six and four, then smears a pull shot high in the air. Vandersay tries to take the catch running back but only clasps fresh air.
Brook smashes a pull towards deep midwicket, where Dhananjaya does incredibly well to save the six. He caught the ball as he swooped over the boundary, then threw it back onto the field while in mid air. The big screen flashes up ‘Not out’, as if they were checking the catch. Brook completes a huge over, 22 from it, by smoking the last ball to the cover boundary.
“May I be the 4,097th reader to note that, given his performance today, presumably, ahem, last night Brook dreamt of Vandersay again,” writes Gareth Wilson.
48th over: England 317-3 (Root 110, Brook 98) Fernando bowls a fullish ball to Brook, who snaps his wrists as he slaps it over extra cover for four. Disgusting brilliance. A deft steer over short third takes him into the nineties, then he pulls four more with the aid of some botched relay fielding on the boundary.
Fernando is so reluctant to put anything in Brook’s arc that he bowls three wides in the over. Brook has 98 from 56 balls and is on course for one of the fastest ODI centuries by an Englihsman not called Jos.
“On the all-time list, all formats, I think Root has the second highest average of those with 10000+ runs,” writes Gary Naylor. “Such an old-fashioned cricketer. (Kohli, since you asked).”
Look at the fella at No4.
47th over: England 299-3 (Root 110, Brook 83) Brook is running riot. He hoicks a gentle legbreak from Vandersay over midwicket for his third six in as many overs.
It’s not all bish-bosh. Back-to-back twos and a single take him to 83 from 50 balls, including 74 from the last 37. This is now England’s highest score in an ODI in Sri Lanka.
Joe Root wasn’t great in ODIs between the end of the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, but since his recall in 2025 he has been one of the best players in the world. In fact, only the magnificent Daryl Mitchell has scored more ODI runs since the start of last year.
46th over: England 285-3 (Root 106, Brook 72) Too short from Hasaranga, and Root eases back to pull him for four. Brook wallops six over the fielder at wide long-on to make it 16 from the over.
England are going to make their highest score in an ODI in Sri Lanka; the current record is 298 for 8 against Zimbabwe in the 2002 Champions Trophy. That included a pulsating 97-ball 75 from Nasser Hussain.
Joe Root’s 20th ODI century!
45th over: England 269-3 (Root 101, Brook 63) Root works Wellalage for a single to reach his 20th ODI century, and his 61st in international cricket, from exactly 100 balls. It’s been the usual masterclass – a study in low-risk, run-a-ball batting.
Brook does things differently, by spanking boundaries, and he hits Wellalage for two in a row to bring up the hundred partnership.
England have scored 83 from the last 10 overs; Brook has hit 54 from his last 30 balls.
44th over: England 256-3 (Root 99, Brook 52) Root, on 99, survives a run-out referral after being sent back by Brook. He was fine. Brook then lashes an imperious six over extra cover to reach a 40-ball fifty.
43rd over: England 246-3 (Root 97, Brook 44) England hanve never scored 300 in an ODI in Sri Lanka but they’re on course here. Fernando’s seventh over goes for 13, including four byes and a brilliant drive for four from Brook.
43rd over: England 246-3 (Root 97, Brook 46) England have never scored 300 in an ODI i nSri Lanka but they have a good chance today. Fernando’s seventh over goes for 13, including four byes and a brilliant drive for four from Brook.
42nd over: England 233-3 (Root 94, Brook 38) Root has to bend his back to keep out a grubber from Wellalage. That’s a good sign for England’s spinners. A good over from Wellalage includes another delivery that turns sharply; just two runs from it.
41st over: England 231-3 (Root 93, Brook 37) The seam bowler Asitha Fernando returns to the attack. Root clumps a full toss to mid-on and has to scrambler make his ground; that would have been tight with a direct hit. I think he’d have been out.
40th over: England 227-3 (Root 91, Brook 35) Root moves into the nineties with a marvellous sweep to the square-leg boundary off Vandersay. That shot was a model of timing and placement.
39th over: England 218-3 (Root 85, Brook 32) Outrageous brilliance from Harry Brook, who makes room to drive Dhananjaya inside-out over extra cover for six. That brings up the fifty partnership in less than eight overs. Brook has hit 23 from his last 10 deliveries.
38th over: England 208-3 (Root 83, Brook 24) Hasaranga continues. Four singles, two dot balls. Next!
37th over: England 204-3 (Root 81, Brook 22) Sri Lanka have won the last five ODI series at home, with India and Australia among the opposition, but they’re under serious pressure here.
That said, this looks a much better pitch than the first two. I thought 280 was a winning score; maybe we should revise it to 300.
36th over: England 198-3 (Root 77, Brook 19) After a patient start, 9 from 13 balls, Brook skips down to swipe Hasaranga over mid-on for six. For good measure he carts the next delivery to wide long-on for four more.
35th over: England 186-3 (Root 77, Brook 8)
Drinks The umpire Rod Tucker is feeling unwell and has been replaced. It’s very humid in Colombo so hopefully that’s the reason.
34th over: England 181-3 (Root 75, Brook 5) Root reverse laps Vandersay for four, then dumps a long hop through midwicket for another. A master is at work.
“What’s a good total for England here?” wonders John Ryan. “A while ago I was thinking around 330 if they pushed on… and they’re still in a good spot and with seven wickets in hand… thoughts?”
I’m terrible at reading pitches but 280 feels like a matchwinning total.
33rd over: England 173-3 (Root 67, Brook 5) A quiet over from Wellalage, and why not. Root is still scoring at more than a run a ball, 67 from 66.
32nd over: England 170-3 (Root 65, Brook 4) A gentle delivery from Vandersay is steered for four by Brook a nice way to get off the mark. Then he bowls a beauty, a fair bit slower, that turns past the edge. Adil Rashid will have noted that.
“I recently joined a cult and was surprised to learn how knowledgeable most of the members were about cricket,” writes Ian Copestake. “Was good to talk, so I feel that cults are maybe not all that bad…”
Wait till you hear about Bazball.
WICKET! England 166-3 (Bethell c Liyanage b Vandersay 65)
What did I tell you about getting carried away? Bethell pulls Vandersay fiercely to deep midwicket, where Liyanage takes one of the sharper boundary catches. Sri Lanka needed that.
Bethell played nicely for his 65: 72 balls, eight fours.
31st over: England 166-2 (Root 65, Bethell 65) Joe Root (remember him?) sweeps Wellalage precisely for four, then smacks a slog sweep into the wide open space for another boundary.
“Finding it difficult to focus on work with the master and apprentice batting together in Colombo,” writes Rob Knap. “It’s funny, given his fairly astonishing start in international cricket, but rather than Brook it’s Bethell who feels like the batter to take on Root’s mantle. It’s like when Gooch and Atherton were batting together (though perhaps a cut above them, even). As you’ve said, let’s not get carried away by Bethell just yet. But…
“On a completely unrelated note, does anyone else mistake mentions of Vandersay for Vandelay?”
Of course we do. Also, did I really say we shouldn’t get carried away with Bethell? If so, I apologise Fkuc that!
Fifty for Jacob Bethell
30th over: England 154-2 (Root 55, Bethell 63) Bethell clips a slower ball from Fernando for four to reach a patient half-century from 64 balls. He glides the next delivery behind square for four more, a beautiful stroke from a player of the rarest class. Bethell isn’t done there: he pulls savagely through square leg and threads a pristine extra-cover drive to make it four boundaries in the over.
Bethell’s first 22 runs took 41 balls; the next 41 have come from 28. My god we are going to enjoy him over the next 15 years,
“As someone who is not English (although I admit more than a passing interest in the England cricket team), I’m constantly fascinated by the stubborn inability of many to accept greatness in one of their own,” writes Matt Dony. “Root is so clearly one of history’s finest cricketers. Likewise, Harry Kane is a phenomenal footballer. Hell, Tim Henman was number 4 in the world, and Pete Sampras chose him as a doubles partner! The list goes on, but there’s a weird pattern of not giving due recognition. I don’t get it.”
We’re in denial. Just leave us to it, it’s best for all concerned.
28th over: England 138-2 (Root 55, Bethell 47) England are starting to go through the gears. Root reverse sweeps Dhananjaya for three in on over that yields 10 runs, even without a boundary.
Fifty for Joe Root
28th over: England 128-2 (Root 51, Bethell 41) Root works the returning Fernando (a seamer; I know) to bring up his fifty, his third of the series, from 54 balls. If you want to understand the concept of expertise, just watch a video of this innings.
Root didn’t play an ODI in 2024. Since his recall he’s averaging 62 with a strike rate of 92.
27th over: England 125-2 (Root 49, Bethell 40) A couple of wides and some wristy singles make it seven from Asalanka’s over.
“Flat and low” begins Matt in a wet, flat Gloucester “…are words that can be applied both to the wicket and my cricketing mood. The all-too-predictable political shenanigans ahead of the T20 and yet more perfunctory ODIs have done little to lift the Ashes gloom. Here’s a dram to Scotland ruffling a few feathers and sparking atmosphere.”
Quite. Whatever the rights and wrongs, Bangladesh not being in the T20 World Cup is profoundly dispiriting.
26th over: England 118-2 (Root 47, Bethell 37) Four more to Bethell, swept fiercely off Hasaranga. He survives a run-out chance later in the over after taking a sharp single to mid-off; the throw missed the stumps and we don’t know yet whether he would have been home.
25th over: England 111-2 (Root 46, Bethell 31) Bethell gets moving with two boundaries in four balls off Asalanka, a sweep and a lash through the covers. It feels like England are in a pretty good position here.
“Joe Root, as ever, the anchor in tough(er) batting conditions than the England boys are used to,” writes Elliot Brooks. “As we start to contemplate the day when he will leave us for a well earned retirement – who is the natural successor for that dogged you’ll-never-take-me-alive batting style that the team needs?
“Is Bethell too much a swashbuckler? Does Brook have the brain cells? Is Duckett too eager for bat on ball? I need the assurances that there’s a young buck in the stable ready to emulate the master.”
Bethell. He can play at the same cruising tempo as Root, as he showed in that Sydney masterpiece. But even if we live to 299, I doubt we’ll see an England batter as good as Root. We/I don’t appreciate him enough.
24th over: England 102-2 (Root 46, Bethell 22) Root carts Hasaranga for six, then Bethell survives an LBW review after missing a sweep off Hasaranga. It pitched fractionally outside leg. Sri Lanka are all out of reviews.
Root is batting majestically, since you asked.
23rd over: England 92-2 (Root 37, Bethell 21) The captain Charith Asalanka comes on to bowl his offspin. Bethell top-edges a sweep well short of the man at deep backward square. Even this nondescript innings (20 from 38 as I type) is signifcant because he will learn so much from watching Joe Root stockpile low-risk singles.
Talking of which, another singles brings up the fifty partnership.
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