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Key events
22nd over: England 115-2 (Root 23, Brook 12) A change of left-arm spinner, with Kamindu Mendis on for Wellalage. Four from the over. It’s a bit of a struggle for England just now, Brook in particular; he has 12 from 19 balls with no boundaries. What hell kinda Harry Brook innings is this?
21st over: England 111-2 (Root 22, Brook 9) The left-arm quick Madushanka returns. He goes round the wicket in an attempt to cramp the two right-handers, a tactic that works effectively to Root in that over.
Madushanka also has an unsuccessful LBW review when Root flicks across the line. The angle meant it was always going to miss leg stump, so Sri Lanka lose a review.
20th over: England 110-2 (Root 22, Brook 8) Brook charges Wellalage and mistimes a mow along the floor to midwicket. The fielder flings the ball whence it came and hits the stumps, which leads to a precautionary run-out referral. Brook was back in his crease. Better to be safe than sorry, I guess. Or is it.
A good over from Wellalage costs only three. Root has 22 from 18 balls, Brook 8 from 12.
19th over: England 107-2 (Root 21, Brook 6) Shanaka is bowling around 75mph, but the keeper (and captain) Kusal Mendis isn’t up to the stumps. That’s hard to fathom given the problems Root and Brook have had with that tactic in Test cricket. I just don’t know what’s going off out there.
Root and Brook continue to milk ones and twos. Although England have plenty of batting to come, the 13 players on the field know this is the key partnership.
18th over: England 102-2 (Root 18, Brook 4) Brook plays an indeterminate shot at Wellalage and is beaten. As Nasser says on Sky, Brook said in his post-match interview on Tuesday that England weren’t positive enough against the spinners, so you’d imagine he’ll go after Wellalage if he gets his eye in.
For now England are dealing in ones and twos against Wellalage. Six from the over.
17th over: England 96-2 (Root 16, Brook 0) Root times Shanaka through midwicket for four, not once but twice, and takes a single off the last ball to move to 16 from 12 balls. He is a model of unobtrusive class. But you already know that; you’ve been watching him for 14 years.
16th over: England 85-2 (Root 5, Brook 0) That was the last ball before drinks.
Arafat Minhas and Dunith Wellalage, the two left-arm spinners who have bowled against England in this tri-series, have combined figures of 8-58 from 12.4 overs. Is this what you call specialist mentoring, KP?
WICKET! England 85-2 (Duckett LBW b Wellalage 29)
England have got the slow left-arm blues. Duckett misses a sweep at Wellalage and is plumb LBW – so plumb that he barely discusses a review with Joe Root. He struggled for much of the innings and is on his way for 29 from 39 balls.
15th over: England 78-1 (Duckett 26, Root 1) Duckett tries to cut the new bowler Dasan Shanaka and gets a bottom-edge past the stumps. A good first over from Shanaka, bowling a very tight line to Duckett from over the wicket. Duckett was unable to free his arms and chewed up five successive dot balls.
14th over: England 76-1 (Duckett 24, Root 1) Joe Root is the new batter. If he scores 64 today he’ll become the first Englishman to score 8000 ODI runs.
WICKET! England 74-1 (Banton c Liyanaga b Wellalage 50)
Oh dear. For the second time in three days, Tom Banton is out straight after reaching his fifty. He tried to chip inside-out over extra cover but screwed the ball towards wide long-off and was comfortably caught by Liyanage. A frustrating end to a fine innings.
13th over: England 74-0 (Banton 50, Duckett 23) Glory be, Ben Duckett has found the middle of his bat. He takes 14 from Malinga’s fourth over – three twos to get moving, then consecutive boundaries to end the over. Both were excellent shots, a thump through extra cover and a well-timed flick off the pads.
Another fifty for Tom Banton
12th over: England 60-0 (Banton 50, Duckett 9) Banton reverse-sweeps a single to bring up an excellent half-century from 48 balls. He’s hit nine fours, although the majority were timed rather than hit. It’s Banton’s fourth 50+ score in five innings since he was moved up to open.
11th over: England 57-0 (Banton 49, Duckett 7) Banton pulls Malinga for two to move within one run of another half-century. He has 49 from 46 balls, Duckett 7 from 20.
10th over: England 54-0 (Banton 47, Duckett 6) The left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, recalled today, comes on to bowl the last over of the Powerplay. Banton hoicks a reverse sweep over the top for four to bring up an uneven fifty partnership. He’s one hit away from his own fifty.
“One of the problems with a tri-series is that nobody turns up for the neutral games,” writes Andrew Goudie. “I hope there will be more of a crowd in the evening.”
9th over: England 48-0 (Banton 42, Duckett 5) Duckett slaps Malinga to backward point and is dropped by Arachchige, a pretty straightforward chance. That could prove costly for Sri Lanka, though right now Duckett is struggling: he has 5 from 16 balls and a bat with no middle.
8th over: England 47-0 (Banton 41, Duckett 5) Fernando changes ends to replace Madushanka. Banton doesn’t care who’s bowling. He stands tall to slice a drive through backward point for four, then clatters another boundary through mid-off.
Two months ago, Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell were England’s preferred opening partnership for the World Cup; right now they feel like rivals for a place alongside Banton.
“I’m (almost) simultaneously working on a Lingala-English dictionary, reading Geoff Lemon describing the weather in South Africa, and looking at your Eng vs Sri Lanka OBO,” writes John Stedman. “The latter is by far the most boring – not due to your scintillating commentary, of course, but because tri-series seem so pointless, whereas the Test match in SA is gripping. Just an opinion.”
I prefer tri-series to bilateral fixtures. That aside, I’m nodding like a Wackeldackel.
7th over: England 37-0 (Banton 32, Duckett 4) Eshan Malinga, nephew of, replaces Asitha Fernando and starts with a wide. Banton plays another beautiful stroke, pushing a boundary to the left of mid-on. His timing has been exquisite, and in this form he looks undroppable.
“Good morning,” writes John Starbuck. “Yes, there are some of us following the action; you are not typing into a void just yet.”
Yet. (NB: clip contains some effin’ and jeffin’.)
6th over: England 31-0 (Banton 28, Duckett 3) Banton continues to go after Madushanka, slapping a short ball for four and timing another boundary through extra cover off the back foot. #TopBants
The scorecard looks lopsided but Banton has monopolised the strike: Duckett has faced only eight of the 36 deliveries.
5th over: England 23-0 (Banton 20, Duckett 3) Banton takes a pair of twos and a single from Asitha Fernando’s third over. He’s off to another good start, 20 from 22 balls, and will be keen to cash in after throwing away a potential century on Tuesday.
The latest from Gqerberha (spoiler: rain)
4th over: England 18-0 (Banton 15, Duckett 3) Banton jumpstarts the England innings with three successive boundaries: an edge wide of slip, a classy off-drive and an even better back-foot punch through extra cover. Good lad.
3rd over: England 5-0 (Banton 2, Duckett 3) Duckett survives a run-out chance after taking a quick single on the off side. He was just short of his ground when Arachchige’s throw bounced past the stumps at the bowler’s end.
Another quiet over, with only one big stroke from Banton that didn’t beat the cover fielder. Sri Lanka have bowled an excellent length and England look like they want to get the measure of the pitch before they unsheath the long handle.
2nd over: England 3-0 (Banton 1, Duckett 2) The left-armer Dilshan Madushanka continues Sri Lanka’s good start, conceding three singles. England’s openers have started cautiously and are doing their own pitch inspection.
1st over: England 0-0 (Banton 0, Duckett 0) The stocky Asitha Fernando starts with a maiden to Tom Banton. No real swing, but no looseners either and Banton was unable to pierce the infield.
Tom Banton and Ben Duckett walk out to the middle. Banton made a blistering maiden hundred against Sri Lanka at the Oval last month.
This week’s Spin is a lovely read
Bradman b Hollies 0
Team news: Rashid dropped
England make two changes from the defeat to Pakistan. Josh Tongue and Liam Dawson replaces Sonny Baker and… Adil Rashid, who of late has been nowhere near his magical best.
Sri Lanka bring in the left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage for the leggie Sachindu Colombage. Their team also includes the opener Avishka Fernando, who looked a star of the future when Sri Lanka stunned England at Headingley in the 2019 World Cup.
Fernando, aged 21, made an audacious 39-ball 49 in that game. He’s had a stop-start career but I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
England Banton, Duckett, Root, Brook (c), Cox (wk), Curran, Jacks, Overton, Dawson, Atkinson, Tongue.
Sri Lanka Kamindu Mendis, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (c/wk), Rathnayake, Arachchige, Liyanage, Shanaka, Wellalage, Malinga, Asitha Fernando, Madushanka.
Sri Lanka win the toss and bowl
That might not be a bad thing for England, who are better at setting targets than chasing them.
At the risk of misquoting Black Grape, it’s a big day in Gqeberha, where Australia have a helluva job on to save the second Test against South Africa. Geoff Lemon is on OBO duty.
Preamble
There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
The little girl with the little curl, the subject of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, has plenty in common with this England team. They’re a one-day side with two faces, and we saw both during Tuesday’s defeat against Pakistan.
England seemed to be cruising to victory, only to flunk a 300+ chase for the second time in three games. There’s no need to get carried away – that’s what social media is for – but negative patterns are never a good thing for a cricket team, especially when they involve batting collapses. After a largely positive 2026, the tame manner of Tuesday’s defeat was a setback.
It means today’s match against Sri Lanka is, if not a must-win, then at least a need-to-win. The losers will be bottom of the tri-series at the halfway stage, with nul points and a lot of work to do. May the best team not lose.
#England #Sri #Lanka #mens #triseries #cricket #oneday #international #live #Cricket
