Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

HC Brook
HC Brook
136(66) 11x4 - 9x6
Control %83%
  • Productive Shot
  • cover drive
  • 47 runs
  • 4x4 - 4x6
10 4 3 11 51 8 19 30
P Rathnayake
121(115) 12x4 - 1x6
Control %86%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 22 runs
  • 2x4 - 0x6
10 17 11 12 15 16 7 33

Best performances - Bowlers

WG Jacks
O8
M0
R43
W2
Eco5.37
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W
J Overton
J Overton
O4
M0
R48
W2
Eco12
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF

Match Details

Toss

England , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

England won the 3-match series 2-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

14.30 start, First Session 14.30-18.00, Interval 18.00-18.45, Second Session 18.45-22.15

Match days

27 January 2026 - day/night match (50-over match)

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: K Vairavan | Commentator: Alan Gardner

10.05pm: Right, time for the presentations... starting with Player of the Match, England's captain, Harry Brook. We'll hear from him in a moment, I think. Next up, Player of the Series is Joe Root: "Just want to win games and contribute. My role is pretty obvious, nice to try and help the guys now I'm a bit older. [20th hundred] It was great out there, the way Beth played and then Harry came in a took the game on. Shows his versatility, the way he played the other night and then here. Shows what we're capable of, been a tough period for the group, lot of confidence to take from it as well. [Next?] Looking forward to some time at home, time with the family. I'll be ready for the Tests. Rare we get long breaks, got to make the most of them."

SL captain Charith Asalanka: "Was a good game, the result was disappointing. Positive was we found a good player at No. 4, Pavan Rathnayake. Second game we could have batted better, 30 more runs for sure. This game, Harry Brook and Joe Root won it with their batting. [Responding in field?] Really tough, was thinking the ball might turn, that's why we played 3-4 spinners. When it's not turning, it's hard to bowl spin [at the death]. [Hasaranga fitness] He just had cramp, he's all right. [T20 series] That's the most important for us before the WC, want to do basics right."

Harry Brook is back: "Working on a few things in the nets and it paid off. Glad me, Rooty and Beth could get us to that total. Awesome effort from everyone. Root is exceptional, to have him in the side helps every day. [Toss?] Not that important, a lot better pitch than we were expecting. Got a good score and managed to defend it. Very happy with how the spinners bowled, they were working in tandem. The batters tried to put the pressure back on in tough conditions. [Pitch] It was a decent wicket! Ended up being better than we thought."

Okay, that's a wrap for this one. Andrew Fidel Fernando's report should be your next port of call, and we'll be back for more with the T20Is, starting on Friday. Cheerio!

9.55pm: The decider was a run-fest. First overseas ODI series win for England since early 2023, when they also triumphed 2-1 in Bangladesh. For Sri Lanka, a first defeat at home in the format since India came here and won five years ago. Joe Root and Harry Brook led the charge for England, but it was also a game to remember for Pavan Rathnayake, in only his fourth ODI, as he made 121 from 115 to marshall the chase. SL were given a flying start and pretty much kept up with the rate, but shipped too many wickets along the way

Jamie Dow: "The worms never actually crossed!" There's a lesson in there, somewhere...

My colleague Paul Muchmore points out: "England were only on 296-3 after 46.4 overs, so SL were 8 runs ahead, but out of wickets"

46.4
W
Curran to Rathnayake, OUT, yorks him, that's the game! Curran bests Rathnayake at the last, bowled through his legs as he swung across the line. All of which means, England win by 53 runs and take the series 2-1

P Rathnayake b Curran 121 (149m 115b 12x4 1x6) SR: 105.21

46.3
0
Curran to Rathnayake, no run, fired full on the stumps as Rathnayake moves across, misses with a flick
46.2
2
Curran to Rathnayake, 2 runs, slogged high into the leg side, Bethell is in the deep... throws it back in as he goes over the rope! Brilliantly done, saving his team four runs as he backpedalled and got both hands up. Not sure he held the catch at any point, but he did enough to palm the ball back into play

"Career best figures for Dawson." Great spot, Ed. Beating the 2 for 70 he took on debut in Cardiff ten years ago (I was there, but can't say I remember much about it!)

46.1
4
Curran to Rathnayake, FOUR, full and paddled past short fine leg! Superbly played by Rathnayake. Taken on the full and beats the dive of the man in the ring

Sam Curran returns

END OF OVER:
46 | 1 Run 1 Wkt | SL: 298/9 (60 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 6.47, RRR: 15.00)

  • Asitha Fernando0 (2b)
  • Pavan Rathnayake115 (111b)
  • Liam Dawson10-0-48-2
  • Rehan Ahmed4-0-31-0

Dawson finishes with impeccable figures on what turned out to be an absolute road. Worth reading Cam Ponsonby's piece from yesterday about how he got here

45.6
0
Dawson to Fernando, no run, tossed up on off stump, blocked doggedly by the No.11
45.5
0
Dawson to Fernando, no run, defended off the outer half of the bat

"It's time for the blue line to overtake the red line," says Bacha Khan, "this was the phase when Brook was hitting the ball for fun."

Sri Lanka 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st48P NissankaK Mishara
2nd37BKG MendisP Nissanka
3rd9P NissankaP Rathnayake
4th37KIC AsalankaP Rathnayake
5th43J LiyanageP Rathnayake
6th28DM de SilvaP Rathnayake
7th50DN WellalageP Rathnayake
8th12PW HasarangaP Rathnayake
9th34JDF VandersayP Rathnayake
10th6AM FernandoP Rathnayake