Key events
WICKET! Buttler b Theekshana 25 (England 47-5)
… but now he’s gone too!
7th over: England 46-4 (Buttler 25, Curran 5) Buttler, who has played more times for England than anyone else ever, has seen it all before. He hits Wellalage for the first six of the match and it’s a cracker, driven inside-out over extra-cover.
6th over: England 35-4 (Buttler 18, Curran 1) Pathirana kept on slinging and Brook, after tucking one slower ball away for four, was deceived by another, popping a dolly to short extra and departing in disbelief. As Buttler plays and misses and very nearly loses his off bail, the powerplay ends with all the power in the hands of the Sri Lankans. On the plus side, Sam Curran is in so early that he has time to make his first international hundred.
WICKET!! Brook c Liyanage b Pathirana 4 (England 34-4)
Fooled by a slower ball!
5th over: England 28-3 (Buttler 17, Brook 0) Shanaka’s bowling changes keep on working. He turned to spin, brought on Dunith Wellalage, saw him make a good tight start, and got another wicket as Banton picked the wrong ball to try and slog for six. It’s our old friend, an England collapse!
WICKET! Banton b Wellalage 7 (England 28-3)
So much for Banton’s form!
4th over: England 25-2 (Buttler 16, Banton 5) The batters decide that attack is the best form of defence, and it works. Shanaka’s second over begins with Buttler dabbing for four and ends with Banton, still in form from the other night, cover-driving for four more. A few singles in between and, without much effort, they’ve got 11 off the over.
3rd over: England 14-2 (Buttler 10, Banton 0) Chameera’s reward for grabbing an early wicket was to be taken off, but it worked. On came Matheesha Pathirana, Sri Lanka’s slingshot, bearing yorkers. He nearly bowled Buttler and could have broken his toe, before switching to a good length and a wide line to dismiss Bethell. Buttler, deciding that attack is the best form of defence, gets aa streaky four from a Harrow drive. SL well on top.
WICKET! Bethell c Kusal Mendis b Pathirana 3 (England 14-2)
Another one! Pathirana dishes up temptation, well oustide off, and Bethell takes the bait.
2nd over: England 7-1 (Buttler 4, Bethell 2) Dasun Shanaka starts well too – dot dot dot, a single for Buttler, and then two deliveries that beat the bat of Bethell, the first a shout for LBW (pitched outside leg), the second whistling past the outside edge. Even Buttler’s single was mistimed. Advantage Sri Lanka!
1st over: England 6-1 (Buttler 3, Bethell 2) The travelling fans were still singing Jerusalem, at a rather dirge-like tempo, when Ben Duckett faced his first ball. It was a beauty from Dushmantha Chameera, curling back into the left-hander, trapping him on the crease and looking a very plumb plumb. For some reason it wasn’t given on the field, but the review brought up three reds and poor old Duckett had to go. His miserable winter continues.
No such bother for Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell, who pick up a few singles.
WICKET! Duckett LBW b Chameera 0 (England 2-1)
Duckett gets a golden duck!
Sri Lanka team: no Hasaranga
The Sri Lankans make three changes. After losing Eshan Malinga to a dislocated shoulder, they also have to do without Wanindu Hasaranga, who has gone down with an abscess in the armpit. Painful for him and disappointing for the spectators, who haven’t seen him at his explosive best. His place goes to Maneesh Theekshana, Malinga’s to Dushmantha Chameera. The ODI captain, Charith Asalanka, is rested in favour of Kamindu Mendis, who wasn’t in the original squad for this series. A hat-tip for all these facts to our friends at Cricinfo, as our friends at TNT have been replaying the last match rather than filling us in on this one.
Sri Lanka 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kami Mishara, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Pavan Rathnayeke, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Janith Liyanage, 8 Dunith Wellalage, 9 Mahessh Theekshana, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Matheesha Pathirana.
England team: Duckett in for Salt, Wood for Archer
Phil Salt is ruled out by a sore back, so Ben Duckett sneaks into the XI without having to dislodge Tom Banton. Jofra Archer is rested to keep him fresh for the World Cup, so England’s spare seamer, Luke Wood, gets an overdue outing. He may have been eyeing Jamie Overton’s economy rate and thinking he could do better.
England 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Tom Banton, 5 Harry Brook (capt), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Liam Dawson, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Luke Wood.
England win the toss and … bat!
Harry Brook gets his call right for the third time out of three – like Ben Stokes, he seems to be a top-class tosser. He opts to bat first, presumably to give his team some practice at setting a target.
Pre-match reading
Pakistan’s cricketers have been ordered by their government not to play against India in the T20 World Cup. Our man in the subcontinent, the talented Taha Hashim, looks at the ramifications of this.
Preamble
Afternoon everyone and welcome to something you don’t come across very often: a game that has little riding on it because England’s white-ball team have been playing too well. With their calculated hitting on Sunday, Tom Banton and Harry Brook won the match and spoiled the series.
Sri Lanka played much better in that second game, only to find that the weather was not on their side. If they had won, we’d be looking forward to a fascinating finale today. Instead the main question is whether England are ruthless enough to complete a whitewash or whether the Sri Lankans can give the scoreline the respectability their efforts deserve. There’s a World Cup starting on Saturday and both teams will want to go into it with a win in their sails.
As usual in this game of many layers, there are plenty of sub-plots to keep us interested. Can Banton, brought in as a replacemewnt for the injured Ben Duckett, make that No.4 spot his own? Can Pavan Rathnayeke, who has still faced only 233 balls in his international career, carry on playing like a prince? Can Sri Lanka’s other young guns find a way to cope with England’s elderly spinners, Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson? Can Jamie Overton and Sam Curran go for fewer than ten runs an over? Can Brook refrain from saying something silly? Will Brendon McCullum say anything at all?
You never can tell if a match will be exciting. But it’s unlikely to be as dull as the last day of the transfer window.
