3 hours ago
9
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
6th over: England 17-0 (Rehan 10, Duckett 6) Six dot balls in a row from Liyanage to Rehan. I thought England might go after the seamers, given how spin-dominated this series has been, but Fernando and Liyanage have bowled well.
5th over: England 17-0 (Rehan 10, Duckett 6) Duckett slashes Fernando behind square for two; it would have been four but for a good sprawling stop. All very quiet at the moment.
4th over: England 14-0 (Rehan 9, Duckett 4) Rehan takes a quick single to mid-on, one of three in another low-key over.
3rd over: England 11-0 (Rehan 7, Duckett 3) That Rehan boundary, it’s been a low-key start to the innings. No clues yet on the pitch – we’ll get that when the spinners come on.
2nd over: England 8-0 (Rehan 5, Duckett 3) A quiet first over from Liyanage, the highlight of which is a slash by Duckett that is well stopped on the boundary.
1st over: England 4-0 (Rehan 4, Duckett 0) Notorious D. I. G. – David Ivon Gower – is on commentary and the game is under way. After hitting the field with a couple of shots off Asitha Fernando, Rehan Ahmed times a beautiful push through the covers for four. This ain’t no nighthawk.
Taha Hashim
Liam Dawson has been around for England’s finest white-ball moments in the past decade. He was an uncapped inclusion in the 2016 World T20 touring party, when Eoin Morgan’s fresh-faced team were denied right at the end by Carlos Brathwaite’s “remember the name” sixes. He was there as a squad member on that golden day at Lord’s in 2019 and a travelling reserve when England won the T20 World Cup in Australia three years later.
But, remarkably, the 35-year-old is still waiting to make his debut at a global tournament. It has been an international career spent on call, limited to 33 appearances in all formats, his left-arm spin and handy batting there to use in case of emergency.
Team news
Sri Lanka Nissanka, Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya, Asalanka (c), Liyanage, P Rathnayeke, Wellalage, Hasaranga, Vandersay, A Fernando.
England Rehan, Duckett, Root, Bethell, Brook (c), Buttler (wk), Jacks, S Curran, J Overton, Dawson, Rashid.
England win the toss and bat
England are unchanged; Sri Lanka have brought in the brilliant Wanindu Hasaranga for Pramod Madushan.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to the first series decider of 2026: Sri Lanka v England in Colombo, the third and final match of a largely meaningless and yet still engaging series. A mini-masterpiece from Joe Root on a dodgy wicket brought England level on Saturday; we’ll soon find out what kind of pitch we have today.
The match starts at 9am.
