Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
22nd over: England 88-2 (Root 35, Bethell 19)
Share
21st over: England 83-2 (Root 32, Bethell 17) Root’s quiet mastery continues with a back-foot pull for four off Wellalage. He is never better than on awkward subcontinental pitches.
“Morning Rob, and (I think) a happy birthday to you!” writes Guy Hornsby, on today of all days. “No better place to be spending it, of course. This may be a bit of a blink-and-you-miss it ODI series with limited value to some, but I’m here for it. Rehan opening! Bethell-watch! Brook redemption arc! Hasaranga! Dawson cementing his place! An England spin armada! Kusal Mendis! There’s a lot going on and it’s better than the Manchester rain in January.”
I want what you’re having. (You’re right, of course – cricket rarely fails to make the world a better place.)
Share
$460,000 gets you a lot these days
Share
Updated at 10.22 GMT
20th over: England 77-2 (Root 28, Bethell 17) Sri Lanka review unsuccesfully for LBW whe Root misses a sweep off Vandersay and is hit on the rump. He was outside the line.
It looked a poor review to the naked eye, never mind the technology, but you can understand why they went for it given Root’s importance.
Share
19th over: England 73-2 (Root 26, Bethell 15) The pitch looks slow and awkward rather than downright difficult. Root (strike rate: 81) is rotating the strike much better than Bethell (SR: 54), a reflection of their experience. But overall England are in a decent position at drinks.
Share
This is a good read on a miserable situation.
Share
Updated at 10.10 GMT
18th over: England 69-2 (Root 24, Bethell 13) Two from Vandersay’s over.
Share
17th over: England 67-2 (Root 23, Bethell 12) Another quiet over from Hasaranga. We need someone else’s glasses, ideally someone from the 1980s, because this isn’t the usual bish-bosh ODI series: 250 may well be a matchwinning score.
England’s Joe Root plays a shot. Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 10.15 GMT
16th over: England 65-2 (Root 22, Bethell 11) With the occasional exception, low-risk singles are England’s currency at the moment; they bank three more from Vandersay’s over.
Share
15th over: England 62-2 (Root 20, Bethell 10) The pitch looks okay at the moment. There’s some turn but nothing disgusting. And Joe Root, as is his wont, is making it look easy: he has 20 from 20 balls and I can barely remember a stroke.
We are living in the time of an all-time batting genius, and he’s English, and I’m not sure we appreciate him enough. He is also – and this matters – one of the nicest human beings around.
Share
Updated at 10.03 GMT
14th over: England 57-2 (Root 17, Bethell 8) The legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay concedes five singles from his first over.
Share
13th over: England 52-2 (Root 14, Bethell 6) Bethell reverse sweeps Hasaranga past slip for four. That’s a fine shot from a player who some idiots reckon has a future in the game.
He almost offers a return catch later in the over. But he doesn’t, so on we go.
Share
12th over: England 47-2 (Root 13, Bethell 2)
Share
11th over: England 45-2 (Root 12, Bethell 1) The new batter is crickerotica subject Jacob Bethell. After he gets off the mark, Root reverse sweeps expertly for four.
Share
Updated at 10.52 GMT
WICKET! England 40-2 (Rehan c Vandersay b Hasaranga 24)
The skiddy legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, rested for the first two games, comes into the attack. Rehan survives an LBW appeal first ball after missing a pull at a delivery that would have missed leg stump – but two balls later he pulls another googly straight to midwicket to end a promising innings.
Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga celebrates after taking the wicket of England’s Rehan Ahmed. Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 10.15 GMT
10th over: England 40-1 (Rehan 24, Root 8) Root misses a lusty slog-sweep at a ball from Wellalage that bounces sharply. As in the first two games, this feels like a handy toss to win.
Share
9th over: England 37-1 (Rehan 22, Root 7) Rehan belts Dhananjaya for successive boundaries, a slog-sweep and a flamboyant slap over mid-off. Root carts another to cow corner to make it 16 from the over.
Share
8th over: England 21-1 (Rehan 11, Root 2) Spin from both ends with the left-armer Wellallage coming on. Just one from the over. This is a very 1990s start.
Share
7th over: England 20-1 (Rehan 11, Root 1) Some fresh-faced genius has walked out to bat.
Share
WICKET! England 19-1 (Duckett c Wellalage b Dhananjaya 6)
The first wicket falls to the fifth ball of spin. Duckett plinks a reverse sweep straight to cover off Dhananjaya and is on his way for six.
England’s Ben Duckett leaves the field after losing his wicket. Photograph: Eranga Jayawardena/APShare
Updated at 09.45 GMT
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
Share
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.
England’s Ben Duckett plays a shot. Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 09.22 GMT
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.
ShareTaha 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.
Share
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.
Share
Updated at 08.45 GMT
England win the toss and bat
England are unchanged; Sri Lanka have brought in the brilliant Wanindu Hasaranga for Pramod Madushan.
Share
Updated at 08.46 GMT
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.
Share
