England completed a series sweep over Sri Lanka by winning the third and final T20I of the series. The victory saw them seal the assignment by 3-0 and they will now head to the T20 World Cup full of confidence. Sam Curran and Jacob Bethell proved to be the star performers for the Three Lions as they defeated their opponents by 12 runs at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, the visitors had a poor start and lost Ben Duckett for a golden duck on just the second delivery of the innings to Dushmantha Chameera. Things got worse for them as the powerplay progressed and they lost the likes of Bethell, Tom Banton and Harry Brook before the first six overs. Jos Buttler would then lose his wicket in the eighth over as England went down to 47/5 at one stage.
Curran to the rescue
With the innings falling apart, Curran came to the rescue for the visitors and went on to play a brilliant knock. While all the other batters struggled to score boundaries, the all-rounder stood firm on his crease and played a robust knock of 58 runs from 48 deliveries.
However, he didn't get a lot of support from the other end as Chameera bowled the spell of his life and recorded figures of 5/24. After dismissing Duckett and Jacks, he also got the wickets of both Liam Dawson and Jamie Overton in the 18th over before getting rid of Curran in the final over. The pacer played a crucial role in restricting England to 128/9 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka didn't fare any better with the bat
In reply, Sri Lanka also got off to a dismal start as opener Kamil Mishara got dismissed by Luke Wood for a two-ball duck in the first over itself. The duo of Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis tried a stitch a big partnership, but their efforts went in vain as the former lost his wicket to Dawson for 23 runs in the fifth over. While Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake steadied the ship a little with their 28-run stand, it was in the ninth over when things started to go south for the Lankan Lions.
While Adil Rashid racked up Rathnayake's wicket on the final delivery of the ninth over, Jacks dismissed Mendis on the first delivery of the tenth over and this left Sri Lanka on 62/4. Jacks would then get the wickets of both Kamindu Mendis and Janith Liyanage to restrict them to 97/6 in the 16th over. England's spinners absolutely dominated over the opposing batters and it would be Bethell who would take all of the remaining four wickets as Sri Lanka got bowled out for 116 runs in 19.3 overs. He finished with bowling figures of 4/11 in 3.3 overs.
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England won the low-scoring encounter by a 12-run margin and clinched the series in comprehensive fashion..Curran would be adjudged as the Player of the Match and would also be named as the Player of the Series for his exceptional all-round display. England will be looking to maintain this form in the 2026 T20 World Cup where they will face Nepal in their opening match on February 8.