[themaclad]

Did not see much of it pitiful performance rotation does not work play your best side at all times although New Zealand are not but they are far too good for our hapless saps

England 303 and 122 for 9 (Wood 29, Wagner 3-18, Henry 3-36) lead New Zealand 388 (Young 82, Conway 80, Taylor 80, Broad 4-48) by 37 runs
A devastating opening spell from Matt Henry backed up by Neil Wagner and later Ajaz Patel snuffed out England's hopes on the third day of the second Test at Edgbaston.
England were left reeling at 3 for 30 as Henry tore through their top order either side of tea and by the close, they were nine down and just 37 runs ahead. Their fragile middle order was exposed once more and New Zealand were on the cusp of victory - although not enough to take the extra half-hour at the end of the day to try and finish it off.
Having resumed on 229 for 3, still 74 runs behind, New Zealand lost their remaining seven wickets for 96 runs, but that wasn't quickly enough for England, who collapsed to 76 for 7 still nine runs adrift, only clawing their way ahead via an eighth-wicket partnership between Mark Wood and Olly Stone.
Bearing in mind that New Zealand were resting spearheads Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson ahead of next week's WTC final, a theme that had developed surrounding the tourists' incredible depth became outright dominance as England had no answers.
Ross Taylor batted with greater fluency than on the previous day, pushing his overnight score on from 46 via a series of boundaries, including a deft sweep off Dan Lawrence to bring up his fifty. He then hit back-to-back fours off James Anderson through the point region, with the second looking more intentional than the first.
Taylor was dropped on 68 hooking to long leg, where Sam Billings grassed the chance but he was eventually out nicking Stone through to wicketkeeper James Bracey for 80, the third New Zealand batter and fifth overall this match to be dismissed in the 80s.
Bracey, the England wicketkeeper playing his second Test, had a moment to forget a short time later when he dropped Tom Blundell off Stone with the batter yet to score.
Wood was bowling with sharp pace for reward as Blundell and Henry Nicholls withstood the pressure. But that was only until Nicholls was struck on the helmet attempting to pull a rapid bumper. No sooner had he been given the all-clear to continue, Nicholls gloved Wood's next delivery down the leg side and Bracey held on.
Anderson had toiled for 24.2 overs before taking his first wicket of the match, bowling Wagner for a duck and, when Wood had Henry out lbw, New Zealand's lead was just 50 with only two wickets in hand
Stuart Broad mopped those up, including the wicket of Blundell, caught by Joe Root, who let out an almighty shout directly at the ball after he held on at slip, having dropped one the previous day off Stone that would have dismissed top-scorer Will Young on seven. Broad remained the pick of England's bowlers with 4 for 48 from 23.1 overs.
But the lead was 85 by that point and, when Henry had Rory Burns out for a second-ball duck, attempting to drive and edging to Tom Latham at second slip, the danger signs were there. Burns had been England's in-form batsman this series and it would fall to someone else this time. As it turned out, not even Root could come to the rescue.
Henry had Dom Sibley caught by Daryl Mitchell at third slip shortly before tea and, after the break, Zak Crawley's lean run continued when he fell lbw to Henry for 17 Ollie Pope rattled along to 23 off just 20 balls but he was struck on the knee roll by a Wagner inswinger and sent on his way with England still 27 behind.
Lawrence, who has impressed among the relative newcomers to this England side with a fifty on debut in Sri Lanka in January, scores of 46 and 50 against India in Ahmedabad and an unbeaten 81 in the first innings of this Test, was Wagner's second scalp, caught behind without scoring.
Bracey, out for a duck on debut at Lord's and again in the first innings here, managed a wry smile as the Edgbaston crowd roared when he got off the mark and they were equally enthusiastic when he pulled Trent Boult through midwicket for four.
His relief was brief, though, when Patel was re-introduced into the attack and struck with his third ball when Bracey moved across his stumps and ended up pressing the ball into middle with his glove.
Where there was Root there was hope, even if he had faced 54 balls to reach double figures. But his attempted cut off Patel produced only a top-edge through to Blundell.
What remained for home fans was another entertaining knock from Wood, who had put on a show on the second morning to reach 41 with some big hitting. This evening he took England into a five-run lead with a slog-sweep off Patel for six over deep midwicket. Two fours off as many balls in Patel's next over brought up England's hundred but they were seven wickets down and only 15 ahead.
Wood's partnership with Stone was worth 44 before Wood skied a Wagner short ball almost directly above his own head and Blundell had aeons to set himself beneath it, gloves at the ready.
Boult rearranged Broad's stumps in the last over of the evening, but Anderson survived the remaining four balls to ensure the match would see a fourth day.

[themaclad]

Did not see much of it pitiful performance rotation does not work play your best side at all times although New Zealand are not but they are far too good for our hapless saps

England 303 and 122 for 9 (Wood 29, Wagner 3-18, Henry 3-36) lead New Zealand 388 (Young 82, Conway 80, Taylor 80, Broad 4-48) by 37 runs
A devastating opening spell from Matt Henry backed up by Neil Wagner and later Ajaz Patel snuffed out England's hopes on the third day of the second Test at Edgbaston.
England were left reeling at 3 for 30 as Henry tore through their top order either side of tea and by the close, they were nine down and just 37 runs ahead. Their fragile middle order was exposed once more and New Zealand were on the cusp of victory - although not enough to take the extra half-hour at the end of the day to try and finish it off.
Having resumed on 229 for 3, still 74 runs behind, New Zealand lost their remaining seven wickets for 96 runs, but that wasn't quickly enough for England, who collapsed to 76 for 7 still nine runs adrift, only clawing their way ahead via an eighth-wicket partnership between Mark Wood and Olly Stone.
Bearing in mind that New Zealand were resting spearheads Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson ahead of next week's WTC final, a theme that had developed surrounding the tourists' incredible depth became outright dominance as England had no answers.
Ross Taylor batted with greater fluency than on the previous day, pushing his overnight score on from 46 via a series of boundaries, including a deft sweep off Dan Lawrence to bring up his fifty. He then hit back-to-back fours off James Anderson through the point region, with the second looking more intentional than the first.
Taylor was dropped on 68 hooking to long leg, where Sam Billings grassed the chance but he was eventually out nicking Stone through to wicketkeeper James Bracey for 80, the third New Zealand batter and fifth overall this match to be dismissed in the 80s.
Bracey, the England wicketkeeper playing his second Test, had a moment to forget a short time later when he dropped Tom Blundell off Stone with the batter yet to score.
Wood was bowling with sharp pace for reward as Blundell and Henry Nicholls withstood the pressure. But that was only until Nicholls was struck on the helmet attempting to pull a rapid bumper. No sooner had he been given the all-clear to continue, Nicholls gloved Wood's next delivery down the leg side and Bracey held on.
Anderson had toiled for 24.2 overs before taking his first wicket of the match, bowling Wagner for a duck and, when Wood had Henry out lbw, New Zealand's lead was just 50 with only two wickets in hand
Stuart Broad mopped those up, including the wicket of Blundell, caught by Joe Root, who let out an almighty shout directly at the ball after he held on at slip, having dropped one the previous day off Stone that would have dismissed top-scorer Will Young on seven. Broad remained the pick of England's bowlers with 4 for 48 from 23.1 overs.
But the lead was 85 by that point and, when Henry had Rory Burns out for a second-ball duck, attempting to drive and edging to Tom Latham at second slip, the danger signs were there. Burns had been England's in-form batsman this series and it would fall to someone else this time. As it turned out, not even Root could come to the rescue.
Henry had Dom Sibley caught by Daryl Mitchell at third slip shortly before tea and, after the break, Zak Crawley's lean run continued when he fell lbw to Henry for 17 Ollie Pope rattled along to 23 off just 20 balls but he was struck on the knee roll by a Wagner inswinger and sent on his way with England still 27 behind.
Lawrence, who has impressed among the relative newcomers to this England side with a fifty on debut in Sri Lanka in January, scores of 46 and 50 against India in Ahmedabad and an unbeaten 81 in the first innings of this Test, was Wagner's second scalp, caught behind without scoring.
Bracey, out for a duck on debut at Lord's and again in the first innings here, managed a wry smile as the Edgbaston crowd roared when he got off the mark and they were equally enthusiastic when he pulled Trent Boult through midwicket for four.
His relief was brief, though, when Patel was re-introduced into the attack and struck with his third ball when Bracey moved across his stumps and ended up pressing the ball into middle with his glove.
Where there was Root there was hope, even if he had faced 54 balls to reach double figures. But his attempted cut off Patel produced only a top-edge through to Blundell.
What remained for home fans was another entertaining knock from Wood, who had put on a show on the second morning to reach 41 with some big hitting. This evening he took England into a five-run lead with a slog-sweep off Patel for six over deep midwicket. Two fours off as many balls in Patel's next over brought up England's hundred but they were seven wickets down and only 15 ahead.
Wood's partnership with Stone was worth 44 before Wood skied a Wagner short ball almost directly above his own head and Blundell had aeons to set himself beneath it, gloves at the ready.
Boult rearranged Broad's stumps in the last over of the evening, but Anderson survived the remaining four balls to ensure the match would see a fourth day.

[themaclad]

Only took one ball

[themaclad]

New Zealand 388 (Young 82, Conway 80, Taylor 80, Broad 4-48) and 41 for 2 (Latham 23*) beat England 303 (Lawrence 81*, Burns 81, Boult 4-85) and 122 (Wood 29, Wagner 3-18, Henry 3-36) by eight wickets
The first ball said it all, really. Trent Boult sent it down with a scrambled seam, it found the edge and Tom Blundell's waiting gloves leaving Olly Stone, England's last man out, visibly exhaling in deflated resignation to his side's fate. And the Edgbaston clock hadn't even ticked over to 11am on the fourth day yet.
The man at the other end, James Anderson, was into the changing room and straight back out again, producing a maiden first up. He wasn't going down without a fight, even with a target of 38 to defend.
Nor was his old mate, Stuart Broad, who struck with the last ball of the following over when he removed Devon Conway, the man who had racked up 306 runs at 76.50 this series in the only two Tests of his career. Broad enticed Conway to nibble at one that pitched outside off and found an edge which James Bracey took behind the stumps.
With the visitors only needing 32 more for victory, it was all a bit of a moot point but England could rely on their two elder statesmen, who had bowled so well against stiff opposition in this match and who are consummate professionals, to keep competing to the last.
And they did, doing their best to make scoring slow-going for New Zealand but the tourists had all the time in the world, a tiny target and wickets in hand - everything - on their side.
It was England's batters who had let them down, the second-innings capitulation for 122 could have been worse. They were 76 for 7 before an eighth-wicket stand worth 44 between Stone and Wood (who top-scored with 29).
Stone came into the attack in the 10th over of the morning and struck with his sixth ball. Having had a wider delivery punished to the fence by Will Young two balls prior, he had Young out chopping onto his stumps with just five runs needed.
Stand-in captain Tom Latham sealed the result in the next over with a four clubbed through square leg off Wood followed by another two balls later, guided through third man. It was New Zealand's first Test series win in England since 1999, moving them back to the top of the ICC rankings as a consequence, and consigned England to their first home Test series defeat since 2014.


England's batters from No. 3 to No. 7 scored just 59 runs between them in the second innings while in the first Dan Lawrence - with an unbeaten 81 - scored more than three times as many runs as the other four middle-order batters combined.
The difference was that openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley were dismissed for single figures in the second innings - Burns, England's leading run-scorer for the series with 238 at 59.50, fell for a duck - exposing England's middle-order frailties before tea on the third afternoon.
England's fielding had been ragged too, with at least three missed opportunities on the third day on top of Zak Crawley's low chance that didn't go their way on the second, a moment that sparked more controversy over the on-field umpires' soft-signal option.
It all left England needing with huge selection concerns ahead of the August Test series against India, even allowing for the return of such shoo-ins as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler in that middle-order. It also left New Zealand with selection headaches of a different kind.
Matt Henry's devastating opening spell to remove England's top three either side of tea on the third day cracked this game wide open and gave him six wickets for the match for Player of the Match honours.

But Henry was among six changes made to the side who drew the first Test at Lord's. Along with Neil Wagner, who took seven wickets across the two matches this series including 3 for 18 in England's second innings at Edgbaston, he is among a host of New Zealand seamers jostling for a place in next week's WTC final against India.
Of the top three contenders, Trent Boult took six wickets for the match at Edgbaston upon his return from post-IPL quarantine while Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson were rested.
Will Young, who came into the side while Kane Williamson nursed a sore elbow, acquitted himself well with a top-score of 82 but may have to bide his time, especially given Ross Taylor's doughty 80 in the same innings. One thing looks assured though, given New Zealand's bench strength and dominance in this series, they should pose formidable opposition for a long time to come.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Sri Lanka in England - One Day Records





Highest Totals Batting First

1. England 333-9 - Taunton, 11th June 1983 [off 60 overs]
2. England 324-7 - Cardiff, 2nd July 2016
3. England 321-7 - Headingley, 1st July 2006
4. Sri Lanka 319-8 - The Oval, 20th June 2006
5. Sri Lanka 318-7 - Old Trafford, 28th June 2006


Highest Successful Chases

1. Sri Lanka 324-2, needing 322 - Headingley, 1st July 2006
2. England 309-4, needing 306 - The Oval, 29th June 2006
3. Sri Lanka 297-3, needing 294 - The Oval, 13th June 2013
4. Sri Lanka 265-2, needing 262 - Chester-le-Street, 24th June 2006
5. Sri Lanka 260-5, needing 257 - Lord's, 20th August 1998

HIGHEST TIE: England 286-8, replying to 286-9 - Trent Bridge, 21st June 2016


Lowest Totals

1. Sri Lanka 67 - Old Trafford, 28th May 2014
2. England 99 - Chester-le-Street, 25th May 2014
3. Sri Lanka 121 - The Oval, 28th June 2011
4. Sri Lanka 136 - Headingley, 20th June 1983
5. Sri Lanka 144 - The Oval, 22nd May 2014


Highest Individual Scores

1. Jason Roy 162 - The Oval, 29th June 2016
2. Sanath Jayasuriya 152 - Headingley, 1st July 2006
3. Mahela Jayawardene 144 - Headingley, 1st July 2011
4. Kumar Sangakkara 134* - The Oval, 13th June 2013
5. Alexander Hales 133* - Edgbaston, 24th June 2016


Best Bowling Figures

1. Christopher Jordan 5-29 - Old Trafford, 28th May 2014
2. Muttiah Muralitharan 5-34 - Lord's, 20th August 1998
3. Victor Marks 5-39 - Taunton, 11th June 1983
4. Suraj Randiv 5-42 - Old Trafford, 9th July 2011
5. Sachithra Senanayake 4-13 - Chester-le-Street, 25th May 2014


Most Runs In A Series

1. Upul Tharanga 347 - 2006
2. Mahela Jayawardene 328 - 2006
3. Sanath Jayasuriya 322 - 2006
4. Jason Roy 316 - 2016
5. Alastair Cook 298 - 2011


Most Wickets In A Series

1. Lasith Malinga 13 - 2006
2. Christopher Jordan 12 - 2014
3. David Willey 10 - 2016
4. Liam Plunkett 10 - 2016
5. Sachithra Senanayake 9 - 2014


Most Runs In Total

1. Mahela Jayawardene 807 - 2002-2014
2. Kumar Sangakkara 794 - 2002-2014
3. Angelo Mathews 633 - 2011-present
4. Sanath Jayasuriya 538 - 1998-2011
5. Alastair Cook 535 - 2006-2014


Most Wickets In Total

1. Lasith Malinga 32 - 2006-2019
2. James Anderson 19 - 2011-2014
3. Chris Jordan 13 - 2014-present
4. Sanath Jayasuriya 13 - 1998-2011
5. Liam Plunkett 13 - 2006-present


Highest Respective T20 Totals

Sri Lanka 183-7 - The Oval, 20th May 2014
England 174-7 - The Oval, 20th May 2014


Highest Respective Individual T20 Scores

Joseph Buttler 73* - Southampton, 5th July 2016
Mahela Jayawardene 72* - Bristol, 25th June 2011


Best Respective T20 Bowling Figures

Paul Collingwood 4-22 - Southampton, 15th June 2006
Lasith Malinga 3-28 - The Oval, 20th May 2014

[Lord Snooty]

3. England 321-7 - Headingley, 1st July 2006

1. Sri Lanka 324-2, needing 322 - Headingley, 1st July 2006

That were a right match. I think they got the runs with about 20 overs to spare as well.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

3. England 321-7 - Headingley, 1st July 2006

1. Sri Lanka 324-2, needing 322 - Headingley, 1st July 2006

That were a right match. I think they got the runs with about 20 overs to spare as well.

Won off 37.3 overs after an opening partnership of 286. Three days later they went to Amsterdam and scored 443-9 against the Netherlands, which remained the record for the next ten years. And all of this just a few months after that match in Jo'burg where Australia set the first ever 400+ total and South Africa chased it right down. 2006 was a real watershed year in the one-day game.

[Lord Snooty]

On a different subject.......

Who's daft idea was it to play the World Test Championship Final in the country where it rains all the time?

[themaclad]

England 130 for 2 (Buttler 68*, Roy 36) beat Sri Lanka 129 for 7 (Shanaka 50, Rashid 2-17) by eight wickets
England have taken a one-nil lead in the T20I series against Sri Lanka with a comfortable eight-wicket victory in Cardiff achieved with 17 deliveries to spare.
A much-changed Sri Lanka side - there were six alterations from their previous T20I in March - never really got to grips with the variation and control of the England attack or a slightly sluggish surface that rendered strokeplay tricky. At one stage they went 10 overs (from 4.2 to 14.1) without hitting a four and there were just three sixes in their innings.
Eoin Morgan, the England captain, appeared to have an almost endless array of options and variations on hand in the field. And with Adil Rashid producing the third most economical four-over spell of his T20I career (he conceded 17) and Chris Woakes (three overs for 14) and Liam Livingstone (two overs for nine) adding equally miserly support in conceding just one boundary between them, Sri Lanka never looked to be on course for a competitive total.
While Dasun Shanaka, with his second T20I half-century, helped Sri Lanka plunder 25 off the final two overs of the innings to drag his side to something approaching respectability, only one of his colleagues, Kusal Perera, made 20 and Sri Lanka only took their run-rate above a run-a-ball in their penultimate over.
That left England chasing a modest 130 for victory. And even without the injured Ben Stokes, that was unlikely to test the side ranked No. 1 in the world in this format

Jos Buttler and Jason Roy, took 61 from the powerplay to all but end the game as a contest. If Buttler, timing the ball beautifully both through and over the off side, was the more pleasing on the eye, Roy was no less effective as he thrashed through the leg side. It was some surprise when he was brilliantly caught attempting to flay one over mid-off.
By then, though, the openers had added 80 from 55 balls. And while Dawid Malan (seven off 14) was unable to get into his stride, Buttler brought up a 38-ball half-century by taking 10 off two deliveries from Akila Dananjaya - a pulled six followed by a drive for four - and ensured England cruised over the victory line with quite a bit to spare.
Perhaps the one-side nature of the contest was no big surprise: this was the No. 1 ranked T20 side playing at home against the No. 8 ranked side, after all. Spare a thought for Sri Lanka, though. In the age of Covid, we have become accustomed to teams performing without the warm-up matches and acclimatisation we once expected. Here, though, Sri Lanka were up against a side who are in the middle of their domestic T20 tournament - the Vitality Blast - and had only had a couple of inter-squad matches to prepare by comparison. It was hardly ideal and it may well have shown.

Buttler came into this game having spent the last couple of weeks batting in Lancashire's middle-order in T20 cricket. And with the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes also vying for the opening position in this format, he may have felt he had something to prove. If so, he did a fine job of making his point with an innings that was both controlled and brutal. Early on, it was his shots through the off-side - a lofted drive and a back foot punch, in particular - that caught the eye, but as the ball softened and the sluggish pitch made such strokes less productive, he produced some powerful thumps through the leg side. He gave only one chance, from the final ball of the match, when an outside edge was dropped by Kusal Perera. It was Buttler's second T20I half-century in succession and his third in four innings. For a man who scores at his rates, that is a remarkable level of consistency. He also scored a century in his final IPL innings.

Shanaka recorded the second half-century of his T20I career to justify his recall to the Sri Lanka side. Shanaka hadn't played an international match in this format since March 2020 but here, coming in with his side in some trouble (they were 52 for 4 in the ninth over), he provided the resistance. He looked hurried by Mark Wood initially - he was beaten by his first three deliveries and, after 16 balls, had scored just nine - but, as he settled, he unveiled some powerful strokes and accelerated nicely in hitting 23 from the eight deliveries before his dismissal from the final ball of the innings. Twice in succession, Wood was punished for some width by being cut to the boundary, while he also hit two-thirds of the sixes of the innings: a ferocious drive over long-on off Chris Jordan and a pull off Sam Curran. None of it was enough to take Sri Lanka to victory but he did, at least, give his bowlers something to defend.

Some were surprised by England's decision to prefer Livingstone to Moeen Ali as their spin-bowling allrounder. But Livingstone's ability to bowl both leg and offspin does give him an edge in being able to adapt to left or right-handed batters. He has been in decent form with the bat in domestic T20 cricket, too, scoring an unbeaten 94 a couple of weeks ago and 45 and 65 in his two most recent games. He didn't have a chance to bat here but impressed with the ball in delivering two well-controlled overs containing both offbreaks and leggies and without conceding a boundary. It was a performance that provided his captain with a buffer should any of his frontline bowlers have an off day and must have done Livingstone's T20 World Cup chances no harm at all.
Hope in Hasaranga

Sri Lanka's bowlers weren't given much of a chance by their batters. But at least Wanindu Hasaranga gave Sri Lanka supporters some cheer with a really well controlled spell of leg-spin that saw him concede just 12 runs and deliver 14 dot balls. With just a little luck he could have had a couple of wickets, too, as England's batters struggled to predict which deliveries would turn and which would skid on. Malan missed one which slid past his outside edge and Bairstow came within an ace of playing on to another which hurried on to him. The impression was that, given a decent target to defend, he could have caused England quite a lot of trouble.

The last time Chris Woakes played a T20I, Barack Obama was president of the USA and David Cameron was prime minister in the UK. So a lot has changed since November 2015. But with Jofra Archer missing and Woakes having enjoyed a decent IPL, England recalled him for his first international game since September; a remarkably long time for a player with a central contract who spent much of the winter in the squad's bio-bubbles. While Woakes didn't take a wicket, he more than justified his recall in conceding just one boundary in three frugal overs which contained 11 dot balls and cost only 14. With his control, his variations and his experience, he may well have put himself back in contention for a place in the T20 World Cup squad.

[themaclad]

England 108 for 5 (Livingstone 29*) beat Sri Lanka 111 for 7 (Mendis 39, Wood 2-18) by five wickets (DLS method)
Sri Lanka's batting was not good. That much is clear, right? In fact, we're being diplomatic. It was awful. England's bowling was decent, and the pitch was not exactly a flatbed, and yet, even despite all that, 111 for 7 was still a pathetic total. One that was always going to be run down, even if Sri Lanka had a good first seven overs with the ball.
Sri Lanka's batsmen repeatedly struggled for timing. Imagine a T20 innings in which only two players hit boundaries. Only Kusal Mendis (who hit a run-a-ball 39) and Isuru Udana (who made 19 not out off 14), found the rope - four fours and two sixes between them.
England stuttered early in their response, slipping to 36 for 4 in the seventh over, but they bat so deep that their victory never really seemed at risk. Liam Livingstone and Sam Billings put on 54 off 48 balls for the fifth wicket, and essentially made the game safe for the hosts.

As Sri Lanka had made a poor score in the first T20I, and given their reliance on their top four, the Powerplay was always going to be a good indication of how this game was going to go. Once again, the visitors failed, this time, almost embarrassingly. First, Danushka Gunathilaka was run out attemping a quick single - Sam Curran booting the ball into the stumps like a babier-faced David Beckham to find the batsman short of his ground.
In Curran's next over, Avishka Fernando attempted to hook the bowler but holed out to deep square leg - the fielder having to run in several metres to complete the catch. Kusal Perera and Mendis attempted desperately to hit boundaries after that, trying to make something of the Powerplay overs. But their timing was woeful. And Sri Lanka were 26 for 2 after six overs.
The Mark Wood Express
On a surface offering pace and carry, Mark Wood was quick and menacing. In his first over he was already into the high 140s kph/90mph range, and troubled Mendis, whose outside edge he beat. In later overs, he cranked it up to 150kph/93mph, and in the 14th over of the innings, he dismissed Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella off successive balls - the first off a big top edge that wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow settled under, and the second off a leading edge that went to cover. He finished with figures of 2 for 18 from his four overs.


Sri Lanka had an excellent first seven overs with the ball too. In fact, at one point in the seventh over, the visitors had England 36 for 4 - Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Isuru Udana and Wanindu Hasaranga all having struck once apiece.
But so modest was the required rate that Billings and Livingstone had the luxury of building steadily. They were watchful initially, only hitting out against the truly bad balls. As rain began to fall over Cardiff, they collected safe runs into the outfield to get England ahead of the DLS par score.
The rain caused a long delay, cutting their innings short by two overs, but the target never seemed daunting. They cruised towards it - Livingstone remaining not out on 29 off 26 as Curran hit the winning runs after Billings became a second wicket for Hasaranga.