England thrash Sri Lanka to complete clean sweep in T20I series
Jun 26, 2021
Southampton [UK], June 26 : Dawid Malan fired a sensational fifty before David Willey picked three wickets to help England defeat Sri Lanka by 89 runs in the third and final T20I on Saturday.
England clean-swept Sri Lanka 3-0 in the T20I series with Saturday's thrashing win over the visitors. The hosts scored 180 in their 20 overs and then folded Sri Lanka for 91 in the dead rubber to seal the series.
Chasing 181 runs, Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start as the side lost Danushka Gunathilaka in the first over. Skipper Kusal Perera and Oshada Fernando stitched a 19-run stand but weren't able to revive the innings.
Chris Woakes dismissed Perera in the fourth over while David Wiley sent back Kusal Mendis in the fifth to put Sri Lanka on backfoot.
Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular interval and never really recovered. The visitors were at 53/4 after 10 overs and then collapsed to 64/8 in the 15th over. Moeen Ali and Livingstone did the honours as England bundled out Sri Lanka for 91 inside 19 overs.
Earlier, England scored 180 runs for the loss of six wickets after Sri Lanka staged an incredible fightback. Sri Lankan bowlers restricted England at 180/6 as Dushmantha Chameera ended with figures of 4/17 from his quota.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first. However, England openers took England to a flying start. Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan fired with the bat as England scored 93/0 after the 10 overs.
Bairstow and Malan then put on a century stand for England before Isuru Udana struck in the 12th over.
Malan continued his exploits with the bat and smashed a 30-ball fifty. Sri Lanka meanwhile, dismissed Liam Livingstone in the 16th over to trigger a comeback.
England collapsed from 143/1 to 162/6 as the hosts lost five wickets inside four overs and ended up scoring 180 in 20 overs.
Brief Scores: England 180/6 (Dawid Malan 76, Jonny Bairstow 51; Dushmantha Chameera 4-17) vs Sri Lanka 91/10 (Binura Fernando 20, Oshada Fernando 19; David Willey 3-27)
