England shook off an early wobble to start their World T20 Super 8s campaign in the perfect fashion as they beat Sri Lanka by 51 runs.
Having been put into bat, Harry Brook’s side struggled to 146-9, with Phil Salt (62 off 40) and Will Jacks (21 off 14) the only players to pass 14.
However, England responded superbly with the ball and dismissed the hosts for 95 in Pallekele.
Will Jacks took three wickets, while Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid all picked up two, and the victory was England’s 12th in a row against Sri Lanka in T20Is.
Daily Mail Sport’s WILL PICKWORTH has rated England’s players from the clash as they look to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament.
England beat Sri Lanka by 51 runs as they started their Super 8s campaign in perfect fashion
Harry Brook’s side have now won their last 12 T20 internationals against Sri Lanka
Phil Salt – 8/10
A match-winning knock to light up a quiet tournament by his standards, Salt powered England to a defendable total as wickets tumbled around him.
Jos Buttler – 3/10
A painful seven runs off 14 balls leaves Buttler averaging 12 at a strike rate of 113.20 in this World Cup. His dismissal was symptomatic of a player seriously struggling right now.
Jacob Bethell – 4/10
A rash shot to the first ball of the day from Maheesh Theekshana, who tormented England, although Bethell remains this team’s top run scorer at the tournament and will learn.
Tom Banton – 4/10
Ran himself out in a move that appeared to sum up England’s confused approach to their innings, but made a very difficult catch look easy when Pavan Rathnayake was dismissed first ball.
Harry Brook – 5/10
Keeps telling his team to be more aggressive, yet his dismissal was the most tentative of the lot as he prodded forward to Dunith Wellalage, meaning questions will continue to be raised about his ability against spin in these conditions. An inspired decision to open the bowling with Will Jacks though and rotated his options well.
Harry Brook got out in tentative fashion and questions continue about his record against spin
Jos Buttler’s struggles with the bat didn’t end as he mustered just seven runs off 14 balls
Sam Curran – 5/10
Not his day with the bat and wasn’t required with the ball, Curran will have busier outings heading forward.
Will Jacks – 9/10
Yet again Jacks stepped up when his team needed it. After winning two games with the bat in the group stage, his 3-22 set England on their way to victory – after his 21 off 14 balls earlier pushed them towards 150. Excellent work in the field to dismiss Dasun Shanaka too.
Liam Dawson – 7/10
An elite domestic player, but his batting continues to look short of the required quality at international level. His bowling is proving to be a great foil to Rashid though as he again provided control and a wicket-taking ability.
Jamie Overton – 7/10
One lusty blow late in the innings showed the importance of England’s batting depth before he bowled another tight spell. His tournament record of seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.21 is proving to be one of this team’s welcome strengths.
After recent criticism Jofra Archer silenced his doubters with two important early wickets
Will Jacks bowled a superb opening spell of 3-22 off his four overs to set England on their way
Jofra Archer – 7.5/10
Faced his fair share of recent criticism but Archer set the tone with a hostile new ball spell, taking two important early wickets to set England on their way.
Adil Rashid – 8/10
After coming on with Sri Lanka already six down, Rashid whirled his magic to close out the game for England and he took the key wicket of Shanaka.