England beats Sri Lanka in the final T20I by a huge margin of 89 runs to clean-sweep the series by 3-0 at Southampton on Saturday.
Considering the inconsistency of Sri Lankan batsmen, a 3-0 lead by England was always on the way. And the visitors did not put any effort to clear that perception after their struggle against seam and swing resulted in an embarrassing 89 runs defeat.
England ended the final T20I as a winner to remain unbeaten on the back of solid half-centuries from Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow to set up a target of 181 runs for Sri Lanka.
The hosts made fun of the Sri Lankan batting order as they were bundled out for only 91 while chasing the target, losing seven wickets to the pacers.
After winning the toss, Sri Lanka put England to bat first. The decision seemed worthy as Dushmantha Chameera and Binura fernando found pace and movement in their bowling as they kept the opening pair quiet.
Malan hit a six with a flick shot off Fernando, else wise, the bowlers hardly deviated from their line and length and conceded only 22 in the first four overs.
But Isuru Udana in the fifth over gave the momentum that England was looking for, he bowled 8 wide-balls and conceded a boundary from both batsmen to end his over on 17 runs. England scored 48 runs in the powerplay.
Bairstow had scored 26 off 26 while Malan was standing on 14 off 12 balls. A couple of good overs from spinners kept things tight for England but 17 runs over from Wanindu Hasaranga vanished all the pressure.
Bairstow brought up his half-century in the 10th over after hitting a six and boundary to Udana and England reached 100 two overs later. Bairstow gave his wicket on a slower ball from Udana but Malan kept hitting sixes to up the ante.
England were 143 for 1 in 15th over with Malan in-from, it looked like 200 would be an easy target. But a serious comeback from Dushmantha Chameera came out of nowhere which resulted in a loss of 5 wickets from 16-19 overs.
Fernando ignited the fire after Liam Livingstone was dismissed by a toe-ending a catch to cover. Chameera picked up from there to register his career-best figures by taking wickets of Sam Billings, Eoin Morgan, Malan, and Moeen Ali to leave England struggling at 163/6 in 19 overs.
But Udana kept the disappointment alive after giving away 55 runs from his four overs, which included three fours in the final over that took England to a competitive total.
Danushka Gunathilaka began the run chase in a style after placing David Willey’s delivery to the cover region for a four. But nothing added after that as England bowlers marched on.
Gunathilaka was trying to go after another one and lost his wicket to David Willey, and next came the struggle of Oshada Fernando and Kusal Perera who were swinging and missing.
Oshada Fernando was looking to go big after Chris Woakes but he was continuously missing the ball. Kusal Perera struggled for the chase and eventually lost his wicket on a leading-edge. Kusal Mendis came, scored a six, and followed him back to Pavillion.
Sri Lanka’s 39/3 at the end of powerplay showed their lack of consistency. But what came next was even more pathetic. Oshada Fernando’s lazy attempt to drag one to the offside ended his innings on 19 off 27.
Billings hit a sharp throw from deep midwicket to run out Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka struggling at 61 for 5 in the 11th over. Not too long after, the figures became 64 for 8 as Sri Lanka’s ugly batting display continued.
Binura Fernando showed some thrill in his 20 off 14, only delayed England’s victory, and the no 9 batsmen quite sang the tale of Sri Lanka after being the highest run-scorer from their side.
Brief scores: England 180/6 in 20 overs (Dawid Malan 76, Jonny Bairstow 51; Dushmantha Chameera 4-17) beat Sri Lanka 91 in 18.5 overs (Binura Fernando 20; David Willey 3-27, Sam Curran 2-14) by 89 runs.