England beat Sri Lanka by six wickets at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20 series, chasing 146 with 47 balls to spare, the Daily Mirror reported and Hiru News reported on Friday.

Tom Banton finished unbeaten on 52 from 24 balls. The target was reached in 12.1 overs.

The innings that decided it

Sri Lanka’s problem was not the start. Openers took them to 55 for 0 after five overs, with Pathum Nissanka top-scoring at 37 from 21.

Then Liam Dawson removed Lahiru Udara and Kamil Mishara in consecutive balls in the final over of the powerplay, and the innings never recovered. Sri Lanka added 90 for 9 across the remaining 15 overs and finished on 145 for 9 — including just seven runs from the last three overs, with Sonny Baker bowling a wicket maiden in the 19th.

Dawson took 3 for 32 and was named player of the match. Jamie Overton took 2 for 23 and Baker 1 for 15. Stand-in captain Charith Asalanka made 31 and Wanindu Hasaranga 27, but Hasaranga conceded 42 runs from three overs with the ball.

The imbalance shows in one statistic: Sri Lanka hit two sixes, England hit ten.

Sri Lanka changed the XI, bringing in Dilshan Madushanka and debutant Tharindu Rathnayake, with spinners Dunith Wellalage and Maheesh Theekshana making way. Asalanka had wanted to bowl first to use the short straight boundaries — a plan that, as Hiru’s account puts it, Sri Lanka appeared to forget when it came to setting a total.

England’s chase

Jos Buttler and Aneurin Donald put on 51 in 4.3 overs before falling four balls apart for 30 and 21. Buttler’s 30 took him past 15,000 runs in all T20 cricket, moving him one ahead of Kieron Pollard at the top of that list. Donald, a Glamorgan player returning to his home ground, opened with a ramped six off Dushmantha Chameera’s first ball.

Captain Harry Brook hit three sixes in 23 from eight balls before Eshan Malinga took a diving catch to dismiss him — his first dismissal in four innings. That ended a run of 311 runs without being out, and the Daily Mirror notes he had needed 49 on the day to pass Tilak Varma’s record of 336 T20 international runs without dismissal. The two accounts reconcile: 288 before the innings, plus 23, leaves him 25 short of the mark.

Banton then finished it with four sixes.

Context

This was the second consecutive heavy defeat in three days. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 135 in the opener at the Utilita Bowl on Tuesday while England made 254 for 4 — a 119-run margin.

England have now won 22 of their past 25 completed T20 internationals, a win rate of 88 percent; the next-best full member over that period is India at 73 percent. It is their tenth win in twelve completed T20 internationals at Sophia Gardens, and they remain unbeaten in the format this summer after a 4-0 win over India earlier in the year.

Sri Lanka named these squads at the start of the month, with Asalanka appointed white-ball vice-captain; he is leading in this series. England added Kevin Pietersen as white-ball mentor specifically for this tour.

The series concludes at Old Trafford on Saturday, followed by three one-day internationals. Sri Lanka then tour Pakistan in October and November.

A note on the opening margin

Our earlier reporting of Sri Lanka’s first-match defeat referred to a 120-run margin, following the figure in circulation at the time. Both accounts of Thursday’s match give 119, which is what England’s 254 for 4 minus Sri Lanka’s 135 produces. The 119 figure is the correct one.

Not reported

Neither outlet gives Sri Lanka’s full scorecard, the bowling figures of the Sri Lankan attack beyond Hasaranga’s, or any comment from Asalanka or the team management on the batting collapse. Neither says whether Wellalage and Theekshana are dropped for the series or rested, nor whether Chameera and Madushanka both continue at Old Trafford. No Sri Lanka Cricket statement on the series position had been published at the time of writing.