Sri Lanka chased down 430 at Rawalpindi on Thursday, reaching 430 for 8 with one ball to spare to beat England by two wickets — the second-highest successful run chase in the history of one-day internationals, and a result that left Harry Brook’s record double century on the losing side.
The two innings produced 859 runs, according to ESPNcricinfo, which described the match as a shootout and places the chase second on the all-time list. None of the filings this desk has read names the higher one.
From 24 for 2
Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis won the toss and chose to bowl — a decision that looked indefensible for most of the afternoon, and worse still when he was run out without facing a ball, beaten by Gus Atkinson’s fingertips in the fifth over of the reply. That left Sri Lanka 24 for 2.
What followed was built on four innings:
| Batter | Runs | Balls |
|---|---|---|
| Pavan Rathnayake | 130 | 106 |
| Avishka Fernando | 97 | 83 |
| Dasun Shanaka | 97 | 50 |
| Janith Liyanage | 61* | 27 |
Opener Avishka Fernando and Rathnayake rebuilt from the collapse, Rathnayake making the only century of the chase. Dasun Shanaka then struck 97 from 50 balls — the innings the Daily Mirror calls the “game-changing” one — before Janith Liyanage finished it with 61 not out from 27.
ESPNcricinfo credits heavy dew with helping Sri Lanka in the second half of the chase.
The last two balls
England were still in it at the death. Josh Tongue yorked Dunith Wellalage and Eshan Malinga with successive deliveries, and finished with 3 for 79. But No. 10 Asitha Fernando got Liyanage back on strike with six needed from the final two balls, and Liyanage hit Tongue over long-off for six to win it.
The arithmetic closes exactly: Sri Lanka were on 424 needing six, and finished on 430 — the target to the run, with two wickets and one ball in hand.
Brook’s record, and the ball count
Brook made 202 and reached 200 off 114 balls, the fastest double century in the 55-year history of the format, beating India’s Shubman Gill, who got there in 117 balls against the West Indies on 30 September. It was also England’s first ODI double hundred by any batter, and England’s 429 for 4 is the highest total Sri Lanka has ever conceded.
The three newsrooms covering the innings do not agree on how many balls Brook’s final score of 202 took: the Daily Mirror says 115, Hiru News says 116, and ESPNcricinfo’s scorecard also gives 116. The discrepancy does not touch the record itself — that is measured at the 200 mark, off 114, and all three agree on the 202.
Brook’s 202 carried 21 fours and 10 sixes. Joe Root made 69, Will Jacks 66 not out from 30 balls, and Tom Banton 50. Wellalage was Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler with 2 for 56 from his 10 overs.
Not reported
Ada Derana filed on the result under the headline “Sri Lanka stun England by chasing down 430 to win as ODI records tumble” (adaderana.lk/news/250405), but the site has now returned a CloudFront 403 to this desk for 35 consecutive days and no publication date could be extracted, so it is named here rather than cited.
No filing this desk has seen states Sri Lanka’s own previous highest successful chase, or confirms whether Liyanage’s 61 not out from 27 balls is a Sri Lankan record for the position.
This was the third match of the Pakistan ODI tri-series. As this desk reported before play, Sri Lanka and England both came into it without a point while Pakistan had won both their matches.