Sri Lanka play England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday in the final match of the ODI tri-series group stage — a fixture that cannot change who contests Saturday’s final. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have both already qualified.
The match starts at 1.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time, Hiru News reported at 7.08 a.m. Colombo time, describing it as the last game of the preliminary round.
England arrive bottom, with nothing left to play for
England have lost all three of their matches and finish the group in last place. ESPNcricinfo headlined its preview “Dead-rubber blues for England as Sri Lanka tune up for final”, and recorded that they “sit rock-bottom with three losses in a row, after traumatic setbacks in last two outings”.
Two of those defeats came from commanding positions. ESPNcricinfo’s Matt Roller wrote that no team in ODI history has ever failed to win from the situations England found themselves in last week, and that captain Harry Brook has overseen three straight losses, “twice from positions of utter dominance”. The preview also notes a pattern of close defeats under head coach Brendon McCullum.
England had still hoped to reach the final: a Pakistan win over Sri Lanka on Tuesday would have set up a straight shoot-out for the second place. Instead Pakistan — with nothing to play for themselves — were bowled out for 110, and Sri Lanka won by eight wickets to go through with a game in hand.
Sri Lanka may rotate
Because the result no longer matters to qualification, Sri Lanka may make several changes to their side, Hiru reported, attributing that to unnamed cricket sources. No filing confirms any change, and the team had not been announced at the time of writing.
ESPNcricinfo’s assessment is that Tuesday’s win should give Sri Lanka confidence ahead of next year’s World Cup in southern Africa, with the injured Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga still to return, while noting that the side lacks a fifth frontline bowler.
The final is on 31 October at the same ground, against Pakistan — the side Sri Lanka lost to in the tournament opener.
Not reported
This is a pre-match report. The match had not started when it was published, and nothing here describes a result, a toss or a team sheet. Neither filing gives the playing XIs, and neither names any player Sri Lanka might rest.
Neither the Daily Mirror nor NewsFirst had filed on the fixture when this was written, checked against the Daily Mirror’s breaking-news listing and the NewsFirst homepage rail at 02:50 UTC on Thursday. That was accurate at the time of writing; the Daily Mirror filed its match report at 10.05 p.m. Colombo time the same day — see the update below.
Update — England won by 55 runs
The match has been played. England beat Sri Lanka by 55 runs, the Daily Mirror reported.
England batted first and posted 386 for five, built on a career-best 167 off 132 balls from Ben Duckett, who shared a 163-run opening stand with Tom Banton (74). Harry Brook, Will Jacks and Jordan Cox (43) added to the total.
Chasing 387, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 331. Kusal Mendis made 89 and Pavan Rathnayake struck 118 off 77 balls, keeping the chase alive until Liam Dawson dismissed him in the 45th over. Dawson finished with four for 49 and Sri Lanka lost their last five wickets for 16 runs.
The win was England’s first of the tournament and ended a six-match ODI losing streak in Pakistan. It did not change either side’s standing: England still failed to qualify, and Sri Lanka’s place in the final was already secure — as this article’s framing anticipated.
One point is unresolved. This report gave the final as 31 October, sourced to ESPNcricinfo; the Daily Mirror’s match report says the final is on Sunday, which would be 1 November. 31 October 2026 falls on a Saturday, so the two cannot both be right. This desk has not been able to settle the date from a dated primary, and neither reading is asserted here. The fixture itself is not in doubt: Sri Lanka play hosts Pakistan in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium.