Harry Nrook blasted England’s first-ever ODI double hundred, yet still ended up on the losing side of a remarkable 859-run shootout in Rawalpindi. From 24 for 2, Sri Lanka pulled off the second-highest chase in the format’s history thanks to Pavan Rathnayake’s 130, 97s from Avishka Fernando and Dasun Shanaka, and a 27-ball 61 not out from Janith Liyanage.
Kusal Mendis must have rued his call to bowl first as Brook, his opposite number, ransacked Sri Lanka’s attack with a 114-ball double, breaking the record set last month by Shubman Gill. There was worse to come for Mendis, when he was run out – via Gus Atkinson’s fingertips – without facing a ball, leaving Sri Lanka two down in the fifth over of their chase.
But his decision was ultimately vindicated, as heavy dew helped Sri Lanka clinch a dramatic win with a ball to spare. Josh Tongue had kept England’s hopes alive by yorking Dunith Wellalage and Eshan Malinga with successive balls, but No. 10 Asitha Fernando got Liyanage back on strike to leave six needed off the last two, and he launched Tongue over long-off.
Sri Lanka’s players raced onto the outfield to celebrate with Liyanage, who had started running away in celebration as soon as the ball left his bat. When he walked in at No. 7, Sri Lanka still needed 107 off 58 balls but he played a perfect finisher’s cameo, belting seven fours and three sixes – including 4-4-6 off the eye-wateringly expensive Sam Curran – and facing only two dots.
Brook looked shellshocked as he reacted to England’s defeat, their second in three days in this tri-series. “Both teams were exceptional,” he said. “Sri Lanka just outplayed us, unfortunately. We couldn’t quite hit our straps with the ball and played into their strengths… To knock off 400 is an incredible achievement, so fair play to them.”
Among the many records Brook broke was an unwanted one: he became the first man to hit an ODI double hundred and end up on the losing side. “It was a nice innings,” he said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean anything now. Being on the losing side, it has no value whatsoever in my eyes.”
Brook was at his breathtaking best with the bat, playing a series of outrageous scoops, reverse-scoops, pick-ups and flat-bats in partnerships worth 159 with Joe Root and 185 with Will Jacks. He demolished Sri Lanka’s attack, and reached 200 with a deft paddle-sweep for four in the final over of England’s innings before holing out to deep point off the final ball.
In doing so, Brook became only the second man to complete an all-format ‘3-2-1’ after Chris Gayle: a Test triple-century, an ODI double-hundred, and a T20I century. He looked exhausted after batting for two-and-a-half hours in the afternoon heat, but took just 39 balls to score his second hundred and ran through with arms aloft to celebrate his landmark.
Brook started scratchily in making 13 off his first 24 balls, and initially struggled to get his innings moving. But he clicked into gear with consecutive sixes off Kamindu Mendis’s part-time spin and never looked back: he reached 50 off 42 balls, then 100 off 75, 150 off 97 and 200 off 114. It was a genuine masterclass in white-ball batting.
At the halfway mark, Sri Lanka must have been sweating on their decision to pick only four frontline bowlers and rely on their allrounders to make up the overs. Mendis, Shanaka and Liyanage returned figures of 1 for 123 between them as they shared the fifth-bowler quota, and Brook targeted their overs mercilessly. Along with Jacks, he added 156 in the final 10 overs.
The game looked as good as over when Avishka Fernando was given out lbw to leave Sri Lanka 38 for 3, but he successfully overturned the decision on review and promptly put on 166 with Rathnayake. He fell three runs short of a hundred, chipping back to Jamie Overton, but Shanaka came out swinging at No. 5 and added 133 in 79 balls for the fourth wicket.
Shanaka was twice given out – caught behind off Atkinson on 32, then lbw to Liam Dawson on 41 – but successfully overturned both decisions on review, and vindicated the decision to push him up the order. Rathnayake eventually fell for 130, his highest international score, when he holed out to wide long-on off Curran, but Shanaka kept motoring.
He hit six fours and eight sixes in his 50-ball stay, and became the second Sri Lankan batter dismissed for 97 when he was caught in the deep trying to hit Dawson’s final ball for six. But with 67 required off 36, Liyanage took charge, hitting three boundaries in an Overton over before reverse-scooping, scything and clubbing Curran for three more on the spin.
Curran struggled to grip the ball in dewy conditions, and was lucky to have Sahan Arachchige caught at long-on off a high full toss deemed to be just below waist-height. But by that stage he had broken his own record for England’s worst-ever ODI figures, returning 2 for 103 in nine overs as Brook looked elsewhere at the death.
Liyanage and Wellalage traded boundaries down the ground off Jacks to leave just 13 required off the final 12, but Overton dug deep to concede only five off the 49th. After Liyanage took a single off the first ball of the 50th, Wellalage lost his middle stump trying to heave Tongue into the leg side, and Malinga was knocked over first-ball by a yorker.
With seven needed off three, and Tongue on a hat-trick, Asitha Fernando – who had scored 19 runs in his 35 previous ODIs – sliced a single down to deep third to get Liyanage back on strike. Tongue set his field deep on the leg side and brought mid-off up, but his slower ball landed in the slot and Liyanage launched him back over his head. Cue pandemonium in Pindi.
Scores:
Sri Lanka 430 for 8 in 49.5 overs (Avishka Fernando 97, Pavan Rathnayake 130, Dasun Shanaka 97, Janith Liyanage 61*; Josh Tongue 3-79, Sam Curran 2-103) beat England 429 for 4 in 50 overs (Tom Banton 50, Joe Root 69, Harry Brook 202, Will Jacks 66*; Dunith Wellalage 2-56) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]