Liam Livingstone helped England register a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka as the hosts overcame a batting slump in a rain-affected second T20I international at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday.
Sri Lanka managed 129/7 on Wednesday and England won at ease, with Jos Buttler, absent on Thursday with a calf strain, scoring an unbeaten 68. They had to work harder in their chase 24 hours later, as early wickets slowed them down, but the victory was never seriously in doubt, even before the rain came.
Over the years, Sri Lanka has emerged as only team in world cricket, that plays International games to learn and gaining experience. Irrespective of formats, after every loss, it’s mandatory for every Sri Lanka captain in last few years to emphasize more on LEARNING and TAKING POSITIVES from the game, Instead of winning!
Following the path, Yesterday, Sri Lanka’s coach Micky Arthur also echoed the same sentiments, saying it’s about learning from every game.
“Not enough runs, they are a No.1 ranked bowling attack, we’re ranked No.9 and you can see the difference, for us it’s about learning from every game, every experience and getting better as we go along” he said after the match.
“We are consistently talking about freedom and taking the handbrake off but you can only bat as well as you are allowed to. We can be more proactive, try and do different things, but we are learning all the time” he further added.
Sri Lanka opted to bat first again but struggled to get any sort of momentum as their first boundary did not arrive until the eighth over. Kusal Mendis top-scored with 39 off 39 balls while Mark Wood, regularly topping 90mph, took two for 18 in his four overs as the pick of a consistently accurate attack.
England were eight for two in the third over, then lost captain Eoin Morgan and Jason Roy to leave them 36-4 in the seventh, with light rain falling, to give Sri Lanka a glimpse of victory.
But England bat very deep and Liam Livingstone and Sam Billings steadied the ship with low-risk shot selection and excellent running.
That partnership took England to 69/4 after 12 overs, before a rain break that reduced their target to 103. Billings went for 24 but Livingstone ended unbeaten on 29 alongside Sam Curran, who hit the final ball for six to reach 16 not out.
The teams meet again in the third and final T20 at Southampton on Saturday.
