Sri Lanka chase down 430 to beat England in Rawalpindi thriller as Brook’s record 202 goes in vain

RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium witnessed a match that will be talked about for years on Thursday night. Sri Lanka chased down 430 with one ball to spare, beating England by two wickets in the third match of the ODI tri-series — the second-highest successful chase in one-day international history, in a game that produced 859 runs.

Brook rewrites the record book

England’s 429 for four was built around a staggering innings from their captain. Harry Brook made 202 off 116 balls, with 21 fours and 10 sixes, reaching his double century in just 114 deliveries — the fastest in ODI history, and the first ever by an England batter. He passed Ben Stokes’ national record of 182 along the way. Joe Root made 69, Will Jacks an unbeaten 66 off 30 balls and Tom Banton 50, and England plundered 156 runs from the last ten overs. It looked, by any normal measure, unchaseable.

Sri Lanka refuse to read the script

The chase began badly. At 24 for two, with captain Kusal Mendis gone for a duck, Sri Lanka were staring at a rout. Avishka Fernando and Pavan Rathnayake changed the mood with a stand of 166; Fernando fell three short of a hundred, but Rathnayake went on to 130 off 106 balls. Then Dasun Shanaka arrived and simply took the game apart, smashing 97 off 50 balls in a 133-run partnership that left England’s bowlers with nowhere to hide.

One ball to spare

Sri Lanka still needed eight from the final over, and Josh Tongue nearly stole it back, bowling Dunith Wellalage and Eshan Malinga with consecutive deliveries. Janith Liyanage kept his nerve. After Asitha Fernando nudged a single, Liyanage launched the fifth ball of the over for six to finish unbeaten on 61 off 27 balls and take Sri Lanka to 430 for eight. Brook had produced the innings of his life. It still was not enough.