England beats Lanka, clinches T20 series

England clinched the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka with a five-wicket win in the second game here at Sophia Gardens on Thursday.

The home side chased down the rain-revised target of 103 in the 17th over.

Earlier, Sri Lanka won the crucial toss and elected to bat. Lankan batters put yet another disappointing show as they end up with just 111 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. Mark Wood was the pick among the bowlers for the English side as the quick scalped two wickets for 18 runs in 4 overs.

Lankan bowlers were quite impressive for the first seven overs as they kept away side in the match. While chasing the target England was 36 for 4 in the seventh over as Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Isuru Udana, and Wanindu Hasaranga all having struck once apiece.

For the home side, Livingstone and Billings then shared a crucial stand of 33 to take them within 43 runs of victory, when continuous drizzling interrupted the game. England then needed just another 34 runs in six overs as per the DLS Method.

After the rain, the target never seemed daunting to the English side as they cruised towards the victory. Billings became the second wicket for Hasaranga. Livingstone remained not out on 29 off 26 with Sam Curran, 16 of 8 balls who smashed the winning runs.

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