England seal much-needed series win in Sri Lanka as Harry Brook and Joe Root star with centuries
A classy Root and explosive Brook powered England to an unassailable total in Colombo
Harry Brook smashed a blistering 136 and Joe Root made another flawless century as England beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs to clinch a much-needed ODI series victory.
The Yorkshiremen combined for an extraordinary 191-run partnership in Colombo to lift England to a mammoth 357 for three, the highest total on this ground since October 2018.
Root steered the innings with an unbeaten 111, laying the platform for skipper Brook to issue a stunning reminder of his firepower as he blasted Sri Lanka to all parts of the ground in an ODI-best 136 not out from just 66 balls.
On a ground where scores above 300 are rare, it was a total always likely to be beyond the hosts and so it proved despite a wonderful maiden international century from Pavan Rathnayake.
For England it was just a second ODI series win in their last eight and provided a morale boost after the 4-1 Ashes drubbing as well as aiding their ODI ranking, with automatic qualification for the 2027 World Cup far from certain.
An impressive 2-1 win, against a side who had won seven consecutive 50-over series on home soil, will also come as a relief to under-fire head coach Brendon McCullum.
Brook began this tour of Sri Lanka by apologising to England supporters for his "terrible mistake" after an altercation with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand on their last white-ball engagement in October.
The 26-year-old admitted he was lucky to still be captain and felt he needed to regain the trust of his team-mates.
His blistering innings was a good way to go about it. Brook launched nine sixes in a sublime display of timing and power, moving from reaching fifty to his 136 in just 26 balls, hitting 22 from the penultimate over and leading the way as England blasted 130 from the final 10 overs.
That he had the platform to do so was thanks to Root, who backed up scores of 61 and 75 in the first two matches with a 20th ODI century.
It took his average from 15 ODI matches in Sri Lanka to a remarkable 76. He has looked a class apart on tricky pitches throughout the series and rebuilt the innings beautifully after the early wickets of Ben Duckett and Rehan Ahmed.
Jacob Bethell played his part with a well-made 65 as Root provided the glue for England's total. The 35-year-old will head home as England prepare for the T20 World Cup but many will believe he could play a role in that team on current white-ball form.
This was the same pitch as Thursday's series opener and was a far cry from the second ODI wicket Root and Brook heavily criticised, producing significantly less spin and giving the batters a much better chance.
With that in mind, Sri Lanka began their daunting chase on the charge as openers Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara took 48 from the first five overs.
Mishara gifted his wicket to Will Jacks for 22 but as Sri Lanka raced to 85 for one inside eight overs, the cameras panned to a nervous-looking Brook.
The captain gratefully grabbed Kusal Mendis' loft off Jamie Overton as Sri Lanka's assault was stunted by wickets tumbling regularly.
Nissanka fell for a 25-ball 50, Charith Asalanka for 13 and Janith Liyanage for 22 to leave the hosts 174 for five.
Rathnayake's 121 kept Sri Lankan hopes alive but he was the last to fall as they were bowled out with 3.2 overs to spare.
The three-match T20 series in Pallekele, near Kandy, begins on Friday.
PA
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