England defeated Sri Lanka (Photo: PTI)
SL vs ENG, 3rd T20I: Before entering the T20 World Cup 2026, the England team has shown its strength. They had already captured the trophy by winning the first two matches of the T20 series against Sri Lanka. Now, while defending their lowest total in the third and last T20, they have also made a clean sweep of Sri Lanka in their own home. England’s spinners played the most important role in their 12-run victory in the third T20. England’s spinners together took 9 out of 10 wickets of Sri Lanka, due to which it became easy for them to defend even the smallest target given to them.
Sri Lankan batsmen breathless in front of England’s spinners
England had set a target of 129 runs for Sri Lanka in the third T20. This target was not big enough to achieve a clean sweep. But, the way the England spinners took notice of the Sri Lankan batsmen and forced them to kneel was commendable. Jacob Bethel, Will Jacques, Adil Rashid and Liam Dowson together wove such a web of spin that 9 Sri Lankan batsmen got trapped in it one after the other. The first blow to Sri Lanka was undoubtedly given by England pacer Luke Wood. But, the story of victory was written by his spin quartet.
Spinners took 9 wickets for 75 runs in 15.3 overs.
England’s most successful spinner was Jacob Bethel, who took 4 wickets for 11 runs in 3.3 overs. Will Jacques took 3 wickets for 14 runs in 4 overs. The graph of spin bowling of Adil Rashid and Liam Dowson remained the same. Both of them took 1-1 wicket for 25 runs in their respective quota of 4 overs. In this way, England’s spin quartet distributed 9 wickets for 75 runs in 15.3 overs.
England defended its lowest score
Chasing the target of 129 runs, Sri Lanka’s innings was reduced to just 116 runs in 19.3 overs in front of England’s spin attack. In this way, England not only won the match but also defended its smallest total in T20 International by 12 runs.
Sam Curran played his biggest innings in T20I
Apart from the spinners, the role of Sam Curran in England’s victory cannot be ignored, due to whose biggest T20 International innings, England managed to reach 128 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. Sam Curran scored 58 runs in 48 balls. This is also the biggest innings by any batsman in the current Sri Lanka-England T20 series.
Why is victory special for England?
England’s victory in the T20 series against Sri Lanka is interesting because it has been achieved on the same ground where the T20 World Cup is to be played. Secondly, the color of spin is mixed in this victory. Of the top 5 bowlers who have taken the most wickets in the T20 series, 4 are spinners and 3 of them are from England.