Banton sixes steer England to six-wicket T20 win after Dawson derails Sri Lanka

England defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to chase 146 with 47 balls remaining in a T20 international on 17 September 2026 at a match where balls were repeatedly deposited into the River Taff; Tom Banton’s six-hitting and a brief cameo from Harry Brook decided the contest.

The victory extended England’s run against Sri Lanka to a 14th successive win and continued a sequence that has seen Sri Lanka fail to beat England since their nine-run win at the Oval more than a dozen years ago, a match that followed Sri Lanka being crowned world champions in the format a month earlier. This meeting contrasted with Tuesday’s first encounter in Southampton — England won the toss and chose to chase — but the result was the same: another convincing home victory.

Sri Lanka began brightly when Lahiru Udara, promoted to open, and Pathum Nissanka put on 55 without loss after five overs, but the innings collapsed thereafter, the side managing only 90 for nine off the remaining 15 overs. Udara finished with 21 off 20 before he drove to mid-on and was caught by the 6ft 5in Jamie Overton; Kamil Mishara, dropped to No3, returned his first ball to the bowler, and the visitors were unable to rebuild.

Liam Dawson’s introduction initially unsettled Sri Lanka but his final over proved costly: with five overs remaining the tourists were 115 for five before captain Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga added 18. Sri Lanka then accrued only 12 more runs for the loss of four wickets across the last four overs, while Sonny Baker bowled two of those overs, his final one a wicket maiden, leaving them on 145.

England matched Sri Lanka’s early pace by reaching 55 after five overs; the chase was ultimately dominated by big hitting. Only two Sri Lankan batsmen cleared the boundary during the match and none did so more than once, but Tom Banton accounted for more than that combined, doubling their tally en route to his fifth and fastest half-century in T20s, while Harry Brook struck three sixes from eight balls faced as England reached the target of 146.

There were early stumbles: Nye Donald, playing for Derbyshire but born in Swansea, miscued successive Eshan Malinga deliveries, the second of which was caught by Hasaranga at mid-on, and England were two down in the sixth when Jos Buttler’s wild slash presented Kamil Mishara with a catch. Buttler scored 30 off 16 and became the first man to pass 15,000 runs in T20 cricket.

Brook’s innings followed an unbeaten century at Southampton with a shorter, explosive cameo here; he hit three enormous back-foot shots over midwicket in a single Hasaranga over but was dismissed attempting a fourth when Eshan Malinga took a sprinting, diving catch. That was Brook’s first dismissal in the format since early July, after four innings in which he had accumulated 284, and under his captaincy England have lost only once — in a rain-affected five-over shootout at this venue last September — and have never gone unbeaten in a summer featuring more than two T20s.

The win sealed the series for England and sets up a final fixture at Old Trafford on Saturday, which will be England’s eighth T20 of 2026 and their fifth against India’s world champions.