Duckett 167 and Dawson four-fer power England to 55-run tri-series consolation win in Lahore
Ben Duckett's 167 and a four-wicket haul from Liam Dawson gave England a 55-run victory over Sri Lanka in Lahore in their final match of the tri-series, with England posting 386-5 and Sri Lanka bowing out for 331.
Duckett became the third England opener to pass 150 twice in ODIs and produced his highest one-day international score, following a recent 105 against Pakistan that had steadied an earlier England innings in the series. The match followed a week in which Sri Lanka had produced an extraordinary 430-run chase, and Sri Lanka's Pavan Rathnayake had been a central figure in that run-fest, having made 130 in last week's high-scoring encounter.
England reached 386-5 from their allotted 50 overs, Duckett making 167 off 132 balls and sharing a 163-run opening stand with Tom Banton, who was dismissed after making 74. Contributions from Harry Brook (44), Will Jacks (30) and Jordan Cox, who struck 43 off 27, helped England fall short of 400 but still post a commanding total; Joe Root was not required to bat.
Sri Lanka kept themselves within reach of the required rate throughout the chase and needed 87 off the final 10 overs, but the tourists lost momentum late and were all out for 331 in 45.1 overs. Rathnayake finished with 118 off 77 balls, while Asitha Fernando returned figures of 2-63; the visitors lost their last five wickets for just 16 runs, with Dawson removing Rathnayake in the 45th over.
Dawson finished with 4-49, having earlier broken a second-wicket stand by claiming Avishka Fernando via a Jacks catch and then trapping Dasun Shanaka lbw; he later added Rathnayake and Asitha to his tally as the run-rate accelerated. Sam Curran and Sonny Baker also bowled effectively at the death after earlier expensive spells, and Baker dismissed Janith Liyanage for 27 off 17 during a fifth-wicket stand of 72 off 38 that had kept Sri Lanka in contention.
The series has exposed England's inexperienced bowling in the middle overs, and selection choices were again noted as Jamie Overton missed out to Sonny Baker while leg-spinner Adil Rashid was not used. Part-time overs from Will Jacks and Joe Root conceded 71 runs from seven combined overs. "You want options, and guys to push their case when they get their opportunities," England coach Brendon McCullum told Sky Sports after the game. "They're good problems for us to have. We will learn more about that in Australia, but we will always do what's right for the team depending on conditions and the opposition." He added: "Leg-spin hasn't played too much of a role and we want to be a team who can adapt to different conditions and be quite malleable with our selections. Liam Dawson is an experienced and highly competitive player who's put his hand up here and unfortunately for Rash here, the conditions probably haven't really favoured him."
Liam Dawson has taken seven wickets in three games in the series. Sri Lanka now face Pakistan in the tri-series final on Sunday, while England head to Australia for three ODIs and five T20s in November.
