England elect to bat in third ODI at Oval with series level on the line

England and Sri Lanka contested the third and final One-Day International at the Kennington Oval in London on September 27, 2026, and England won the toss and elected to bat in the series-deciding match.

The three-match series entered the decider level at 1-1 after England won the opening ODI and Sri Lanka took the second. England made three changes from the previous game, bringing Jordan Cox into the XI for the injured Jos Buttler and adding Liam Dawson and Sonny Baker in place of Rehan Ahmed and Josh Tongue; the visitors remained unchanged. The second game featured a century from Kusal Mendis that powered Sri Lanka's comeback, and Sri Lanka can complete a series victory in England for the first time since 2014 if they win this match.

England named Ben Duckett, Tom Banton, Joe Root, Harry Brook (C), Jordan Cox (WK) (In for Jos Buttler), Will Jacks, Liam Dawson (In for Rehan Ahmed), Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, and Sonny Baker (In for Josh Tongue) as their playing XI. Sri Lanka's unchanged side was announced as Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis (C/WK), Pavan Rathnayake, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Dunith Wellalage, Sachindu Colombage, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando, and Dilshan Madushanka.

Pre-match formalities included Mark Wood, who rang the five-minute bell alongside his children, after which the umpires and players took the field. Asitha Fernando had the new ball in hand for Sri Lanka and England opened with Tom Banton and Ben Duckett; the live blog noted "Let's play..." as play was set to begin.

Early play produced a mixture of starts and setbacks for England. Tom Banton got off the mark with a single from Asitha Fernando and later drove a full, outside-off delivery through covers for four; Joe Root also found the boundary, driving full and straight through the cover region for four. Ben Duckett was dismissed by Dilshan Madushanka without scoring: the live report recorded "Angling in, on off, with a hint of movement. Ben Duckett leans on and looks to loft it but the ball goes through his bat and his bat through the gate and rattles over the top of off. Ben Duckett departs without scoring."

Ball-by-ball detail from the early overs included several other scoring shots and leaves: Root pushed and tucked several deliveries for singles and doubles; Banton guided a fuller delivery to third man for a single and later produced another boundary through the covers. Dilshan Madushanka and Asitha Fernando were the frontline bowlers for Sri Lanka in this opening phase, with England working to negotiate movement and the new-ball period.

The pitch was described in the live coverage as fresh with green patches, a surface Sri Lanka will look to exploit in the first 10 overs while England seek to make their pace attack count early. With the match the series decider, the winner of this ODI will claim the three-match series.