Harry Brook rues double century as Sri Lanka pull off 430 chase in tri-series thriller
Harry Brook refused to savour his maiden ODI double century after England's second match of the tri-series involving Sri Lanka and Pakistan, saying personal milestones counted for little when they did not result in wins; his 202 came in England's 429 for four against Sri Lanka on Thursday, October 22, but Sri Lanka completed a 430 for eight chase with two balls to spare.
The match in the tri-series ended as one of the competition's most dramatic encounters when Sri Lanka achieved the second-highest successful run chase in men's ODI history; England had already lost their opening fixture against Pakistan by 87 runs and now face pressure to recover. Brook's innings had appeared to put England in command, but the visitors produced a substantial batting response led by Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka and Dunith Liyanage.
Brook said he felt no reason to celebrate despite the milestone, offering: "I always say I want to make match-winning contributions and have a match-winning impact," and added, "Unfortunately I've got 200 and it's not been match-winning. In my eyes, it doesn't matter." He also reflected on the bowling performance after the defeat, saying: "We didn't execute where we were trying to bowl as well as we could have done, we probably played into their hands a little bit too much but on the flip side, they played exceptionally well."
Brook reached his maiden ODI century off 75 balls and accelerated from 100 to 200 in 39 deliveries, bringing up the double in the final over with a paddle sweep against Janith Liyanage; he was dismissed two balls later, finishing on 202 off 116 deliveries. The report states his effort "bettered the previous record for the fastest men's ODI double century, set by India's Shubman Gill, who had reached the milestone in 116 balls against the West Indies at Guwahati last month."
Joe Root (69), Tom Banton (50) and an unbeaten Will Jacks (66) supported Brook, with Jacks and Brook adding 156 in the final 10 overs to help England finish on 429 for four. Sri Lanka's bowlers suffered in the late onslaught, with Eshan Malinga conceding 91 without a wicket, Dilshan Madushanka giving away 89 and Dasun Shanaka returning figures that included 74 runs from six overs.
Sri Lanka's chase began poorly, losing two wickets inside the first five overs, before Avishka Fernando and Pavan Rathnayake put together a 166-run partnership for the third wicket; Fernando scored 97 off 83 balls while Rathnayake made 130 off 106 deliveries with 15 fours and three sixes. Dasun Shanaka then accelerated the pursuit, contributing to a 133-run stand with Rathnayake off just 79 balls, returning to ODI cricket after more than two years and striking eight sixes and six boundaries before his dismissal for 86 left Sri Lanka needing 67 from the final six overs.
A late assault from Dunith Liyanage, who finished an unbeaten 61 off 27 balls, decided the result. With eight required from the last over, Josh Tongue dismissed Wellalage and Eshan Malinga with successive deliveries and Asitha Fernando survived a hat-trick ball, then Liyanage lofted Tongue over long-off for six to complete the chase at 430 for eight and secure a two-wicket victory for Sri Lanka.
The England captain said the side would need to regroup: "We can take a lot of learnings from that game. We definitely didn't execute what we were trying to do for long enough. We were trying to keep the stumps in play as much as we possibly could, we were probably erring on the short side which played into their hands." England will next face unbeaten Pakistan in the return fixture in Lahore on Sunday, with a place in the tri-series final still to be secured.
