At the halfway stage of the contest, most observers would have given Sri Lanka virtually no chance of pulling off an upset. The target set before them was a herculean 430, a monumental total that stands second only to South Africa’s legendary 438-9 against Australia in Johannesburg back in 2006 when considering successful One-Day International run chases.
On a day when South Africa once again demonstrated their dominance over Australia with an emphatic Test match victory in Gqeberha, Sri Lanka delivered an entirely different kind of shockwaves by stunning England in a Rawalpindi run-fest. That incredible twist of fate meant that Harry Brook’s astonishing 202 runs from just 116 balls ultimately came in vain. During his breathtaking innings, Brook reached his double century from 114 deliveries, setting a brand-new world record for the fastest ODI double ton in the history of the sport.
Yet, as the dust settled on a staggering day of international cricket, the immediate and burning question for the England camp was simple: where exactly did things go wrong?
How did England lose that game?
The answer certainly did not lie with the batting performance. Brook’s sizzling knock—which surpassed Ben Stokes’ 182 against New Zealand in 2023 to become the highest individual score by an Englishman in men’s ODIs—was solidly backed up by fluent half-centuries from Tom Banton, Joe Root, and Will Jacks. England piled up a massive total and batted with typical modern aggression, giving their bowlers a platform that almost always yields victory.
Instead, the bowling department proved to be the Achilles’ heel. Sri Lanka had initially been reduced to a shaky 24-2 early in their innings after Kamindu Mendis was clean bowled by a delivery of real quality from Josh Tongue. Shortly after, Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis suffered a bizarre and unfortunate dismissal, run out at the non-striker’s end without facing a single ball after Gus Atkinson managed a slight touch onto the stumps as the batter backed up too far.
From that precarious position, however, the match turned entirely. Sky Sports pundit and former England captain Nasser Hussain noted how England appeared to overcompensate for bowling too full during their previous 87-run defeat to Pakistan at the exact same venue. In trying to correct that error, they swung too far the other way, dropping their lengths too short and consistently feeding Sri Lanka’s batters, particularly Pavan Rathnayake, who capitalized brilliantly to top-score with 130 runs from 106 balls.
Hussain also lamented England’s long-standing vulnerability during the middle overs of an ODI innings. Apart from Kusal Mendis’ early run out, England failed to take a single wicket between the fifth over and the 41st over, when Rathnayake finally holed out to long-on off the expensive Sam Curran. During that massive, game-defining period, Rathnayake stitched together a brilliant 166-run partnership for the third wicket with Avishka Fernando, followed by another crucial stand of 133 with Dasun Shanaka, who had been wisely promoted up the order. Both Fernando and Shanaka contributed magnificent innings of 97 runs each.
Hussain: Lack of middle-order wickets a concern for England
Discussing the ongoing wicketless woes that continue to plague the side, Hussain highlighted a systemic issue. "It comes from that middle period where England, historically, over the last two or three years, have struggled to take wickets," Hussain said. "That is even with Adil Rashid, who did not play in this game, at his best, so that is something they need to solve, a box they need to tick. Getting back Jofra Archer, rested for this series, will help and add a bit of firepower."
Hussain added that while Rashid remains a crucial figure, his recent output may have dipped, potentially due to lingering injury concerns. "Maybe Adil has come off his best but today showed the need for Archer, and Rashid being back to his best. We all big up Adil but he has just dropped off, maybe because of injuries."
Former Sri Lanka batter and fellow Sky Sports pundit Kumar Sangakkara offered a technical assessment of how England let their grip on the match slip. "England needed an all-out push to take wickets when they had Sri Lanka 24-2. You have 429 on the board," Sangakkara pointed out. "Have set plays, try to bowl the bumpers, fielders set for catches—or if you want to restrict because conditions are not suitable for wickets, then go to death bowling early, try to cut off the boundaries."
Sangakkara emphasized that the only conceivable way England could lose from that winning position was if the boundary count began to spiral out of control. "If you are a fast bowler, you stop the fours with fields set and the sixes by executing the best deliveries. Still, England need to give credit to an incredible batting performance from Sri Lanka."
Reflecting on the match, England captain Harry Brook admitted that his team had failed to execute their tactical plans under pressure. Speaking after the game, Brook said: "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. But to be involved in a game like that is incredible and hats off to Sri Lanka. They’ve played an absolute blinder there."
Sri Lanka get over the line after a marathon effort
Sangakkara’s point regarding Sri Lanka’s excellence is vital to understanding the result. While England were unquestionably loose with the ball—with Curran struggling to land his variations and yorkers after a recent groin injury, ultimately conceding 103 runs from his nine overs—Sri Lanka deserves immense credit for their execution.
They showed immense grit after losing two quick wickets, followed by tactical flexibility in promoting Shanaka, who smashed eight sixes on his way to 97 from 50 balls. Even when late wickets caused a minor wobble as the finish line approached, Janith Liyanage held his nerve under intense pressure to finish with an unbeaten 61.
Liyanage crunched two fours and a six across three consecutive deliveries off Curran to trim the target down to 29 runs from 21 balls. He then struck the winning six with just one ball to spare, immediately after Tongue had claimed back-to-back wickets in a dramatic final over.
Hussain praised the visiting side’s resilience, noting that Sri Lanka had to maintain near-perfection for the entirety of the 50-over innings. "Sri Lanka had to be pretty much perfect for 50 overs and they were. There were lads in there who played pretty much the perfect innings," Hussain said. "It was like running a marathon for Sri Lanka – they saw that last bit and started to stumble when they needed to be calm. So Liyanage in the end – that was incredibly special. You looked at his body language, it was like, ‘leave it to me, lads’ – he was calm, composed and belted it down the ground. It was a perfect, historic chase and brilliant for Sri Lanka. They are such a talented, passionate cricketing nation. They needed a day like today and they got one."
Why Brook said his double hundred ‘does not matter’
Earlier in the week, Brook had spoken candidly about wishing that cricket statistics featured a designated match-winning column for individual players. For a significant portion of Thursday’s match in Rawalpindi, it seemed certain that Brook’s performance would earn a massive tick in that imaginary column.
Ultimately, however, the Yorkshireman insisted that his individual heroics were entirely irrelevant in the face of a team defeat. Brook’s masterclass included 21 boundaries and 10 massive sixes, but he remained visibly deflated by the final result.
"I always say I want to make match-winning contributions, have a match-winning impact," Brook said. "Unfortunately I’ve got 200 and it’s not been match-winning. In my eyes, it doesn’t matter. It had no value whatsoever."
Despite the disappointing team outcome, Hussain and his Sky Sports colleague Mark Butcher lavished praise on the England captain. Hussain went as far as labeling Brook the finest multi-format male batter in world cricket, suggesting that his presence instantly transforms England into genuine contenders for next year’s 50-over World Cup in Africa.
Hussain continued to laud the young batsman: "Every shot selection he made was spot on – it had to be to score 200 that quickly. He has been touched by genius ever since we have seen him. The biggest area of growth for this ODI team is if Brook can convert his Test and T20 form into this format. He did that, it was magical."
Mark Butcher echoed those sentiments, expressing awe at Brook’s technical mastery. "Sometimes your breath is taken away with Brook and you don’t quite have the words to describe what you are watching," Butcher said. "Such is his precision and the way he can use the pace on the ball, he can pretty much manoeuvre it wherever he likes. Then he will fly out of the crease and hit you for six. He has such balance, his hands are so good, the control of the bat face is as good as anybody I have seen. He can play a shot for pretty much every delivery. He is absolutely box office."
If only England could find a way to get their bowling attack firing with the same level of precision, performances like Brook’s would finally translate into victories.
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