England’s Tri-Series Exit Sealed as Sri Lanka Bowl Pakistan Out for 110

England’s tri-series exit was confirmed in Lahore on Tuesday when Sri Lanka dismissed Pakistan for 110 and chased the target down in just 18.1 overs, leaving Harry Brook’s side with three defeats from three and no route to Saturday’s final.

England had needed Pakistan to win to keep their hopes alive. Instead, Pakistan’s batters folded in 25.3 overs, and Sri Lanka’s eight-wicket victory put them into the final against the hosts. Thursday’s meeting between England and Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium is now a dead rubber.

Madushanka Does the Damage

Left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka took a career-best 5-34 after captain Kusal Mendis won the toss and chose to field. Fakhar Zaman fell for five, caught at point off a short ball. Asitha Fernando then trapped Maaz Sadaqat lbw with a yorker, and Saad Baig chipped a catch to short cover as Pakistan slipped to 46-3.

Babar Azam top-scored with 29 but wasted a review when he was plainly lbw to Eshan Malinga. Shadab Khan, who had made an unbeaten 113 to win Sunday’s match against England, lasted five balls. By the time Madushanka returned for a second spell, Pakistan were 64-6, and he removed Hasan Nawaz, Harris Rauf and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi to finish the innings.

It was Pakistan’s second-lowest ODI total at home. Only the 75 all out against Sri Lanka in Lahore in 2009 was worse. Four of their top five made single figures. “Unfortunately, for the last three or four games we are collapsing at the top order,” Afridi said, adding that the team had three days to practise before the final.

A Brisk Chase

Kamindu Mendis made the chase look routine. He was dropped before he had scored and survived an lbw decision on 44 by successful review. He finished unbeaten on 62 from 60 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. His fifty came with a pull for six, after a substitute fielder had touched the boundary while completing a catch. Pavan Rathnayake, who hit a century in Sri Lanka’s record-chasing win in Rawalpindi, added an unbroken 52 with him and finished on 23 not out.

The floodlight towers were not yet fully on when the winning runs came. “We bowled really well in the powerplay,” Kusal Mendis said, though he added that there were still areas to improve.

What the England Tri-Series Exit Means

The England tri-series exit stings because England had rebuilt some one-day momentum this year, with wins away in Sri Lanka and at home against India and Sri Lanka. In Pakistan, though, they failed to chase 303 despite being 120-1, and they lost twice in extraordinary fashion. In one game, Sri Lanka chased 430 against them, the second-highest successful chase in ODI history. On Sunday, Pakistan won by one wicket after a last-wicket stand of 89.

Conditions at next year’s World Cup in southern Africa will be very different, so the results are not a direct guide. Still, after a poor 2023 World Cup defence and a winless Champions Trophy last year, three more defeats are an unwelcome result.

Pakistan finished the league stage on six points from three wins, with Sri Lanka on four. England will play their last game on Thursday, with first ball at 8am UK time. They then travel to Australia for three ODIs and five T20s from 13 November, preceded by a warm-up against a Western Australia XI in Perth on 7 November. That tour now offers their next chance to put the Lahore defeats behind them.

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