T20 WC: England down SL to kick-start Super 8 campaign
What's the story
England triumphed over Sri Lanka by a massive 51 runs in their 2026 ICC T20 World Cup Super Eight match on Sunday. The game was played at Pallekele, where England batted first after Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field. Despite losing early wickets, Phil Salt's brilliant half-century helped England post a total of 146/9 in their allotted overs. The home team got bundled out for 95 in response. Here are the key stats.
Match highlights
Salt's knock propels England to a competitive total
Phil Salt, who scored 62 runs, was the only batter who looked comfortable on a dry pitch. The opener the scoring rate high even as wickets continued to fall at the other end. None of England's other batters managed a significant score, with Will Jacks's 21 being the highest after Salt. Left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage dismissed Salt in a crucial moment of the match, leaving England reeling at 106/6 after 14 overs. The team eventually finished at 146/9.
Game dynamics
Sri Lanka falter in run-chase as England emerge victorious
In response, Sri Lanka struggled with the bat and was bowled out for a mere 95 runs in 16.4 overs - their third-lowest T20 WC total. They were off to a poor start, having lost five wickets in the powerplay. Jacks and Jofra Archer haunted them in this phase. The English bowlers put up an impressive performance as wickets fell at regular intervals. Skipper Dasun Shaka (30) was the only one to score over 14 in the innings.
Salt
Salt slams his second T20 World Cup fifty
Salt's 62 off 40 balls was laced with six fours and two sixes. The England star has now raced to 1,710 T20I runs at 36.38. He owns 12 50-plus scores in the format, including four tons. This was his second fifty in T20 WCs, which took his tally to 321 runs from 15 games at 29.18 (SR: 159.70). Against Sri Lanka, he now has 109 runs from three games at 36.33 (50: 1).
SL bowlers
Summary of Sri Lanka's bowling attack
Sri Lankan spinner Dunith Wellalage was the star of the show with his exceptional bowling performance. He picked up three wickets for 26 runs in four overs. This spell took his T20I tally to 16 scalps at 22.81. Maheesh Theekshana (2/21 in 4 overs) and Dilshan Madushanka (2/25 in 4 overs) also contributed with two wickets each, while Dushmantha Chameera took one wicket (1/34 in 4 overs).
Buttler
Buttler continues to falter
England talisman Jos Buttler yet again continued his struggle for fluency, scoring a mere seven runs off 14 balls before being dismissed. He started the campaign with scores of 26 and 21 against Nepal and, West Indies, respectively. The dasher was then dismissed for 3 against both Scotland and Italy. Having managed just seven games against the Lankans, Buttler bagged his third single-digit score on the bounce.
Jacks
Yet another PoTM award for Jacks
After scoring an important 14-ball 21, Jacks took three wickets for 22 runs in his four overs. This performance earned him the third Player-of-the-Match award across five games in this edition. Only Australia's Shane Watson has claimed more such honors in a T20 WC campaign (4 in 2012). The off-spinner has raced to five wickets in this edition at 21. His tally also includes 131 runs at a strike rate of 195.52 (50: 1).
Information
Here are his overall T20I stats
With his latest efforts, Jacks has completed 535 runs from 37 T20Is at a strike rate of 145.77 (50: 1). The tally also includes 12 wickets at an economy rate of 8.53.
England bowlers
Two scalps each for Archer, Dawson, and Rashid
Jofra Archer also contributed to England's bowling success by claiming 2/20 from three overs. Spin duo of Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid also dismissed two batters each. While the former went for 27 runs in his four overs, Rashid finished with 2/13 from 3.4 overs. Jamie Overton bowled two overs in the game and returned with 2/13.