England eased to comfortable series wins in both the T20I and ODI legs against a depleted Sri Lanka team. Here’s a combined XI consisting of the best performers from both sides.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match awards, player interviews, analysis and much more.
Jason Roy
2 T20Is, 53 runs @ 26.50, SR: 135.89, HS: 39
2 ODIs, 60 runs @ 60.00, HS: 60
Roy’s series started with a breezy 36 in an easy T20I chase in Cardiff. After a brief hiatus due to a hamstring niggle, he returned to his old ways in his only ODI innings in the series, scoring an authoritative 52-ball 60 to set up a comfortable run chase at The Oval.
Joe Root
3 ODIs, 147 runs, HS: 79*
Near flawless across both ODIs, Root piled on Sri Lanka’s misery with two fifties, staying unbeaten on both occasions. The 79* in the first ODI was a typically level-headed effort when England stumbled briefly, and he carried on his form with a 68* at The Oval.
Dhananjaya de Silva
3 ODIs, 95 runs @ 47.50, HS: 91
1 T20I, 3 runs @ 3.30, SR: 75, HS: 3
One of the few bright sparks in Sri Lanka’s batting line-up. His 91 in the second ODI rescued Sri Lanka from 21-4 to 241-9, and while that wasn’t enough for a win, it was a spirited run-a-ball resistance. In a series in which Sri Lanka struggled to make any sort of real impact, de Silva’s Oval effort was enough to book him a place here.
Liam Livingstone
3 T20Is, 43 runs @ 43.00, SR: 119.44, HS: 29*
1 ODI, 9 @ 9.00, HS: 9
Livingstone gets in primarily on the back of an unbeaten 29 in a 104-run chase in the second T20I, when England had lost their top four for 36. With the ball, too, Livingstone put together neat, short spells, picking up a wicket each in Cardiff and Southampton while keeping his economy under 5.5.
Dasun Shanaka
3 ODIs, 96 runs @ 48.00, HS: 48*
3 T20Is, 65 runs @ 21.66, SR: 89.04, HS: 50
Shanaka provided much-needed lower-order stability twice in the ODI leg, contributing scores of 47 and 48*. His medium pace was hardly required, but two responsible knocks gave Sri Lanka some hope.
Wanindu Hasaranga
3 T20Is, 9 runs @ 3.00, HS: 5; 2 wickets @ 37.00, BBI: 2-20, economy: 6.72
3 ODIs, 100 runs @ 33.33, HS: 54; 1 wicket @ 72.00, BBI: 1-46
Hasaranga continued his progression as a bright all-round prospect, helping stabilise the Lankan innings in more than one ODI. In the first ODI, his plucky half-century helped arrest a batting collapse, and he chipped in with a useful knock in his next innings. His leg-breaks were handy without being spectacular.
Chris Woakes
2 ODIs, 6 wickets @ 7.66, BBI: 4-18, economy: 2.30
2 T20Is, 1 wicket @ 23.00, BBI: 1-9, economy: 3.28
Woakes showed just why he’s rated so highly in one-dayers, blowing away Sri Lanka’s top order with his incisive bursts. In the ODI leg, he bowled eight maidens (economy of 2.30), and also surpassed the 150-wicket mark in the 50-over format..
Sam Curran
3 ODIs, 5 wickets @ 24.60, BBI: 5-48
3 T20Is, 5 wickets @ 9.40, BBI: 2-14, economy: 5.22
Another standout performer, Curran was prolific with the ball across both legs, especially in the second ODI. The five-wicket haul (his first international five-for) at The Oval tore open Sri Lanka’s top order and he picked up crucial scalps in the T20I series too. With England’s top-order sufficiently doing the job, there wasn’t much to do on the batting front, except for an unbeaten 16* in the Cardiff T20I to close out a short chase.
David Willey
3 ODIs, 9 wickets @ 16.00, BBI: 4-64
2 T20Is, 3 wickets @ 14.66, BBI: 3-27, economy: 5.50
Overlooked for the 2019 World Cup, Willey has been making all the right noises since – he topped the wicket-taking charts in the ODI leg. In the T20I series, he was economical but relatively silent, playing his part with a three-for in Sri Lanka’s 89-run demolition in Southampton.
Adil Rashid
3 ODIs, 1 wicket @ 130.00, BBI: 1-35
3 T20Is, 4 wickets @ 12.50, BBI: 2-14, economy: 5.55
Rashid hardly gave anything away in the T20Is, playing a key role in Sri Lanka’s boundary-starved totals while consistently pegging them back with wickets. He was a touch more expensive in ODIs but still played the holding role well.
Dushmantha Chameera
3 ODIs, 3 wickets @ 32.00, BBI: 3-50
3 T20Is, 6 wickets@ 11.66, BBI: 4-17, economy: 6.26
The lone bright spark in an otherwise bland bowling performance from the visitors, Chameera first took a career-best 4-17 when his teammate bled runs in the final T20I, also snaring a wicket apiece in the other two games. In the first ODI, his three-wicket haul threatened to turn an easy England chase into something a little more tricky.
