Kandy: A hat-trick from left-arm pacer Sam Curran led England to an 11-run victory in the first T20I against a rain-hit Sri Lanka at the Pallekale International Cricket Stadium on Friday.
In a match that was initially reduced to 17 overs per team, England captain Harry Brooke won the toss and elected to field, and his decision paid off as his bowling department bowled out the hosts for 133 in 16.2 overs.
Sri Lanka’s innings got off to a shaky start as they lost opener Kamil Mishara (16) for just 24 off the third ball of the third over, but a blistering 52-run partnership from another opener, Padum Nisanga, and wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Mendis lifted them to 76/1 in 7 overs.
Adil Rashid ended the menacing partnership by dismissing Nisanga on the first delivery of the eighth over with three fours and a six off 20 balls.
His dismissal triggered a collapse as Sri Lanka lost four more wickets, including Mendis’s, in the next 21 balls, resulting in 98/6 in 11.4 overs.
Mendis top scored with 37 off 20 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes.
Following a middle-order collapse, skipper Dasun Shanaka (20) and Vanindu Hazaran added 31 runs for the seventh wicket to stabilize the innings before Curran dismissed the former on the fourth delivery of the pulsating last over.
The left-arm pacer took a hat-trick off each of his next two balls, dismissing Mahesh Dikshana and Madisha Pathirana as the Golden Ducks, and became only the second Englishman to reach the milestone in the shortest format, along with Chris Jordan.
Jamie Overton dismissed Hazaranga (14) in the second ball of the next over to deal the final blow to Sri Lanka’s batting campaign.
For England, Rashid and Curran took 3 wickets each and Overton and Liam Dawson took 2 wickets each.
Chasing 134, England reached 125/4 in 15 overs with Phil Salt’s blitz up the order, but rain again halted play and the interruption proved decisive as play was impossible.
The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (TLS) system indicated that the tour team had won by 11 runs as the tour team was ahead of the tie score.
Salt top-scored for the Three Lions with 46 off 35 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes, while Tom Panton and captain Brooke helped with unbeaten 29 and 16 respectively.
Eshan Malinga picked up two wickets for Sri Lanka, but the price was high as he conceded 24 runs in his two overs, while Pathirana and Shanaka managed to pick up a wicket each.
The win gave England a 1-0 lead over Sri Lanka in the series, which serves as the final starting platform for both teams heading into the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which will co-host India from February 7 to March 8 in the second T20I at the same venue on Sunday.