A strong all-round bowling effort, led by Sam Curran’s hat-trick, powered England to a 1–0 series lead in the opening T20I against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. Curran struck three times in the 16th over, removing Dasun Shanaka, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana, as England limited the hosts to 133 in the rain-curtailed 17-over match. Adil Rashid claimed three wickets of his own, while Liam Dawson and Jamie Overton took two apiece, with Jofra Archer returning without a wicket on his comeback.
Sam Curran's Hat-Trick
After choosing to bowl first, England endured a brisk start as Sri Lanka’s openers took the attack to Sam Curran early. Kamil Mishara struck two fours and a six before mistiming a shot off Jamie Overton to give Liam Dawson a catch. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis kept the pressure on with regular boundaries, with Nissanka enjoying a slice of luck when a Dawson delivery clipped the stumps but resulted only in four byes. He followed it up with fluent strokes through the off side as Sri Lanka surged to 50 for 1 inside five overs.
Kusal Mendis then turned up the heat, plundering 20 runs from Curran in the seventh over to make the English bowling look largely ineffective. That momentum was finally halted when Adil Rashid broke through, inducing Nissanka to loft a slog-sweep straight to Jos Buttler behind the stumps.
The breakthrough triggered a dramatic collapse. Dawson removed Charith Asalanka and later Jayanith Liyanage, while Rashid struck twice more to dismiss Kusal for 37 and Dhananjaya de Silva. Sri Lanka tumbled from a commanding 76 for 1 to a precarious 100 for 6, surrendering control of the innings in the space of a few overs.
Rain hit chase for England
Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga briefly counterattacked with a few powerful strokes, but Sri Lanka’s innings unraveled completely at the death. Sam Curran struck gold in the penultimate over, claiming a hat-trick, before Jamie Overton finished matters by bowling Hasaranga. The collapse was stark, with Sri Lanka losing their final nine wickets for just 57 runs.
England’s reply began in explosive fashion as Jos Buttler and Phil Salt launched an early assault, racing to 36 without loss in under three overs. Eshan Malinga eventually halted the charge by bowling Buttler with a well-disguised slower delivery, and he struck again soon after to dismiss Jacob Bethell, who had shown promise with a couple of boundaries. Tom Banton kept the momentum going with a rapid 29 off 15 balls, including a punishing over against Hasaranga, before falling to a brilliant catch from Charith Asalanka.
Salt held the chase together with a measured 46 off 35 deliveries, ensuring England stayed comfortably ahead of the required rate. When rain interrupted play after the 15th over with England on 125 for 4, they were eleven runs clear of the DLS par score, sealing a 1–0 lead in the series.
SCORECARD: Sri Lanka 133 in 16.2 overs (Kusal Mendis 37, Pathum Nissanka 23; Adil Rashid 3-19, Sam Curran 3-38) lost to England 125/4 in 15 overs (Phil Salt 46, Tom Banton 29*; Eshan Malinga 2-24, Dasun Shanaka 1-12) by 11 runs [DLS]