England v Sri Lanka: Hosts win second Twenty20 to seal series - BBC Sport
England rally from 36-4 to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets at Cardiff and win the Twenty20 series with a game to spare.
Last updated on .From the section Cricket

England recovered from 36-4 to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the second Twenty20 and win the series with a game to spare. After a 40-minute rain break at 69-4, the hosts completed a revised chase of 103 with 11 balls remaining in Cardiff. Liam Livingstone finished 29 not out after Sam Billings - his partner in a fifth-wicket stand of 54 - fell for 24. Sri Lanka earlier limped to 111-7, with Kusal Mendis making 39 and Mark Wood taking 2-18 and Adil Rashid 2-24. Although England were not as ruthless as in Wednesday's eight-wicket triumph, victory was rarely in doubt after they limited Sri Lanka to the lowest total they have conceded in a T20. Livingstone - batting at six rather than the opening spot he occupies for Lancashire - and Billings had lifted England ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target by the time rain arrived, and Sam Curran capped a successful 24 hours for England with a straight six to seal the win. The final game in the three-match series takes place at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday. England made two changes from Wednesday, with Jos Buttler resting a calf strain and David Willey, playing his first T20 international in more than two years, replacing Chris Woakes. Curran got the early breakthrough as he ran out Danushka Gunathilaka with some nifty footwork, before Avishka Fernando picked out deep square leg. Mendis and Kusal Perera put on 50 for the third wicket, but it took them nine overs as Sri Lanka became only the 16th team in history not to hit a boundary in the six-over powerplay. Rashid had Perera, reverse-sweeping, caught at cover before the impressive Mark Wood dismissed Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella in successive balls. Until Isuru Udana hit Chris Jordan for a four and a six in the final over, Mendis was the only Sri Lankan to find the boundary as England fielded superbly. England, who chased 130 with the minimum of fuss 24 hours earlier, had to overcome an early wobble with the bat. Jonny Bairstow, driving ambitiously, was bowled by Binura Fernando in the second over before Dawid Malan was lbw playing back to Dushmantha Chameera. Malan is the number-one ranked T20 batsman in the world and averages 48, but he has struggled against India and Sri Lanka and his average this year is 26.50. Captain Eoin Morgan cut Udana to point and Jason Roy danced down the track to pick out long-on to leave them four down inside seven overs. Billings and Livingstone, who are likely competing for one slot in England's squad for the T20 World Cup due to take place in India in October, showed maturity to calm England's nerves. Both manoeuvred the ball before the rain delay, then broke the back of the revised target of 34 from six overs with a boundary apiece. Although Billings was bowled as he looked to cut Wanindu Hasaranga, Curran's sprightly unbeaten 16 off eight deliveries made sure of victory. 'We want see guys backing themselves' - what they said England captain Eoin Morgan on BBC Two: "Our bowling was right on point. The wicket played similarly to yesterday and batters on both sides struggled to get it away. You want to see batters entertain a bit more, especially with crowds back, but it ended up a good tight game anyway. "We seemed to lose a wicket every time we took a risk which is a shame, but it was a good partnership between Sam Billings and Liam Livingstone. We want to see guys come in and backing themselves." England all-rounder Liam Livingstone: "It's nice to come into the best team in the world and it's nice to see us home. Batting at number six, your job in chasing is to be there at the end. I try and make myself a player who can bat all the way from one to eight." Former England captain Michael Vaughan: "I'd like to be Eoin Morgan with the depth he has. "It's a great opportunity over the course of the summer for fringe players to show their worth. That was a great effort from Liam Livingstone, who is really pushing his case to be England's right-handed finisher for the World Cup." England pace bowler and player of the match Mark Wood: "I'm happy with my job just charging in and bowling as fast as I can. I keep asking the captain if he wants me to try a slower ball but he keeps saying no!" Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur: "We talked about taking the handbrake off, and we need to be a bit more pro-active, but our batters are learning all the time, especially in these conditions. "I am excited by the bowling unit and we have a good batting unit in our country. It's about transferring that to different conditions."
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