Key events

England need 322 to win

Sri Lanka’s total was built on a coruscating 121 from their captain Kusal Mendis. But England did well at the death – Sri Lanka scored only 104 from the last 15 overs – and will fancy their chances on an excellent pitch.

50th over: Sri Lanka 321-6 (Wellalage 16, Colombage 3) Colombage is dropped by Buttler off Overton, a sharp one-handed chance after a big deflection. Wellalage splashes another mishit shot that lands in front of Jacks, running back from mid-off. How the actual hell has Jamie Overton not taken a wicket today?

When the book is written on the 100 Best ODI Nought-Fors, this spell from Overton will be in it. No wicket at the death, so he’ll have to be content with a boundaryless final over and figures of 10-0-63-0.

49th over: Sri Lanka 315-6 (Wellalage 12, Colombage 2) Archer’s final over is really good – four singles and a wicket. He bowled better than figures of 10-0-68-1 might suggest.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 312-6 (Liyanage c Root b Archer 32)

Liyanage is beaten for pace and heaves Archer straight to Root at extra cover. He played a useful cameo of 32 from 26 balls.

48th over: Sri Lanka 311-5 (Liyanage 32, Wellalage 10) Liyanage picks a slower ball from Overton and creams it over mid-off for four to bring up the 300. Wellalage joins the funwith a top-edged scoop over the keeper’s head for his first boundary. Another top edge somehow lands short of the man running in from mid-off, a continuation of Overton’s almost perverse misfortune.

Two overs remaining. Sri Lanka are on course to beat their highest ODI score against England in this country. That was also on this ground in 2006, when they made 324 for 2. In 37.3 overs. Imagine Duncan Fletcher’s internal monologue as this was unfolding.

47th over: Sri Lanka 299-5 (Liyanage 27, Wellalage 4) Liyanage stands tall to slap a slower ball from Archer behind square for four. It’s been a frustrating day for Jofra, who has conceded 64 from nine, but he does well to keep Sri Lanka quiet towards the back end of the over.

46th over: Sri Lanka 290-5 (Liyanage 19, Wellalage 3) Jamie Overton, on for Rehan, bowls a superb over that costs only five. Liyanage was beaten by a sizzling yorker that just missed the leg stump.

Overton’s figures of 8-0-47-0 are mildly scandalous; he’s probably been England’s best bowler.

45th over: Sri Lanka 285-5 (Liyanage 16, Wellalage 1) Dunith Wellalage, who landed a few lusty blows at Chester-le-Street on Tuesday, is the new batter.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 282-5 (Rathnayake run out 48)

Rathnayake pushes Archer to deep cover, tries to steal a second run and pays the price. Root’s throw was well wide of the stumps, but Buttler stretched to retrieve it and broke the wicket with the diving Rathnayake short of his ground. Brilliant wicketkeeping.

Pavan Rathnayake is run out! Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters

44th over: Sri Lanka 276-4 (Rathnayake 44, Liyanage 14) Rehan does indeed continue. Liyanage heaves an inelegant reverse sweep over Archer at short third, with the ball running down the slope for four. The usual ones and twos make it a decent over; nine from it.

Sri Lanka would love ten an over from here; that would take them to 336.

43rd over: Sri Lanka 267-4 (Rathnayake 40, Liyanage 9) Jofra Archer makes an expensive return to the attack. Rathnayake back cuts expertly for four; Liyanage trumps that shot with a deft uppercut over the keeper’s head. After a peedie wobble, Sri Lanka are back on course for a 300+ score.

42nd over: Sri Lanka 256-4 (Rathnayake 34, Liyanage 4) Rehan Ahmed continues to stall Sri Lanka with an over that contains two dots and four singles. It’s not without risk, because Sri Lanka will go after him sooner rather than later, but Brook will probably give him at least one more over.

41st over: Sri Lanka 252-4 (Rathnayake 32, Liyanage 2) Rathnayeke slugs Atkinson for six over wide long-on – that shot was vaguely reminiscent of MS Dhoni’s immortal World Cup-winner in 2011 – before pulling four behind square. Sri Lanka needed a big over; 15 runs constitutes a big over.

40th over: Sri Lanka 237-4 (Rathnayake 18, Liyanage 1) Rehan’s second spell has been superb: 4-0-16-2, figures that are even more impressive when you consider he was reintroduced with Sri Lanka on 206-2 from 33 overs.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 236-4 (Asalanka c Atkinson b Rehan 11)

Very good bowling from Rehan Ahmed, who befuddles the left-handed Asalanka with his liberal use of the googly. Asalanka tries to sweep and is beaten; then he tries to sweep and is hit on the body; finally he connects with a sweep and top-edges it straight to Atkinson in the deep.

Charith Asalanka plays a shot to be caught out for 11 runs. Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

39th over: Sri Lanka 236-3 (Rathnayake 18, Asalanka 11) Jacks is hooked after one over. Atkinson replaces him and is clattered through midwicket for four by Asalanka. It’s not a bad over for England despite that boundary, with six coming from it. Dot balls have been a problem for Sri Lanka in this innings.

38th over: Sri Lanka 230-3 (Rathnayake 17, Asalanka 6) Good stuff from Rehan Ahmed – he was hit for four, a cracking shot, but conceded only one from the other five deliveries.

Asalanka is not out Outside the line, next. England still have one review left.

England review for LBW! Asalanka skips down to drive Rehan over extra cover for four. Fine shot, not much wrong with the delivery. Rehan’s second spell has been noticeably more accurate than the first. He has a muted LBW appeal turned down when Asalanka misses a sweep and is hit on the chest. Hang on, Brook fancies a review.

37th over: Sri Lanka 225-3 (Rathnayake 16, Asalanka 2) The wicket is England’s cue to squeeze in another over of spin. Will Jacks does the job well by conceding a couple of runs.

36th over: Sri Lanka 223-3 (Rathnayake 15, Asalanka 1)

WICKET! Sri Lanka 222-3 (Kusal Mendis c Banton b Rehan 121)

Harry Brook’s gamble pays off. Kusal Mendis slog-sweeps Rehan Ahmed straight to Tom Banton at cow corner to end a fabulous innings of 121 from 100 balls.

Kusal, who was starting to look tired, almost holed out to Banton earlier in the over. In the end it was second time unlucky.

Kusal Mendis’ fine knock is over. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

35th over: Sri Lanka 217-2 (Kusal Mendis 119, Rathnayake 12) Kusal Mendis walks across to a curving yorker from Overton that is homing in on middle stump until the off-balance Kusal deflects it for four. Brilliant hands from Kusal, and maybe a bit of fortune.

Between 2015 and 2021, Eoin Morgan’s England successfully chased a target of 300 or more on 11 occasions. Since Morgan’s retirement it has happened only twice, both against West Indies, so this will be a test no matter how good the pitch.

34th over: Sri Lanka 210-2 (Kusal Mendis 114, Rathnayake 10) Harry Brook gambles by reintroducing Rehan Ahmed, whose first two overs were bullied for 19. His third is better, with no freebies and only four singles conceded.

33rd over: Sri Lanka 206-2 (Kusal Mendis 112, Rathnayake 8) Overton concedes three singles from his sixth over. Ignore the figures of 6-0-35-0: he has bowled with aggression, skill, variety – and no luck whatsoever.

“Hi Rob,” writes Brian Withington. “Whilst despising the way VAR has been implemented in Premier League football (and genuinely loving my team escaping it by the handy expedient of getting relegated, it must be said that DRS has mostly been a godsend in international cricket.”

Yep. I suspect it’s as much about the culture as the implementation, but either way it has worked brilliantly.

32nd over: Sri Lanka 203-2 (Kusal Mendis 110, Rathnayake 7) Six runs from Atkinson’s over, during which Sri Lanka bring up the 200 with plenty of overs in the tank.

This is a decent test of England’s emerging ODI side. They haven’t bowled terribly – Overton has been excellent, Archer and Atkinson pretty good; Tongue and the spinners have struggled. Time for drinks.

31st over: Sri Lanka 197-2 (Kusal Mendis 107, Rathnayake 4) Kusal ends the over with a deliberate uppercut for four. In substance, style and especially intent, this has been a gem of a captain’s innings.

A century for Kusal Mendis!

Yes sir, well played. Kusal drives the next ball for four to reach a thrilling and flamboyant century: 82 balls, 12 fours, three sixes. It that doesn’t inspire his team, not much will.

A little jig from Kusal Mendis after reaching his century. Photograph: ShutterstockKusal Mendis reviews successfully on 99!

Yep, he knew.

Kusal Mendis reviewed straight away, so maybe he knows he didn’t nick what was a very good ball from Jamie Overton.

REVIEW! Kusal Mendis given out on 99

30th over: Sri Lanka 188-2 (Kusal Mendis 99, Rathnayake 3) A couple of singles takes Kusal Mendis to within one run of his seventh ODI century.

WICKET! Sri Lanka 182-2 (Kamindu Mendis c Brook b Atkinson 54)

Kamindu Mendis charges Atkinson with ultraviolence in mind, only to thwonk the ball high in the air to mid-on. Kamindu goes for 54 from 65 balls; it was a bit of a needless shot with Kusal Mendis going so well at the other end. Kusal looked distinctly unimpressed. Maybe Kamindu lost some rhythm after being starved of the strike.

29th over: Sri Lanka 182-1 (Kamindu Mendis 54, Kusal Mendis 97) Kusal Mendis gets a leading edge off that Tongue that goes behind square, beats the two fielderso n the edge of the circle and runs away to the boundary. A steer/edge for four and a quick single take him to 97. A century would be richly deserved.

28th over: Sri Lanka 172-1 (Kamindu Mendis 53, Kusal Mendis 88) Gus Atkinson, who dropped a simple chance when Kusal Mendis was on 17, is given the chance to make amends with the ball.

Kusal glides Atkinson’s first ball behind square for three. Later in the over he charges down the track and is beaten.

27th over: Sri Lanka 166-1 (Kamindu Mendis 52, Kusal Mendis 84) A much better over from Tongue – no boundaries, four from it.

In other news, there’s a bison on the loose in Durban

26th over: Sri Lanka 162-1 (Kamindu Mendis 51, Kusal Mendis 82) Sri Lanka continue to play low-risk cricket against Archer, knowing they can cash in at the other end. It’s weird to see Archer with figures of 6-0-35-0 because five of those overs have been excellent. (The other one, his third, went for 17.)

25th over: Sri Lanka 159-1 (Kamindu Mendis 50, Kusal Mendis 80) Tongue replaces Overton and is pongoed for back-to-back boundaries by Kusal Mendis. There’s no time to describe them because he has just lashed Tongue over long on for six more! This is pulsating stuff.

An overpitched slower ball is scrunched past extra cover for another boundary, and Kusal keeps the strike with a cheeky single that makes it 19 from the over.

Kusal Mendis scored 29 from his first 34 balls; he’s belted 51 from the last 27.

Fifty for Kamindu Mendis

24th over: Sri Lanka 140-1 (Kamindu Mendis 50, Kusal Mendis 61) Kamindu tucks Archer for a single to bring up his half-century: 56 balls, four fours, three sixes. There have been a few too many dot balls but he has played some eye-catching strokes. Sri Lanka need him to anchor the innings at around a run a ball.

“Thankfully Kamindu Mendis is ambidextrous only in bowling and not in batting,” writes Krishnamoorthy V, “else the difficulty of a liveblogger would have reached 11 on a dial of 10 when there is one Mendis too many like now.”

Now you’ve got me thinking about the hardest liveblog shifts. There was an ODI in Bangladesh – I’d have to check but I think it was Tuesday 2 March 2010 – when I had a dicky everything and had to run to the toi- well, never mind.

Fifty for Kusal Mendis

23rd over: Sri Lanka 136-1 (Kamindu Mendis 49, Kusal Mendis 59) Jacks returns and is smoked down the ground for four by Kusal Mendis. That brings up a terrific fifty – Sri Lanka’s first of this white-ball tour – from 47 balls. Later in the over he desecrates Jacks over midwicket for a big six.

A captain’s innings doesn’t have to be an over-my-dead-body job, not in the 21st century, and Kusal is showing Sri Lanka the way through his fearless strokeplay.

22nd over: Sri Lanka 123-1 (Kamindu Mendis 49, Kusal Mendis 46) England need a wicket, so Harry Brook turns to Jofra Archer in place of Rehan Ahmed (2-0-19-0). Sri Lanka know what Brook is up to and treat Archer with respect; four singles and a wide are the result.

“You are undoubtedly the crème de la crème of cricket commentators, but eighteen out of twenty is exactly nine out of ten,” writes Bob from Boston. “Or do I miss the joke?”

You do miss the joke, and what a juvenile one it was. (We may also need to talk about your definition of the word ‘undoubtedly’.)

21st over: Sri Lanka 118-1 (Kamindu Mendis 47, Kusal Mendis 44) Kusal edges Overton for four, straight through second slip at catchable height. Overton has had no luck today – but there is no recourse to Dame Fortune when Kamindu hooks a monstrous six over square leg. Crumbs, he mullered that.