Sam Curran takes hat-trick as England down Sri Lanka in first T20I

KANDY: Left-arm pacer Sam Curran's hat-trick led England to a comfortable 11-run victory over Sri Lanka in the rain-affected first T20I of the three-match away series here at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

In a match that was initially reduced to 17 overs per side, England captain Harry Brook won the toss and opted to field, and his decision paid dividends as his team's bowling unit booked the hosts for a modest 133 in 16.2 overs.

Sri Lanka had a shaky start to their innings as they lost opener Kamil Mishara (16) on the third delivery of the third over with just 24 runs on the board, but a brisk 52-run partnership between another opener Pathum Nissanka and wicketkeeper batter Kusal Mendis lifted them to 76/1 in seven overs.

Adil Rashid broke the threatening partnership on the first delivery of the eighth over by dismissing Nissanka, who made a 20-ball 23 with the help of three fours and a six.

His dismissal sparked a collapse as Sri Lanka lost four more wickets in the next 21 deliveries, including that of Mendis, and consequently slipped to 98/6 in 11.4 overs.

Mendis remained the top-scorer with a blazing 37 off just 20 deliveries, smashing four fours and two sixes.

Following the middle-order collapse, skipper Dasun Shanaka (20) and Wanindu Hasaranga attempted to stabilise the innings by putting together 31 runs for the seventh wicket before Curran dismissed the former on the fourth delivery of the pulsating penultimate over.

The left-arm pacer also struck on each of his next two deliveries, dismissing Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana for golden ducks, to register a hat-trick and became just the second Englishman to achieve the milestone in the shortest format, joining Chris Jordan.

Jamie Overton inflicted the final blow on Sri Lanka's batting expedition by cleaning up Hasaranga (14) on the second delivery of the next over.

For England, Rashid and Curran led the way with three wickets each, while Overton and Liam Dawson bagged two each.

Set to chase 134, England reached 125/4 in 15 overs on the back of Phil Salt's blitz up the order, but rain halted the action again, and the interruption proved decisive as further play was not possible.

Since the touring side were ahead of the par score as per the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method, they were adjudged to have won the fixture by 11 runs.

Salt remained the top-scorer for the Three Lions with a 35-ball 46, studded with three fours and two sixes, while Tom Banton and skipper Brook made handy contributions in the pursuit with 29 and 16 not out, respectively.

Eshan Malinga bagged two wickets for Sri Lanka but was expensive as he conceded 24 runs in his two overs, while Pathirana and Shanaka could claim one apiece.

The victory gave England a 1-0 lead over Sri Lanka in the series, which serves as the final launching pad for both sides heading into the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which the latter co-host alongside India from February 7 to March 8, with the second T20I set to be played at the same venue on Sunday.