PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Phil Salt and Will Jacks provided England a perfect start in the Super Eights as co-host Sri Lanka crashed to a 51-run defeat on Sunday.
Salt anchored England to 146-9 with a resolute 62 off 40 balls and Jacks provided impetus to the total by smashing four boundaries in his 21-run knock in the death overs.
Sri Lanka crumbled to 95 all out as offspinner Jacks picked up three wickets inside the power play and earned England its 12th consecutive win in a T20 against the hosts.
Jofra Archer (2-20) struck with a vital blow in his second over when Pathum Nissanka, who scored a century against Australia at the same venue during a group game, flicked a 150 kph delivery straight to deep mid-wicket.
With spinners getting a grip on a slow wicket, Sri Lanka batters struggled against Jacks’ fuller deliveries and slipped to 34-5 inside the first six overs. Kusal Mendis offered a tame return catch to Jacks and Pavan Rathanayake got dismissed off the first delivery when Jacks got a leading edge.
Captain Dasun Shanaka top-scored with 30 but fell to a brilliant relay catch when Jacks caught the ball above his head while running back and tossed the ball back to Tom Banton to complete the catch before Jacks went over the ropes.
The two other England spinners, Liam Dawson (2-27) and Adil Rashid (2-13), also prospered in ideal bowling conditions. Fast bowler Jamie Overton (1-13) also managed to get amongst the wickets.
Earlier, England's top-order crashed against spinner Dunith Wellalage (3-26) as Jos Buttler’s (7) disappointing tournament continued with his third successive single-digit score. Buttler fell to a poor reverse flick against Wellalage after his bat got tangled between his legs and he was struck on the pads plumb in front of the wickets.
Off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana (2-21) also kept the batters under pressure in the middle overs as England kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Salt completed his half-century off 36 balls before he heaved Wellalage to long-off in the 15th over, but Jacks' cameo in the death overs and Overton’s straight six in the last over gave England enough runs to defend.
Later Sunday, in a repeat of the 2024 T20 World Cup final, South Africa opted to bat after winning the toss against co-hosts and defending champions India in their Super 8 Group 1 clash.
Group A toppers India are unchanged, while the Proteas – Group D winners – have made four changes. Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen are back after resting against the UAE.
Line-ups:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
South Africa: Aiden Markram (captain), Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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