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2nd ODI: Can England bounce back vs Sri Lanka?
23 Jan 2026

Sri Lanka and England will clash in the second ODI of their three-match series at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday, January 24.

In the first ODI, Sri Lanka successfully defended a target of 272 runs and bowled out England for 252 runs, winning by 19 runs.

With this victory, Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the series.

Here is the preview of the second game.

Pitch report for the match
Pitch

The Premadasa pitch usually favors spin throughout the year, but an unusually wet northeast monsoon may have freshened up the square.

The same was seen in the series opener as batters were among the runs. Spinners of both teams, however, also made a mark.

So far, 185 ODIs have been played on this ground, with defending teams winning 103 times while chasing teams emerging victorious on 70 occasions.

Summary of the opening game
Team strategy

After losing the first match, England will be looking to level the ODI series.

Sri Lanka posted 271/6 while batting first in the opener, thanks to Kusal Mendis's unbeaten 93.

With Janith Liyanage (46), he was part of an 88-run stand for the 5th wicket.

In response, England were going well at 129/2 as Ben Duckett and Joe Root made 62 and 61, respectively.

However, the Brits lost their way thereafter and fell short at the end.

Here's the Head-to-head record
Match history

As per ESPNcricinfo, Sri Lanka and England have faced each other in a total of 80 ODIs, with both teams winning 38 matches each.

There have been three no-results and one tie.

However, since the start of 2016, England have eight wins and just four defeats versus Sri Lanka (Tied: 1, NR: 3).

On Lankan soil, England have nine ODI wins and 17 defeats against the home team.

Here are the probable XIs
Line-ups

England (Probable XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid.

Sri Lanka (Probable XI): Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka (c), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando.

Here are the key performers
Performers

Versus Sri Lanka, Root has scored 1,239 runs from 30 ODIs at 61.95 (50s: 10, 100s: 2).

As many as 59 of Adil Rashid's ODI scalps have come in Asia at 28.33 from 35 matches.

In 70 home ODI matches, Mendis owns 2,727 runs at 45.45.

While Dunith Wellalage has claimed 41 ODI scalps at 28.68, Jeffrey Vandersay boasts 45 wickets in the format at 25.46.