Sri Lanka vs England 3rd ODI today: both teams chase first win
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Sri Lanka and England meet today in the 3rd match of the Pakistan ODI tri-series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, with the game starting at 1:00 PM PKT.
- Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first. England gave the spin job to Liam Dawson, with Adil Rashid left out.
- Both teams lost their opening matches to Pakistan. The loser of this game will face a very hard road to the final.
Sri Lanka play England today in the third match of the Pakistan ODI tri-series. The game starts at 1:00 PM local time at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Both teams are looking for their first win of the series.
An ODI is a one-day international. It is a cricket match that finishes in a single day. Each team gets 50 overs to bat.
An over is a set of six balls. This tri-series has three teams: Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England.
The stakes are simple. Both Sri Lanka and England lost their first games to Pakistan. The winner today takes a big step toward the final.
The loser may run out of chances.
What happened so far
Pakistan started the series with two strong wins. They beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the first match. Then they beat England by 87 runs in the second match.
With two wins from two games, Pakistan sit at the top of the table. According to Cricinfo, they now have one foot in the final.
Sri Lanka lost their opener after chasing 306. They reached a strong position at 210 for 4. But then they lost their way and fell 37 runs short. Janith Liyanage and Pavan Rathnayake both scored fifties. Even so, Sri Lanka could not finish the job.
England lost in a similar way. They were chasing 303 against Pakistan. At one point they were 120 for 1. That means they had lost only one batter with 183 runs still needed.
From that strong position, they fell apart. They were all out for 215. Pakistan's young left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas took six wickets for 40 runs. He turned the game on its own.
These two teams know each other well. They played a one-day series in England just last month. England won that series 2-1. They won by 89 runs and by 223 runs.
Sri Lanka won the middle game at Headingley. Their captain Kusal Mendis scored 121 in that win.
The teams today
Sri Lanka won the toss this morning. They chose to bowl first. The toss is the coin flip that decides which team bats first.
Captains in this series have liked chasing. Dew is the reason. Dew is the light wetness that forms on the grass in the evening.
It makes the ball wet and hard to grip for bowlers. That helps the team that bats second.
Sri Lanka named this XI, according to Lokmat Times: Avishka Fernando, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis (captain and wicketkeeper), Pavan Rathnayake, Sahan Arachchige, Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.
The big call for Sri Lanka is the return of Dunith Wellalage. He is a left-arm spinner. A spinner is a bowler who makes the ball turn after it lands.
Wellalage is five wickets away from 50 in one-day internationals. According to Cricinfo, Sri Lanka will hope he can repeat his success from the England tour. He took 3 for 49 in Sri Lanka's win at Headingley last month.
Avishka Fernando gets another chance at the top. This is only his second one-day game since February 2025. He was out after nine balls against Pakistan. Fast bowler Naseem Shah got him.
The 28-year-old is a clean striker of the ball. He will want to prove he belongs at this level.
England named this XI, according to Lokmat Times: Ben Duckett, Tom Banton, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), Jordan Cox (wicketkeeper), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue.
The talking point is the spin spot. England picked Liam Dawson ahead of Adil Rashid. Rashid has had a poor return to the team.
A hand injury kept him out of the September series against Sri Lanka. Against Pakistan, he bowled eight overs and gave away 55 runs without a wicket. Hasan Nawaz hit 24 of those runs off him.
Rashid is 38 years old. According to Cricinfo, it is fair to ask if his best days are behind him. Dawson now gets the chance to own that role.
England will also look at their batting. They lost their last nine wickets for 95 runs against Pakistan. Captain Harry Brook praised Arafat Minhas after the game.
But he also admitted his batters played the young spinner too carefully. England's style is built on attack. When they stop attacking, they look lost.
Why it matters
This match is about more than pride. It is about the final. Each team plays the other two sides twice in the league stage.
The top two teams reach the final in Lahore on October 31, according to Ada Derana. Pakistan already have two wins. That leaves Sri Lanka and England fighting for the second final spot.
The loser today will be in deep trouble. They would have zero wins from two games. They would then need to win both their remaining matches.
They would also need other results to go their way. The winner today, on the other hand, would control their own path.
The Rawalpindi pitches have been good for batting. Both games so far saw first-innings scores above 300. Pakistan made 306 against Sri Lanka and 303 against England. According to Cricinfo, teams that cross 300 here usually win.
Both captains have chosen to chase because of the evening dew. But the dew did not save Pakistan's bowlers in the first two games. Sri Lanka and England will both believe 300 is gettable.
There is also a personal milestone on the line. Joe Root is 64 runs away from 8000 ODI runs. If he gets there, he will be the first Englishman to reach the mark.
Only 33 other players in history have done it, according to Cricinfo. Root is England's most reliable batter. His team will need him today.
For Sri Lanka, this is a test of nerve. They played well in patches against Pakistan. Liyanage and Rathnayake showed the batting has fight.
But the middle order froze when the chase got tight. Kusal Mendis is the captain. He led from the front in England last month.
His hundred at Headingley won Sri Lanka that game. His team needs that version of him today.
What happens next
After today, the series moves to Lahore. The teams will play the rest of the league stage at the Gaddafi Stadium. Pakistan face England there on October 25, according to Ada Derana.
Pakistan then play Sri Lanka on October 27. Sri Lanka and England will also meet each other again in Lahore.
The final is set for October 31 in Lahore. Only the top two teams from the league stage will play it. Today's winner takes a huge step toward that game.
Today's loser will need near-perfect cricket from here on.
Cricket fans are watching this series closely. It is rare to see three teams play a one-day tri-series these days. Most cricket is now bilateral, which means just two teams.
A tri-series brings extra tension. Every game changes the table. Every loss hurts twice.
For fans in India, there is no live TV broadcast listed for this match. According to Lokmat Times, viewers in India can stream it on the VETO app. The match starts at 1:30 PM IST.
Sri Lanka and England last met in this format only weeks ago. England were the better team then. But this is a new country and new conditions.
The pitches are flat. The dew is real. And both teams are desperate.
That is when one-day cricket is at its best.
The game is underway in Rawalpindi. One of these teams will leave with two points. The other will leave with questions.
By tonight, we will know which is which.
Elsewhere in cricket today, New Zealand and India meet in the first T20I of their series in Christchurch, another sign of how packed the international calendar is right now. And in other sports, the Thunder beat the Spurs on NBA opening night, while the Stars needed overtime to beat the Bruins.
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