Bethell stars as England warms up in style for T20 World Cup by routing Sri Lanka 3-0 in series
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PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — England rounded off its T20 World Cup preparations in style by sweeping the series 3-0 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell (4-11) was the unlikely hero as he grabbed the last four wickets in eight balls and Sri Lanka crumbled to 116 all out in the third and final game.
Sam Curran’s career-best 58 off 48 balls had earlier lifted England to 128-9. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera also took a career-best 5-24 in his first game of the series.
“That was awesome, a great win to be part of,” England captain Harry Brook said. “We’ve shown we can adapt to surfaces. Tonight was a tricky one to bat on . . . the World Cup is here so when we have the opportunity to play here, we have the experiences to carry over.”
Sri Lanka needed 17 off 17 balls before Bethell ran through the tail by claiming three wickets in the 18th over. He then had Maheesh Theekshana caught at short third man.
In Bethell’s game-turning over, Jos Buttler hung onto a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Dunith Wellalage, Chameera offered a tame catch in the covers and skipper Dasun Shanaka was stumped while trying to go for a big shot on a dusty wicket.
For the second game in succession, Sri Lanka’s batters struggled to cope with England’s spinners, losing their last eight wickets for just 54 runs with Will Jacks (3-14) also starring.
Kusal Mendis top-scored with 26 and Pathum Nissanka (23) hit three sixes in his 12-ball knock before slicing Liam Dawson to Jacks on the edge of the circle in the covers.
Earlier, England crashed to 34-4 inside the power play after Brook had won his third successive toss and elected to bat.
With the ball gripping on the surface, Chameera varied his pace intelligently and made an immediate impact when he had Ben Duckett trapped leg before wicket for a first-ball duck.
Matheesha Pathirana struck twice with his slingy action when Bethell was caught behind and Brook lobbed an easy catch to extra cover after being beaten by a slower delivery.
England slipped to 47-5 when Theekshana hit the top of Buttler’s stumps with a delivery that zipped back in. Curran then held one end up with a gritty knock that featured six fours and a six.
Chameera picked up three wickets towards the end, while Curran fell when he top edged to third man in the final over.
“Very disappointed,” Shanaka said. “We lost 3-0. As captain I need to address the areas really well to play a good World Cup. We are looking forward to it and we desperately want to deliver something special.”
The World Cup starts Saturday.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket