ENGLAND are finally on the rise again in ODIs, after a long period of stagnation and decline. They pulled off their lowest successful defence in four years as they cruised past Sri Lanka at the Riverside in Durham, and have now won five matches out of seven since the start of this year under Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum.
The first ODI was more competitive than any of the three T20Is last week, as England wobbled against Sri Lanka’s debutant leg-spinner Sachindu Colombage in the middle overs. They failed to hit a six on a two-paced, end-of-season surface, and Brook – who threw his head back in frustration when he carved to deep point – was the only batter to find any real fluency.
But Sri Lanka’s run chase never got going. Captain Kusal Mendis made 42 on his return from a hamstring injury and Dunith Wellalage landed a few late blows, but their middle order went missing against Jamie Overton’s cross-seamers and Will Jacks’s off-breaks. This was an unglamorous and forgettable win, but England have not had enough of those in recent years.
Jacks took three wickets in four balls to finish things off, giving him outstanding figures of 5 for 22 – the second-best in an ODI by an England spinner. It meant that Adil Rashid, ruled out of the series with a hand injury, was hardly missed, and completed an impressive all-round performance by Jacks after he cracked 46 not out to drag England to 265.
England’s ODI results have tailed off sharply since they won their first World Cup under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy, with 50-over cricket slipping to the bottom of the ECB’s list of priorities. Across the six years after their 2019 triumph, they won 33 and lost 40 in ODIs and suffered humiliating group-stage exits in both the 2023 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
They started 2026 ranked eighth in the world by the ICC, and with players and management anxious to secure automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup, but things have started to click for them. They have come from behind to win series against Sri Lanka (away) and India (home) this year and will now target wins at Headingley and The Oval to seal a whitewash.
It has been a turbulent summer for McCullum, who lost his job as Test coach after England’s chaotic, self-sabotaging series defeat to New Zealand. But his partnership with Brook has been a revelation: England’s white-ball teams have won 10 completed games out of 11 this summer and are finally starting to develop a clear identity.
Brook cited strike rotation and playing longer innings as two areas for England’s batters to improve before this series, and their new mentor Kevin Pietersen led a “spin masterclass” at Monday morning’s training session. They showed in this match that there is still plenty of scope to get better, stumbling against Colombage as they lost 4 for 29 in 7.5 overs through the middle.
A leg-spinner with an idiosyncratic action, Colombage spent last summer playing club cricket for Downham Stow in the East Anglian Premier League, but won his call-up after impressing in the recent Lanka Premier League. He was picked ahead of Wanindu Hasaranga in Chester-le-Street and made Joe Root his first victim in taking 3 for 44 on international debut.
England lost Tom Banton early to an Asitha Fernando outswinger – which trimmed the off bail – after choosing to bat, but Root started brightly. He pinged two early cover drives for four to take England to 64 for 1 after the initial powerplay, before they lost Ben Duckett lbw as he tried to sweep Wellalage’s left-arm spin.