“We still haven’t had that perfect game with the bat. We haven’t managed to get the starts and the big scores that we’d like. In my eyes, I see that as something coming very soon… The likes of Jos Buttler, Jacob Bethel, myself, and Tom Banton are not getting big scores. That we still managed to get over the line and get the job done is awesome,” Brook said after the 51-run win over Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
The victory was laid by Phil Salt’s 40-ball 62 that got England to a fighting 146 runs. Will Jacks then claimed three wickets to throw Sri Lanka off track. Brook said that both performances were a result of gauging the conditions early on and keeping faith in the players’ skills.
READ: SL vs ENG, T20 World Cup 2026: England starts Super Eights with crushing win over Sri Lanka
“We played the conditions and the situation perfectly today. I thought Salt was outstanding with the bat. Not his fluent self that everybody knows and how destructive he can be. But he’s managed to get us to a good score there.
“The bowling was just phenomenal. The main message [at the mid-innings break] was just the belief. We knew that we’d defended a 130-run total before. With those extra 17 runs or whatever, we had the faith,” Brook said.
Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson chipped in with wickets too to account for the tail, and Brook said it was their idea to vary the pace consistently that made batting look difficult during the second innings.
“It probably wasn’t as bad as the scores say, but it was very slow, and both sets of spinners bowled exceptionally well. We had a chat before going out with Rashid and Dawson, and they said, ‘We didn’t really need to change our lines. It was more changing our paces and trying to make them make a mistake,’” Brook said.
‘Expected surface to be better’
Sri Lanka batting coach Vikram Rathour lamented his players’ poor selection of shots and said that led to the early slump in the chase.
“We should have chased this target, but it can happen. We lost a few early wickets, so it was the end. After that, I think it was tough to get back into the game. They could have taken some better options, definitely.
“But I think the surface was still tacky. We expected that, so we could have been under covers for a long time in the past few days. So, we knew it was going to be a tacky wicket. Even when they [England] were in it, the ball was stopping a lot better. We expected it to be better, but I don’t think it really improved,” Rathour said.
Rathour also shot down claims that Sri Lanka was too reliant on its top-order and in-form batter Pathum Nissanka.
“I wouldn’t say that. I think every team has that kind of situation. They have one solid batter at the top. When your best batter gets out, you do feel the pressure a bit. But that’s how this game is. We’re hoping he’ll come good in the next two or three games,” Rathour said.
Published on Feb 22, 2026
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