Key events
Sri Lanka win the toss and bat first
It’s a lovely autumnal day at Headingley. “Looks like a really good wicket,” says Kusal Mendis. “We have to put a score on the board.”
There’s an orgy of live cricket at Guardian Unlimited today. As well as this game, we have:
* Spoiler: Warwickshire.
Ali Martin
First ODI report
Harry Brook had called on his England players to continue the “high-octane” cricket witnessed during their clean sweep in the Twenty20s but this latest victory over Sri Lanka in the first one-day international was more of a slow-burn affair.
Gone was the neck-arching carnage of the previous week and in its place, on a tired end-of-season surface, England were bowled out for 265 in 48.1 overs. Brook top-scored with 67 under a warm September sun, before his bowlers rolled the tourists for 176 to take a 1-0 lead into Thursday’s second match at Headingley.
Familiarity with conditions doubtless played its part and Sri Lanka, on the wrong side of the toss, never truly felt in the hunt. For Brook it was an 11th victory as England’s ODI captain, nudging him into credit after 10 defeats and continuing what has been a quiet resurgence in the format this year.
Preamble
It’s been a while*, you know. Since England won three ODI series in a row; it’s been a while. The last time it happened was in 2023, just before the World Cup, when everything was going to be alright on the night.
That grisly title defence was the start of a desperate few years in ODI cricket, but there are signs that Brendon McCullum is giving England the kiss of life in a third format. If they beat Sri Lanka at Headingley today – and it’ll be an eye-widener if they don’t – England will complete a third series victory of 2026.
At this stage they are no more than dangerous outsiders for next year’s World Cup, but even that would have been unimaginable during the annus horribilis of 2025. England lost 11 out of 15 ODIs and their captain was almost ironed out by a bouncer the night before a game. Off and especially on the field, it feels like a long time ago.
* If these four words made your brain jump straight to a Linoleum song, you win an ephemeral trip back to 1997.
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