England ease to T20 series win over Sri Lanka

England made quick work of defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second Twenty20 in Cardiff on Thursday to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in a three-match series.

Tom Banton top-scored with 52 not out off just 24 balls, including four sixes, as England reached a target of 146 with nearly eight overs to spare at Sophia Gardens.

Following England's 119-run rout of Sri Lanka in Tuesday's first T20 in Southampton, this was another lopsided contest.

Jos Buttler and England captain Harry Brook, fresh from their 80 and 114 not out respectively on Tuesday, got the home side's pursuit off to a typically dashing start, with England 79-3 in seven overs.

Buttler struck 30 off 16 balls as he became the first player to compile 15,000 T20 runs.

But it was England's performance in the field that laid the foundation for their 14th successive T20 win over Sri Lanka ahead of Saturday's series finale at Old Trafford.

Sri Lanka, sent into bat by Brook, scored 56 runs inside the powerplay.

But the final over of the powerplay saw player-of-the-match Liam Dawson take two wickets in two balls on his way to 3-32.

Dawson had Lahiru Udara (21) caught by the 6ft 5in (1.95 metre) Jamie Overton at long-on when the ball might have cleared a shorter fielder and next ball the left-arm spinner held a return catch off Kamil Mishara.

Fast bowler Jofra Archer struck twice in the last over as Sri Lanka were held to a lowly 145-9, with opener Pathum Nissanka's 37 the top score of the innings.

"Tonight was a special performance, very clinical," said Brook, who took a mere eight balls for his 23, at the presentation ceremony. "Sri Lanka got off to a flyer but the way we fought back with the ball was outstanding.

"The way Dawson reads the game was outstanding, too. He is an awesome bowler and a great bloke. He uses all of his nous.

"Everyone bowled phenomenally and the way Banton hits different parts of the ground with the bat was great to see."

Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka made no attempt to hide his feelings ahead of a three-match one-day international series with England, saying: "It was a very disappointing performance. We were in the game in the powerplay but then gave wickets at regular intervals.