Will Jacks’ all-round brilliance powers England to win in the ODI series opener
ThePapareNews article
England registered a comfortable victory over Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the three-match series played yesterday (22nd September) at Chester-le-Street.
Having won the toss, England skipper Harry Brook opted to bat first. Sri Lanka made a couple of notable changes to their playing XI, leaving out senior spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana while handing an ODI debut to wrist-spinner Sachindu Colombage.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers produced an impressive effort to restrict a strong England batting lineup to 265 runs. Debutant Colombage and fast bowler Asitha Fernando were the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickets each.
Colombage, in particular, enjoyed an impressive debut with the ball, making an immediate impact by dismissing two of England’s biggest names, Joe Root and Jos Buttler. The wrist-spinner showed excellent composure on debut as Sri Lanka kept England from posting a bigger total.
Chasing 266 for victory, Sri Lanka’s batting struggles continued from the T20I series as they were bowled out for 176 runs, falling 89 runs short of the target.
Captain Kusal Mendis starred with a fighting 42, while Dunith Wellalage provided further resistance with a spirited 45 from the No. 7 position. However, the rest of the batting lineup failed to make significant contributions as England’s bowlers kept Sri Lanka under pressure throughout the chase.
Off-spinner Will Jacks was the standout performer with the ball for England, producing a sensational spell to claim five wickets for just 22 runs.
Result Sri Lanka 176/10 (37) England 265/10 (48.1) England won by 89 runs
Updated at 07:59 AM 2026-09-23
England 1st Innings
- Batsmen · R · B · 4s · 6s · SR
- Tom Banton · b Asitha Fernando · 10 · 12 · 2 · 0 · 83.33
- Ben Duckett · lbw b Dunith Wellalage · 32 · 29 · 5 · 0 · 110.34
- Joe Root · b Sachindu Colombage · 44 · 52 · 5 · 0 · 84.62
- Harry Brook · c Dilshan Madusanka b Dushmantha Chameera · 67 · 69 · 7 · 0 · 97.10
- Jos Buttler · lbw b Sachindu Colombage · 31 · 33 · 2 · 0 · 93.94
- Will Jacks · not out · 46 · 47 · 5 · 0 · 97.87
- Rehan Ahmed · run out (Charith Asalanka) · 2 · 7 · 0 · 0 · 28.57
- Jamie Overton · b Sachindu Colombage · 8 · 13 · 1 · 0 · 61.54
- Gus Atkinson · b Dilshan Madusanka · 14 · 20 · 1 · 0 · 70.00
- Jofra Archer · b Asitha Fernando · 2 · 6 · 0 · 0 · 33.33
- Josh Tongue · b Asitha Fernando · 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 · 0.00
- Extras · 9 (b 0 , lb 2 , nb 0, w 7, pen 0)
- Total · 265/10 (48.1 Overs, RR: 5.5)
- Fall of wickets: · 1-12 (NE Bolton, 1.1 ov), 2-40 (MM Lanning, 8.1 ov), 3-148 (AJ Healy, 26.6 ov), 4-151 (EA Perry, 28.5 ov), 5-225 (RL Haynes, 39.3 ov), 6-225 (BL Mooney, 40.1 ov), 7-312 (S Molineux, 49.2 ov)
- Bowling · O · M · R · W · Econ
- Asitha Fernando · 9.1 · 0 · 53 · 3 · 5.82
- Dilshan Madusanka · 10 · 0 · 45 · 1 · 4.50
- Dushmantha Chameera · 9 · 0 · 61 · 1 · 6.78
- Dunith Wellalage · 10 · 0 · 60 · 1 · 6.00
- Sachindu Colombage · 10 · 0 · 44 · 3 · 4.40
Sri Lanka 1st Innings
- Batsmen · R · B · 4s · 6s · SR
- Pathum Nissanka · c Jos Buttler b Josh Tongue · 27 · 37 · 4 · 0 · 72.97
- Kamindu Mendis · c Ben Duckett b Gus Atkinson · 14 · 19 · 3 · 0 · 73.68
- Kusal Mendis · lbw b Will Jacks · 42 · 60 · 4 · 0 · 70.00
- Pavan Rathnayake · c Tom Banton b Jamie Overton · 13 · 23 · 1 · 0 · 56.52
- Charith Asalanka · lbw b Will Jacks · 1 · 3 · 0 · 0 · 33.33
- Janith Liyanage · c Jos Buttler b Jamie Overton · 4 · 8 · 0 · 0 · 50.00
- Dunith Wellalage · c Jamie Overton b Will Jacks · 45 · 36 · 5 · 2 · 125.00
- Sachindu Colombage · lbw b Rehan Ahmed · 14 · 14 · 3 · 0 · 100.00
- Dushmantha Chameera · not out · 7 · 19 · 0 · 0 · 36.84
- Asitha Fernando · c Tom Banton b Will Jacks · 0 · 2 · 0 · 0 · 0.00
- Dilshan Madusanka · b Will Jacks · 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 · 0.00
- Extras · 9 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 8, pen 0)
- Total · 176/10 (37 Overs, RR: 4.76)
- Fall of wickets: · 1-12 (NE Bolton, 1.1 ov), 2-40 (MM Lanning, 8.1 ov), 3-148 (AJ Healy, 26.6 ov), 4-151 (EA Perry, 28.5 ov), 5-225 (RL Haynes, 39.3 ov), 6-225 (BL Mooney, 40.1 ov), 7-312 (S Molineux, 49.2 ov)
- Bowling · O · M · R · W · Econ
- Jofra Archer · 6 · 1 · 38 · 0 · 6.33
- Gus Atkinson · 7 · 0 · 25 · 1 · 3.57
- Josh Tongue · 5 · 0 · 23 · 1 · 4.60
- Rehan Ahmed · 7 · 1 · 46 · 1 · 6.57
- Jamie Overton · 5 · 0 · 21 · 2 · 4.20
- Will Jacks · 7 · 0 · 22 · 5 · 3.14
Based on ThePapare reporting