Sri Lanka Chase 430 to Beat England Despite Brook's Record 202

Sri Lanka chase 430 and beat England by two wickets with one ball to spare. That was the finish at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in the third match of Pakistan's ODI tri-series. England had posted 429 for 4. Harry Brook made 202 from 116 balls and brought up his double century in 114, the fastest in the format's history. It was not enough.

Pavan Rathnayake made 130 from 106 balls. Avishka Fernando and Dasun Shanaka both finished on 97. Sri Lanka needed six from the last two deliveries when Janith Liyanage hit Josh Tongue over long-off for six. The pursuit of 430 is the second-highest successful chase in one-day international cricket, behind South Africa's pursuit of 435 against Australia at the Wanderers in 2006.

Brook's 114-ball double century

Tom Banton made 50 from 51 balls and Ben Duckett 29. Their opening stand was worth 74. Joe Root followed with 69 from 66. Will Jacks hit 66 not out from 30 deliveries. Brook's 202 is the highest ODI score by an England batter, passing Ben Stokes's 182 against New Zealand in 2023. No England player had reached 200 in the format before.

He hit 21 fours and 10 sixes. The ICC records those 144 runs in boundaries as the most by an England batter in a single ODI innings. It also lists England's 429 for 4 as the highest men's ODI total made in Pakistan and the fourth-highest England have made anywhere. Brook took the fastest-double-century record off Shubman Gill, who had set it against the West Indies earlier this month. Published ball counts for Gill's innings vary between outlets, so the size of the margin is unclear.

Rathnayake sets up the reply

Sri Lanka had 50 overs and 430 to find. Rathnayake's 130 came from 106 balls. He top-scored. Fernando made 97 from 83. Both teams had arrived at this fixture without a win, each having lost an opening tri-series match to the hosts. Brook was captaining England.

Shanaka and Liyanage close it out

Shanaka's 97 took 50 balls, with eight sixes in it by the ICC's count. He and Fernando both fell three short of a hundred. Sam Curran conceded 103 runs in nine overs, again by the ICC's count. Tongue finished with 3 for 79 and was England's most successful bowler. Liyanage was still there at the end, and Sri Lanka lost eight wickets getting the runs.

Brook called the defeat "heartbreaking" afterwards. "Very disappointing that we haven't been able to defend 430, but that's life, that's cricket," he said, adding "hats off to Sri Lanka."

The 430 chase in ODI company

Two of the four biggest successful chases in the format have now come in 2026. India overhauled 406 against the West Indies at Guwahati three weeks ago. That was the match in which Gill set the record Brook has just taken. ETV Bharat lists the leading successful chases as:

• 435: South Africa v Australia, Johannesburg, 2006
• 430: Sri Lanka v England, Rawalpindi, 2026
• 406: India v West Indies, Guwahati, 2026
• 372: South Africa v Australia, Durban, 2016

Rawalpindi has staged the tri-series so far. Pakistan beat Sri Lanka there in the opener, then beat England. Thursday was the third match at the ground inside a week.

Tri-series table before the final games

Pakistan lead with two wins from two. Sri Lanka have one from two. England have none. The ICC described the tri-series as "nicely poised" with the last run of fixtures still to play.

England now need wins in the remaining matches to reach the final. They have lost to the hosts, and then to a side that had also started the tournament with a defeat. Sri Lanka went into Thursday without a point. They left with a win and the second-biggest chase the format has seen.