England vs Sri Lanka, 6th Match, Pakistan ODI Tri-Series 2026

A dead rubber with two very different moods attached to it. England arrive having lost all three of their round-robin matches and already knowing they are out — Sri Lanka’s eight-wicket demolition of Pakistan on Tuesday ended the last mathematical route to the final. Sri Lanka arrive with a place in Saturday’s final already secured and a squad to manage.

That makes the team sheets the interesting part. Kusal Mendis has to decide how much of his first-choice attack to push through another fifty overs two days before a final, and Dilshan Madushanka — who took a career-best 5 for 34 on Tuesday — would be a strange man to risk. England, with nothing to lose and a tournament to explain, have every reason to try something.

Gaddafi Stadium has been the batting ground of this tournament, and England’s only competitive performance in it was the 429 for 4 they made against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi — and lost.