England v Sri Lanka: Visitors take historic win in second T20 to level series

England slumped to their first ever defeat by Sri Lanka in T20s as the visitors levelled the series with an eight-wicket win at Chelmsford.

Charlie Dean’s 34 was the only score of more than 20 in England’s innings.

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu then hit an entertaining 55 from 31 balls as her side reached their target with 40 balls to spare.

Athapaththu was dismissed by Alice Capsey with 26 runs still required but Harshitha Madavi and Vishmi Gunaratne calmly completed the chase.

Sri Lanka were understandably jubilant in celebration, Harshitha raising her arms aloft as she sealed the winning runs with a six off Kate Cross.

England opener Danni Wyatt was bowled in the first over to spark a dismal collapse that saw England stutter to 51-6 at the halfway mark, a stark contrast to the 186-4 that they posted in the first T20 at Hove on Thursday.

The series decider takes place at Derby on Wednesday.

Poor England outplayed in all departments

England made the decision to rest key players for this series after a hectic Ashes summer, with Sophia Dunkley, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone, who has since dislocated her shoulder, rested.

But a relatively inexperienced England side were still heavy favourites to win all three T20s against Sri Lanka, who are significantly behind the hosts in professionalism, finances and depth of talent.

The joy on the Sri Lankan’s faces as they celebrated on the outfield showed exactly how much this historic victory means.

They produced an admirable performance, led by an astonishing fightback with the ball from the thrashing in the series opener, using their main strength in spin bowling.

England’s batters had no answers, with Amy Jones getting trapped on the crease and Capsey, Knight and Maia Bouchier all gifting catches with loose shots – Athapaththu’s sharp turner to bowl Wyatt the only wicket to not feature batter error.

Athapaththu has been Sri Lanka’s star for years, their only batter with franchise experience, but she seems to relish the pressure of leading from the front.

England boast a bowling attack that could defend 104, but she smashed 20 runs from the third over of the chase off Cross, and continued to attack with swagger to ensure the fine bowling performance was not wasted.

More to follow.