That's a wrap for our coverage of the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 encounter between Sri Lanka and England. England off to a superb start, while SL have it all to do from here. 

But Super 8 action is not done today. Head on over to our live coverage of the India vs South Africa match! CLICK HERE

Back-to-back losses in home conditions for Sri Lanka, but the way they've lost today will worry them ahead of matches against New Zealand and Pakistan. With unpredictable weather in store, this defeat could cost Sri Lanka big time.

Will Jacks smashed a couple of sensational knocks with the bat in the group stages, but today he has been England's game-changer with the ball. Handed the new ball, Jacks targetted the right areas and got rewarded. His 14-ball 21 was crucial, but his 3/22 in 4 overs made the difference.

Victory for England! Clinical. They march to victory by 51 runs. 146/9 didn't seem like a particularly strong total at the start, but what a bowling performance England have put up. Will Jacks and Jofra Archer triggered the Sri Lankan collapse, while Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid finished it off.

SL 95 all out (16.4)

ENG beat SL by 51 runs.

Knocked him over! Liam Dawson finishes his spell with a wicket on his final ball. Chameera goes for a wild swing but he misses the ball completely, and the stumps are dismantled. England 1 wicket away from victory.

SL 94/9 (16)

Terrific catch! Dasun Shanaka departs, and surely that's the end of the Sri Lankan hopes. He looks to go big over deep mid-wicket, but Will Jacks takes it and then smartly throws it back despite being off-balance. Tom Banton completes the take. 8 wickets gone.

SL 82/8 (14.2)

Maximum! Dasun Shanaka is keeping Sri Lanka's faint hopes alive. He smashes a 6 over extra cover. Sri Lanka need 66 runs in the final 6 overs. Tough, given the scenario of the match, but not impossible.

SL 81/7 (14)

GONE! HIT WICKET! Dushan Hemantha departs on the final ball of the 12th over. He looks to glance it on the leg-side, but he loses control of his bat and it ends up knocking off the bails. 7th wicket down for Sri Lanka.

SL 69/7 (13)

10 overs done in the Sri Lanka innings, and it has not gone to plan one bit for the co-hosts. Will Jacks rocked them in the powerplay, and Jofra Archer joined in too. As it stands, Sri Lanka need 91 off the final 10 with Shanaka the only recognized batter left.

SL 56/6 (10)

SIX, GONE! This time it's Kamindu Mendis. He smashes Liam Dawson for 6 over deep mid-wicket but departs just two balls later. Soft, soft dismissal. He ends up nudging the ball back to Dawson, caught and bowled. Sri Lanka are 6 down!

SL 52/6 (8.4)

Dasun Shanaka goes big! Will Jacks has been told to finish his quota, but Shanaka rocks back into his crease and pulls one over deep mid-wicket for 6. Shanaka and Kamindu at the crease now, probably SL's last recognized batting pair.

Jacks finishes with figures of 3/22 in 4 overs.

SL 45/5 (8)

Will Jacks strikes again! Third wicket for him! Sri Lanka are 5 down inside the powerplay. Dunith Wellalage departs. Looks to go down the ground, gets no timing on it, and finds England skipper Harry Brook at mid-on.

SL 34/5 (5.5)

Fourth wicket goes down and Sri Lanka are in a bit of trouble! A soft dismissal as Kamil Mishara looked to guide the ball but ended up hitting it straight to Jamie Overton at gully. A relatively easy catch for the England fielder and this is not looking good for Sri Lanka.

SL 30/4 (5.1 overs)

A mini collapse for Sri Lanka and England's tactic of using Will Jacks in the early overs has worked. Kusal Mendis was caught and bowled after miscuing his shot and on the very next ball, Pavan Rathnayake was dismissed for a golden duck after he was caught in the deep by Tom Banton. Advantage England!

SL 22/3 (4.3 overs)

Two back-to-back boundaries for Pathum Nissanka but Jofra Archer had the final laugh as the Sri Lanka opener ended up gifting his wicket. A nothing shot from the batter did not have enough power to go all the way and Jamie Overton completed an easy catch at deep mid-wicket.

SL 19/1 (3 overs)

A cautious start by Sri Lanka as the openers played Jofra Archer with respect. Considering the fact that the total is not huge, Sri Lanka have the chance to slowly build their innings and Kamil Mishara made his intentions clear with a boundary off Will Jacks' bowling.

SL 7/0 (1.5 overs)

We are back for the second innings and Sri Lanka will be quite confident considering the total is not that intimidating. England could manage to score 146/9 and they will need a solid bowling performance to defend this total.

Dunith Wellalage and Maheesh Theekshana inflicted damaging blows on England in the powerplay, and continued the momentum to pick up big wickets later too. 5 wickets between the two, and their 8 overs went for 46 runs combined. For England, Phil Salt's 62 and Will Jacks's cameo were the only knocks of note.

20 overs done! England manage to post just 146/9. Jamie Overton smashed one 6 in the final over, but Dushmantha Chameera came back brilliantly to ensure England don't get to the 150-run mark. 

ENG 146/9 (20)

GONE! Jofra Archer departs first ball! 2 wickets in 2 balls for Dilshan Madushanka! England's hopes of 150 are fading by the minute. Madushanka ends with 2/25 in 4 overs.

ENG 135/9 (19)

Two boundaries, and then he departs! Will Jacks' cameo comes to an end. 21 off 14. He smashed two 4s through over cover. Looks to go big but it's wide and full from Madushanka, and Jacks mistimes it. Caught at deep point. 

ENG 135/8 (18.5)

Terrific from Maheesh Theekshana! Masterful 18th over from the spinner. Powerplay or death, Theekshana delivers. Overton struggles to hit big, and then Jacks fails to keep strike for the next over. 2/21 in 4 overs for Theekshana.

ENG 126/7 (18)

Liam Dawson departs! Not a great innings from the No. 8, who struggled to rotate strike or hit the big shots. He goes for 6 runs off 11 balls. 7 wickets down for England. What will agonise England even more is that Jacks is off strike!

ENG 124/7 (17.1)

Thrashed through the covers! Is this the start of another onslaught by Will Jacks? England will hope so! 4 overs remain for them, and they'll be hoping to get to 150 at a bare minimum. They'll need some lusty blows for it though.

ENG 114/6 (16)

Can Will Jacks be England's saviour yet again? The former RCB and current MI star has smashed a couple of incredibly powerful knocks so far in the T20 World Cup 2026, and England need him to do it again. Jacks had the highest strike-rate of any batter with 100+ runs in the group stage. 

GONE! Massive wicket for Sri Lanka! Phil Salt, clearly tired at this point, holes out to long-off. A third wicket for Dunith Wellalage. He finishes with excellent figures of 3/26 in 4 overs.

ENG 106/6 (15)

100 up for England! A good over is spoiled in the final two balls. First a misfield sees Phil Salt pick up 4 through cover. Chameera then surprises Salt with a well-directed bouncer, but the top edge flies for 6 over fine-leg!

ENG 105/5 (14)

Sam Curran departs! The left-hander looks to go big once again with a slog towards the leg-side, but doesn't time it so well. Finds Kamil Mishara at long-on. Half the England batting is now back in the dugout.

ENG 94/5 (13.2)

Sam Curran launches it! Smashed for 6 over deep mid-wicket by the left-hander. First big hit by the all-rounder. Can these two stitch a necessary partnership here?

ENG 94/4 (13)

Half-century for Phil Salt! Comes in 36 balls. Much-needed from an England point of view. His first half-century of the T20 World Cup 2026. With wickets tumbling at the other end, this has been a crucial knock from the opener. He is struggling a bit, though, possibly due to the humidity in Pallekele.

ENG 85/4 (12.3)

GONE! Dunith Wellalage removes Harry Brook on the final ball of the 10th over! LBW. Brook looks to defend, but the ball hits the pad. Big appeal and the umpire gives it out. Brook reviews, but it says umpire's call!

ENG 68/4 (10)

Oh dear, it was nearly another run out! Harry Brook pushes for a second run but had the throw hit the stumps, he would've been run out by a mile! However, the throw is not collected and ultimately goes for 4 overthrows!

ENG 59/3 (9)

Another wicket! England's calamitous start continues! Tom Banton looks to scrape a quick single but he is well short as SL captain Dasun Shanaka throws a direct hit from mid-off. Not even the dive is enough to save him.

ENG 49/3 (7.5)

Phil Salt seems to be the only one timing it well. Full toss from Dushan Hemantha and swept away firmly for 4 by Salt. He is on 30 off 20 at the moment, while England's score is only on 45!

ENG 45/2 (7)

The powerplay of the England innings comes to an end, and it is hosts Sri Lanka who have completely dominated so far. Two big wickets, and England are going at just over 6 runs per over.

ENG 37/2 (6)

Jacob Bethell departs! Top edge flies to third-man where Madushanka picks up an excellent diving catch. Maheesh Theekshana strikes with his first ball! England now 2 down, and in trouble!

ENG 32/2 (5.1)

Edged and into the fence! 4 runs for Phil Salt, his second boundary. He went for a hard swing towards the leg-side, but the thick outside edge sees the ball go for 4 through third man. Next ball, fuller and wider, he thrashes it square for 4 more! 

ENG 32/1 (5)

GONE! LBW! Jos Buttler's struggles were evident and he tried to get out of it by trying a reverse-sweep. The execution is far from perfect, he misses again and gets trapped on the pads. Umpire gives it out straight away and Buttler walks back without reviewing. Dunith Wellalage strikes!

ENG 16/1 (3.1)

Jos Buttler is really struggling at the moment. 4 dots in a row, 4 play-and-misses. The England veteran failing to time Madushanka's deliveries. He is on 7 off 13!

ENG 16/0 (3)

Phil Salt goes big! First big shot of the day and it's a maximum. Shanaka hands the ball to Dunith Wellalage from the other end, and Salt targets the young spinner. The right-hander smashes the third ball of the second over for 6 over long-off.

ENG 11/0 (1.3)

We are LIVE! Dilshan Madushanka opens the bowling for Sri Lanka. Phil Salt and Jos Buttler opening the batting for England. Salt gets off the mark first ball with a single. With rain on the cards, will England look to get off to a brisk start?

ENG 1/0 (0.1)

Time for the national anthems at Pallekele. First England and then Sri Lanka. The rain has not arrived yet, but there is a dark cloud just over the stadium. Stay tuned, though, folks! The match is about to get underway.

England's opening duo of Phil Salt and Jos Buttler haven't hit the ground running in the T20 World Cup 2026 yet. Salt managed just 61 runs in the group stages, while Buttler made only 53. Today would be an excellent day for the duo to get up and running.

England Playing XI vs Sri Lanka: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Harry Brook (c), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid.

Sri Lanka Playing XI vs England: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka (c), Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka.

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka wins the toss and opts to bowl! The good news is that the sun is still out, as of now. Two changes announced by Sri Lanka, while Harry Brook's England stick to the same lineup as their previous game.

Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka is in a rich vein of form at the moment. He slammed 199 runs in 4 matches in the group phase, including a terrific century against Australia. Sri Lanka will no doubt be banking on him today.

We are just about 15 minutes away from toss time at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. With rain on the cards, it will be interesting to see what changes and decisions are made by the two teams.

As per AccuWeather, the possibility of rain is quite significant during the match hours. Here is the hourly chance of rain for the next few hours:

3:00 PM IST: 61%

4:00 PM IST: 74%

5:00 PM IST: 74%

6:00 PM IST: 49%

Great news! The sun has crept out in Pallekele, as we catch some visuals. With just 30 minutes to go for the toss, this bodes well for the match to start on time. Both sides are warming up on the field.

England lead 5-1 when it comes to the match-ups against Sri Lanka in T20 World Cups (including the 2010 semifinal). The Islanders' only win against England came at this venue (Pallekele) coming in 2012. Dasun Shanaka's men, hence, have all the reasons to keep their hopes high. 

This will be the 18th time that England and Sri Lanka will be meeting in a T20I. England have the upper hand when it comes to head-to-head battles, winning 13 of the previous 17 matches, while Sri Lanka have only won 3. In home conditions, however, the islanders have already produced some formidable results, including a victory against Australia. 

Practice sessions concluded on Saturday just ahead of an evening thunderstorm. On Sunday, however, showers are expected to arrive even earlier in the day. There isn't a lot of optimism around the match at the moment, courtesy the weather. 

The visuals from Pallekele at the moment not painting the nicest of pictures.

Pallekele Kandy Weather Right Now!!! pic.twitter.com/v3UQVrBYEA

— Arxy (@ArxySays) February 22, 2026

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup 2026 as England prepare to take on Sri Lanka in Pallekele. After the first Super 8 match -- between Pakistan and New Zealand in Colombo -- was washed out without a ball being bowled, the second match is hinting towards a similar fate. The chances of rain in Pallekele are extremely high at the moment. Fingers crossed, for now!