England have an inspirational record against Sri Lanka at Pallekele. In January, they played and won three T20Is against the hosts at the venue.

This will serve as a huge boost to England when they face Sri Lanka in Kandy in
the Super Eight clash of the T20 World Cup on Sunday afternoon.

“We can take a lot of confidence having played here and experienced this surface and this ground,” England captain Harry Brook said on Saturday. “We had a very good series, so we can hopefully take that experience and use it in the game tomorrow.”

Brook though is wary of the home team’s batting.

“Some of their batters are batting really well,” he said. “So hopefully we can get a few wickets in the Powerplay. And Nissanka is on a bit of a heater at the minute, so it would be ideal if we can get him out early.”

England’s batting hasn’t been good in the tournament. “I feel like we’ve been slightly too careful with the bat and we can really look to put them under a little bit more pressure, especially with the batting depth that we got.

“I think winning the tight games as well just shows the belief and the unity that we have to be able to get through the games, albeit not against the strongest opponents,” Brook said.

England’s top four have a collective strike rate of 141.6, placing them ninth among the 20 teams in the tournament. Even more concerning has been Jos Buttler and Phil Salt’s performance — they have managed only 114 runs between them so far.

Buttler himself admitted to frustration with his returns. “I’m a bit frustrated, to be honest,” Buttler said on his podcast, For the Love of Cricket.

““I think (I have been) maybe almost trying a bit too hard, as opposed to just being a bit relaxed at the crease and letting it happen,” the former captain said.