Curran Hat-Trick Powers England to Thumping Win Against Sri Lanka in 1st T20I

England defeated Sri Lanka in the 1st T20I to take a 1-0 lead in the series. They won a rain-marred game in Pallekele, as Sam Curran took a hat-trick in the first innings to restrict Sri Lanka to just 133 runs. In reply, England batted well and came close to the target before rain arrived to halt the proceedings, giving the visitors a victory by 11 runs on DLS method.  

Batting first, Sri Lanka got off to a decent start, as Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis played positively in the Powerplay. They lost the momentum after the first six overs when Adil Rashid removed Nissanka for 23 runs. Soon after that, Liam Dawon removed Charith Asalanka to give Sri Lanka another major blow.

The English spinners then applied more pressure during the middle overs, as Sri Lanka struggled to rotate the scoreboard. The Sri Lankan T20I captain, Dasun Shanaka, tried to score some runs in the end, but he also got out after scoring just 20 runs.

The star English pacer, Sam Curran, then cleaned up the Sri Lankan tail in style, as he picked a hat-trick in the final overs to restrict Sri Lanka to just 133 runs.

When England came out to chase the target, they played with confidence to score quickly. The visitors knew that rain could arrive at any time, so they kept hitting boundaries to stay ahead of the DLS par score. The innings of Phil Salt was impressive, as he played sensibly after a brisk start to take the chase forward.

Due to his 46 runs, England got a foundation which helped other batters to play freely while getting close to target. They were about to complete the chase, but then rain arrived again and brought the proceedings to an end. Nevertheless, England were 11 runs ahead of the DLS par score at that stage, which handed them the victory. By winning the match, they have now taken a crucial 1-0 lead in the T20I series.