England are finally on the rise again in ODIs, after a long period of stagnation and decline. They pulled off their lowest successful defence in four years as they cruised past Sri Lanka at the Riverside in Durham, and have now won five matches out of seven since the start of this year under Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum.

The first ODI was more competitive than any of the three T20Is last week, as England wobbled against Sri Lanka’s debutant legspinner Sachindu Colombage in the middle overs. They failed to hit a six on a two-paced, end-of-season surface, and Brook – who threw his head back in frustration when he carved to deep point – was the only batter to find any real fluency.

But Sri Lanka’s run chase never got going. Captain Kusal Mendis made 42 on his return from a hamstring injury and Dunith Wellalage landed a few late blows, but their middle order went missing against Jamie Overton’s cross-seamers and Will Jack’s  offbreaks. This was an unglamorous and forgettable win, but England have not had enough of those in recent years.

Jacks took three wickets in four balls to finish things off, giving him outstanding figures of 5 for 22 – the second best in an ODI by an England spinner.  It meant that Adil Rashid, ruled out of the series with a hand injury, was hardly missed, and completed an impressive all-round performance by Jacks after he cracked 46 not out to drag England to 265.

England’s ODI results have tailed off sharply since they won their first World Cup under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy, with 50-over cricket slipping to the bottom of the ECB’s list of priorities. Across the six years after their 2019 triumph, they won 33 and lost 40 in ODIs and suffered humiliating group-stage exits in both the 2023 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.

They started 2026 ranked eighth in the world by the ICC, and with players and management anxious to secure automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup, but things have started to click for them. They have come from behind to win series against Sri Lanka (away) and India (home) this year, and will now target wins at Headingley and The Oval to seal a whitewash.

It has been a turbulent summer for McCullum, who lost his job as Test coach after England’s chaotic, self-sabotaging series defeat to New Zealand. But his partnership with Brook has been a revelation: England’s white-ball teams have won 10 completed games out of 11 this summer, and are finally starting to develop a clear identity.

Brook cited strike rotation and playing longer innings as two areas for England’s batters to improve before this series, and their new mentor Kevin Pietersen led a “spin masterclass” at Monday morning’s training session. They showed in this match that there is still plenty of scope to get better, stumbling against Colombage as they lost 4 for 29 in 7.5 overs through the middle.

A legspinner with an idiosyncratic action, Colombage spent last summer playing club cricket for Downham Stow in the East Anglian Premier League, but won his call-up after impressing in the recent Lanka Premier League. He was picked ahead of Wanindu Hasaranga in Chester-le-Street and made Joe Root his first victim in taking 3 for 44 on international debut.

England lost Tom Banton early to an Asitha Fernando outswinger – which trimmed the off bail – after choosing to bat, but Root started brightly. He pinged two early cover drives for four to take England to 64 for 1 after the initial powerplay, before they lost Ben Duckett lbw as he tried to sweep Wellalage’s left-arm spin.

Root had an early scare when he survived an lbw review off Colombage’s third ball, but was busy with Brook through the middle overs. They scampered between the wickets, though perhaps slightly too enthusiastically: Brook very nearly ran Root out on 42 with an optimistic single, though Colombage did for him an over later, finding just enough turn to beat the bat.

It ended a 404-run, five-innings stretch between dismissals for Root in ODIs, and when Brook miscued a charging slap to deep point off Dusmantha Chameera, it set a wobble in motion: Buttler was lbw to Colombage, Charith Asalanka’s direct hit did for Rehan Ahmed, and Overton played around a straight one from Colombage.

Jacks offered some resistance from No. 6, hitting four fours in a row off Chameera when the field came up due to Sri Lanka’s painfully slow over-rate. But the impressive Dilshan Madushanka pegged back Gus Atkinson’s off stump, and two Fernando yorkers accounted for Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue to leave Jacks stranded on 46 not out.

England’s 265 proved far more than enough. Kamindu Mendis fell tamely plinking Atkinson to midwicket, and Pathum Nissanka edged behind flashing at Tongue, while Banton held an excellent low catch at cover to get Pavan Rathnayake. Jacks had Asalanka and Mendis lbw sweeping, and Overton’s hard lengths did for Janith Liyanage.

When Rehan’s googly did for Colombage, Sri Lanka were 133 for 7 and the game was up. Wellalage smeared Archer for the game’s first six, clearing Duckett on the rope, and cracked Rehan for 4-4-6 to put a dent in the margin. But he picked out mid-on for 45 off Jacks, who finished the game by having Fernando caught at long-on then cleaning up Madushanka.

It was Jacks’s second five-wicket haul as an England player and his first since his Test debut four years ago, and he won the match award after a stellar all-round effort. He is Brook’s vice-captain for this series in Jacob Bethell’s injury-enforced absence, and is becoming an increasingly important player.

Scores:
England 265 in 48.1 overs (Joe Root 44, Harry Brook 67, Will Jacks 46*; Asitha Fernando 3-53, Sachindu Colombage 3-44, ) beat Sri Lanka 176 in 37 overs  (Dunith Wellalage 45, Kusal Mendis 42; Jamie Overton 2-21, Will  Jacks 5-22) by 89 runs

[Cricinfo]