India, Feb. 22 -- Take it deep, that was Dasun Shanaka's brief to his batters. This instruction wasn't without reason. Less than a month ago, also at Pallekele, England needed just 128 to beat Sri Lanka by 12 runs. This time, they had 146/9, after being 94/5 in the 14th over.

Having let them off once, Sri Lanka had to get their chase right. But it went awry from the word go. Puzzling shot selection, miscued shots, and hit wicket - Sri Lanka's batting was a glaring parade of errors made worse by England's fielding.

This is England's 12th successive win against Sri Lanka in T20Is. More significantly, this 51-run defeat not only pushes Sri Lanka to the bottom of the table but also leaves them with a net run rate of -2.55, which could be ve...