Fielding coach R Sridhar on Saturday (February 21, 2026) said Sri Lanka has moved on from their home 0-3 drubbing by England in the run-up to the T20 World Cup, and believed that his side is now better equipped to react to different situations in Sunday’s (February 22, 2026) Super Eights match against the Three Lions.

England whitewashed Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series just seven days before the start of the ongoing T20 World Cup, but Sridhar did not count that as a deterrent in producing a good outing against Harry Brook’s side.

“At this stage of this tournament, it’s a lot different from what a bilateral series is. I mean, bilateral series and private leagues, there’s no pressure as much as it would be in a World Cup Super-8 game. And it is for all teams. It is for all teams, whether it is England, whether it is Sri Lanka, whether it is India or Pakistan, whoever it is, when you’re playing a super 8 game, you will not play with the same freedom as you would do in a bilateral or a private league,” Sridhar said in the pre-match press conference.

“So, the pressure will be the same for both teams. The teams which do things correctly under pressure, the teams which make lesser mistakes is the team that is likely to go through,” he added.

Despite the heavy reversal, the former India fielding coach said there were a lot of positive takeaways from the series against England.

“We played, I remember the first game, we were bundled out for 130-odd and there are a couple of learnings from that as a batting unit. We learned immediately in the next game, we posted a score of 180, 190, I guess. Then there was a bit of a rain interruption and we saw some good batting at the back end from Tom Banton and the rest of the team which took the game away.

“So, that was a learning but we don’t have the same bowlers now. (Wanindu) Hasaranga who played that game is injured. Matheesha (Pathirana) who played that game is injured. He’s not available. So, slightly depleted in the bowling front. But at the same time, we’ve taken the lessons forward.

“I’m not talking about the third game because that is not the kind of a pitch I guess we’ll be playing on tomorrow. So yeah, we played enough against this team to be able to react to different situations, to different batters. We saw them play in India as well, at the Wankhede where the ball was gripping a bit. So yeah we got the plans in place,” he said.

Sridhar said the bowlers need to execute their plans better to restrict the explosive English batting line-up.

“England team obviously is one of the best in the world. They have some big power hitters. So, we would be relying on our bowlers to kind of execute the plans with more clarity and try and come back.

“There are going to be moments when you’re going to be hit for a six, four, again and again but we’re going to try and come back and look for that one-dot ball, look to finish the over well, and look to complement our partner in the bowling, stuff like that, so that we can have a very competitive game.

“I mean the team, they know what is required from them at this stage and like all good teams do it’s very important to reflect learn and move on whether you had good game or whether you had a loss, it is important for the team to move on and focus on what they need to do for the next game,” he said.

Sridhar said Sri Lanka were a bit complacent in the defeat against Zimbabwe in their last group match.

“I think that was a good lesson — Zimbabwe game. I think there could have been a little bit of complacency after the score we put up on the board on that pitch. But that was again a fantastic lesson to learn and yes, we were below par in terms of fielding inside the inner ring,” he said.

“That is something which has been spoken about already and this ground will probably prove a different challenge because the outfield being under covers for so many times and so much of activity happening on the ground it’s going to be a challenge to be really flash and brilliant on this ground so we’ll have to look at the strategies we adapt as a fielding team on this outfield,” he added.

Published – February 22, 2026 12:40 am IST

Sri Lanka batsman Dhananjaya de Silva hits out as England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith looks on during day one of the First Test Match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva hit 74 to help his team fight back from a perilous position and reach tea at 178-8 on Day 1 of the first test against England.

With the tourists struggling on 113-7, De Silva put on an eighth-wicket partnership of 63 with test debutant Milan Rathnayake before getting dismissed just before the interval.

That was one of three Sri Lankan wickets to fall in the second session, along with Kamindu Mendis (12) and Prabath Jayasuriya (10).

Sri Lanka has fought back from being 6-3 after seven overs and looks set to post a respectable first-innings total after winning the toss at Old Trafford and choosing to bat first on a dry, hard pitch.

De Silva hit eight fours in his 84-ball knock, which marked his 14th test half-century. He eventually edged to leg slip to give Shoaib Bashir (2-31) his second wicket.

Chris Woakes removed Mendis and has 3-32 off 11 overs.

England was coming off a 3-0 series win over West Indies and was without captain Ben Stokes because of a torn hamstring sustained in a domestic game this month. Ollie Pope was filling in as captain and Dan Lawrence was deputizing as opener for Zak Crawley, who broke a finger in the West Indies series.