An Oddsworth Opinion
The Sri Lanka chase that left Harry Brook's 202 without a curtain call
The story
Sri Lanka beat England by two wickets in the Pakistan tri-series, chasing down the second-largest target ever reached in a men's ODI despite a huge Harry Brook innings. Janith Liyanage settled it with a six off Ben Tongue from the last ball, earning Sri Lanka their first points of the event.
CricTracker · 22 October at 18:05 BSTSri Lanka complete second-highest chase in ODI history to upstage record-breaking Brook in tri-seriesRead the full storyHarry Brook made 202 from 116 balls against Sri Lanka in the Pakistan tri-series, the highest score of his ODI career, and still ended the night in a supporting role. Sri Lanka pulled off the second-biggest chase the format has seen, and Janith Liyanage finished it by hitting Ben Tongue over long-off from the final ball.
The side that turned the tables makes it stranger still. Our ratings put Sri Lanka eighth of the ten men's ODI sides, and in September England bowled them out for 132 at The Oval to win by 223 runs.
How good was Harry Brook's 202?
Very good, from a batter already among the best. Our ratings make him the ninth-best ODI batter in the world, worth 6 runs a match more than an average player.
He scores quickly with it, too, with a strike rate of 112.1 in men's ODIs over the last two years against 85.1 for top-seven batters.
Yet he came into this match in patchy form. None of his three innings against India in July reached 20, and two days before the double hundred he made 5 from seven balls against Pakistan. He arrived out of sorts and left with the biggest score on the card.
Career average 41.4Not out
Who won the chase for Sri Lanka?
Pavan Rathnayake carried it with 130 from 106 balls. Our ratings already have him fifth among ODI batters, worth 8 runs a match more than an average player, which puts him four places above Brook.
That billing rests on just ten ODIs since his debut against Pakistan last November.
Liyanage did the rest with 61 not out from 27 balls. Over the last two years his batting average of 42.42 sits well clear of the 32.94 managed by top-seven batters.
Career average 50.6
Where does the chase rank?
Second on the list of the biggest chases in men's ODIs, and higher still for surprise, given Sri Lanka had lost to Pakistan by 37 runs earlier in the tournament. Pakistan come next on 27 October, and our ratings give Sri Lanka only a 27% chance.
Brook played the innings of the night, and the chase has earned its place among the greatest. The curtain call belonged to Liyanage, but Rathnayake is the reason this run could last beyond one evening, and the lead role should now be his.
Tuesday 27 October 2026, 1:00pm GMT+5