That marks the end of our coverage from the three match ODI series from Colombo. England lost the first match of the series but came back strongly in the next two games to win the series by a margin of 1-2. Now the caravan shifts to Pallekele. Sri Lanka and England will have a face-off there for a three-match T20I series before the all important world cup. The series will kick off on 30th January from 7 PM IST and Local Time. Do join us for that too.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Manan Mehta, the scorer/analyst of this match Ghanendra Singh Thakur and the statistician Aman. Good night.
Most Player of the Series Award for England in ODIs: 6 - Joe Root 4 - Jos Buttler, Graham Gooch
England skiper Harry Brook collects the trophy and joins his teammates for a celebration. Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson and all the English player are coming one by one to join for the photoshoot. England are the winners of this 3-match ODI series.
Harry Brook (POTM and England Captain): "I have been working on a few things with Root in the nets and luckily they paid off today. I am glad that me, Root and Bethell could get us to that total.
Yeah awesome result and awesome from everyone involved. Rooty, it is just exceptional to have him in the side. It helps every day. I thought that was an exceptional effort from the guys.
The toss was not that important in the end after all. It was a much better pitch than what we were expecting. Just glad that we got a good score and happy with defending it.
Very happy with the way the spinners bowled. Working in tandem. The communication was superb. The way the batters have batted and put pressure on the bowlers.
No, this was a decent wicket and very happy to bat on that (laughs)."
Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka Captain):"Yes it was a good game. The result is a disappointing one. But the good thing is that we got a name as our number 4, Pavan Rathnayake. He batted extremely well.
I think we could have done better in the second game of the series. I mean when we come to this game Harry Brook and Joe Root batted really well. (On the last 10 overs) It was really tough and I thought that the ball might turn a bit so we went with three or four spinners. But it got tough when it was not turning. Seven overs by a spinner in that phase is really hard. Wanindu is just cramping. He is alright.
Yes we are looking forward to the T20I series. That is the most important series before the important world cup. We just want to do the basics right and go to the world cup with good momentum."
Joe Root (Player of the Series): "(Motivation at this stage in his career) The only motivation is to win games for your country. My role is pretty obvious in the team. I need to help the young guys in the team come through.
(On his innings) It was great out there. The way Bethell played and then Brook just came out and took the game in that manner was fantastic. It showed what we are capable of as a 50 over team. A tough period prior to this but now we are on the right track. A few of the guys will stay back for the T20s and this win will give them a lot of confidence.
(On long wait before next match for England) I am quite looking forward to it. Some family time and then I will be ready for the Test series. It is rare to get some long breaks like that and we just need to use it well in our advantage."
Player of the Series: Joe Root
Player of the Match: Harry Brook
Time for the Post Match Presentations...
Most International 100s in Winning Cause:
59 - Virat Kohli (India)
55 - Ricky Ponting (Australia)
53 - Sachin Tendulkar (India)
41 - Rohit Sharma (India)
40 - Hashim Amla (South Africa), Joe Root (England) (TODAY)*
37 - AB de Villiers (South Africa), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)