England seek a clean sweep at Old Trafford as Sri Lanka look for a first win since 2014

England can finish a 3-0 sweep at Old Trafford, where Sri Lanka are still looking for a first T20 international win over them since 2014

England and Sri Lanka close their three-match T20I series at Old Trafford on Saturday, the match starting at 19:00 IST. The series is already decided, England having won the first two.

Neither was close. England won by 119 runs at Southampton, then chased 146 at Cardiff in 12.1 overs with 47 balls to spare.

A third win would be their 15th in succession against Sri Lanka in the format. The tourists have not beaten England in a T20 international since 2014.

England have not been extended

Harry Brook set the tone at the Rose Bowl with 114 not out from 49 balls, reaching three figures in 42 deliveries as England made 254 for 4.

Sonny Baker then took 3-12 from four overs and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 135, the heaviest of the two defeats.

At Sophia Gardens two days later, Liam Dawson broke the innings with 3-32 and was named player of the match after Sri Lanka were held to 145 for 9.

Tom Banton's unbeaten 52 from 24 balls settled the chase inside 13 overs, and England have now won every completed match of the series by a distance.

Buttler arrives on a record

Jos Buttler became the first batter to reach 15,000 runs in T20 cricket during the Cardiff chase, getting there with a single off Eshan Malinga in the fifth over.

The milestone came in his 528th T20 appearance and took him past Kieron Pollard, whose career tally stands at 14,999.

Buttler made 30 on the night. Saturday takes him to Old Trafford, the ground he has played his county cricket on since joining Lancashire.

The ranking England are chasing

England went into this series second in the ICC men's T20I team rankings, a single rating point behind India.

The most recent update, published on 13 September, had India on 269 and England on 268, with Australia third on 260.

England had briefly held top spot earlier in the year, after their home series against India in July, before India returned to it on 25 July.

The two wins over Sri Lanka have come since that update, so the gap at the top is the immediate context for a match that decides nothing else.

Sri Lanka still looking for a total

Charith Asalanka is leading the side on this tour in place of Kusal Mendis, who was ruled out with a hamstring injury. The seamer Binura Fernando is also out, with a back problem.

Sri Lanka's two innings have produced 135 and 145 for 9, and in neither did they find a rate that asked anything of England's batting.

Pathum Nissanka's 37 from 21 balls in Cardiff was the only innings in that total made at better than a run a ball, and the last 15 overs of it brought 90 runs for nine wickets.

Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana remain the bowlers Asalanka leans on for control, on a ground where the surface has generally slowed as an innings goes on.

Three one-day internationals to follow

The tour does not end at Old Trafford. A three-match ODI series follows, beginning on 22 September with further matches on 24 and 27 September.

That gives Sri Lanka four more fixtures in England to show something for the trip, and gives Brook's side a white-ball block that runs to the end of the month.

For Saturday, the question is narrower: whether Sri Lanka can avoid a whitewash, and whether England can add a 15th straight win over them.

The third and final T20I begins at Old Trafford at 19:00 IST, with the one-day series to follow from 22 September.

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