Harry Brook confident but cautious ahead of Sri Lanka clash in Pallekele

England batter Harry Brook believes his side can draw confidence from their recent success at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, but he remains wary of a resurgent Sri Lanka batting line-up ahead of Sunday’s Super Eight encounter.

Earlier this year, England swept Sri Lanka 3-0 in a T20I series at the same venue, with several players — including Tom Banton, Phil Salt, Brook himself, Sam Curran and Adil Rashid — delivering strong performances in low-scoring contests. With two Super Eight fixtures scheduled in Pallekele, including a clash against Pakistan on Tuesday, England are hoping familiarity with conditions will prove valuable.

“We can take a lot of confidence having played here and experienced this surface and this ground,” Brook said on the eve of the match. “We had a very good series against them here, so we can hopefully take that experience and use it in the game tomorrow.”

However, Brook acknowledged that Sri Lanka appear to have improved since that series, particularly highlighting the form of Pathum Nissanka, who recently struck a century against Australia at the same venue.

“Some of their batters are batting really well,” Brook noted. “Hopefully we can get a few wickets in the powerplay. Nissanka is on a bit of a heater at the minute, so it would be ideal if we can get him out early.”

While England enter the Super Eight stage with confidence from their past record in Pallekele, their route through the group stage of the World Cup was far from smooth. They narrowly avoided defeat against Nepal, suffered a comprehensive loss to West Indies, and relied on lower-order contributions — including from Will Jacks — to overcome Italy and Scotland.

Brook, however, chose to emphasize the team’s resilience.

“I think winning those tight games just shows the belief and the unity that we have to be able to get through them,” he said. “We’ve found ourselves in sticky situations and got out of them with some exceptional performances from lads lower down the order.”

Weather could also play a role in Sunday’s contest, with Sri Lanka’s meteorological department issuing a heavy rain warning for the central province on Saturday. Although conditions are expected to improve by match day, Brook insisted England’s aggressive approach would remain unchanged, even in a shortened game.

“I want us to go hell for leather in 20 overs anyway and really take it to the opposition with the bat,” he said. “There’s not too much that changes there.”

With points not carried forward into the Super Eight stage, Brook views the next phase as a clean slate.

“It’s a completely fresh start. We can probably be a bit more brave in certain situations,” he added.

England will hope that bold approach, combined with their positive memories of Pallekele, can give them the edge against an in-form Sri Lankan side.