Duckett 167 drives England to 386 for 5 in dead rubber

England 386 for 5 (Duckett 167, Banton 74) vs Sri Lanka

A week after the run-fest in Rawalpindi, England mounted another mammoth total against Sri Lanka, Ben Duckett bludgeoning his way to 167 off 132 balls as England plundered 386 for 5 from their 50 overs.

Though the Lahore deck is excellent for batting, Sri Lanka will have to put together another spectacular batting performance to get close, even if there is renewed belief in their batting group following the running down of 430 last week. Still, England's is the highest total ever recorded in Lahore, beating the 375 for 3 Pakistan had made against Zimbabwe in 2015.

Two monster partnerships did most of England's legwork, Duckett sharing a 163-run stand with opening partner Tom Banton, who was the only other batter to make a half century, before putting on a breakneck 107 off 75 with Harry Brook.

Those two stands carried England to 270 for 2 in the middle of the 38th over, putting them in the vicinity of another 400-plus total. Although England's finish was excellent, Sri Lanka's attack may reflect that keeping England to 94 runs in the last 10 overs was almost as good as they could have hoped for, given the batting mayhem that had defined much of the innings.

Asitha Fernando emerged with the most creditable figures, taking 2 for 63 from his 10. Fellow quicks Dilshan Madushanka and Eshan Malinga claimed a wicket apiece, after Dasun Shanaka had been the bowler to break the first, massive partnership.

More to follow …