11th over: Sri Lanka 73-4 (Kamindu Mendis 3, Liyanage 7) Rashid continues and gets swept for four by Janith Liyanage – good shot.

“This looks like a cakewalk for England,” says Andrew Benton. “I’ve no idea what a cakewalk is, but it seems to fit perfectly. Fruity and substantial or light and fluffy, bring on those cakes, yesss!”

10th over: Sri Lanka 65-4 (Kamindu Mendis 1, Liyanage 1) So, two new batters at the crease. Time for a slip and a short leg, surely? Brook sticks with the ring for Liyanage, but for the left-handed Kamindu, he does bring a slip in. I hope he’s realised that the only way England can realistically win this is by taking six more wickets. At the halfway stage, SL are halfway there.

9th over: Sri Lanka 62-3 (Kusal Mendis 26, Kamindu Mendis 0) Rashid dishes up a long hop to Kusal, who helps himself to a pull for four. But then Rashid finds his immaculate best, deceiving Rathnayake with a googly. Game on?

8th over: Sri Lanka 54-2 (Kusal Mendis 20, Rathnayeke 11) Brook brings on his third spinner, Jacob Bethell with his slow left-arm. Slow through the air, quick through the over. Just four singles from it.

7th over: Sri Lanka 50-2 (Kusal Mendis 18, Rathnayeke 9) You know those young men and women who take the stage in international sport and instantly look like a senior player? Pavan Rathnayake is one of them. Adil Rashid comes on, gets loads of turn – and Rathnayake reads him so well that he can play a slog-sweep with fast hands. It only gets a single, to long-on, but it oozes class.

6th over: Sri Lanka 46-2 (Kusal Mendis 16, Rathnayeke 7) Another change as Sam Curran, England’s star with the bat, takes the ball. He very nearly gets a wicket as Rathnayeke wafts at a slower ball. If Jamie Overton had been at backward point, that would have been out, but it’s Luke Wood and he can’t quite reach it. Kusal gets four in the same direction, more deliberately, with a late cut. The powerplay ends with SL ahead of the rate but England not out of the game.

Curran is asked to take a plaster off one of the fingers on his left hand. He was hit there in the field the other day, and the rules, as Steve Harmison helpfully explains, don’t allow you “to have anything on your bowling hand”.

5th over: Sri Lanka 37-2 (Kusal Mendis 12, Rathnayeke 2) That was well bowled by Dawson, who found enough spin to turn Nissanka’s big swing to leg into a slice and stopped the Sri Lankans in their tracks after a burst of 20 runs in five balls. Cedit to Brook too, for bringing Dawson back so quickly – he may have only taken him off to let him change ends.

4th over: Sri Lanka 27-1 (Nissanka 16, Kusal Mendis 11) Brook takes Dawson off straightaway and surely regrets it as Jamie Overton takes some tap. Nissanka whips him over midwicket for six, then Mendis cuts him for four. Fourteen off the over!

3rd over: Sri Lanka 14-1 (Nissanka 9, Kusal Mendis 5) Wood keeps it tight too … until the last ball of his second over. Nissanka picks it up off his legs and it sails towards the boundary. Jacob Bethell is ready for it, catches it, throws it up, steps over the rope … and can’t hold onto the rebound! So that’s the first six of the innings.

2nd over: Sri Lanka 6-1 (Nissanka 2, Kusal Mendis 4) Harry Brook may have been an idiot this winter, but he does make some bold decisions. He opens the bowling now with spin, in the form of Liam Dawson, who repays his faith with a superb over – five dots, only one single.

“Please change the scorecard to properly reflect the status of those who haven’t batted,” says Michael Conrad. “They are not ‘Not Out’, they are at best ‘Yet to bat’ or best left blank. It makes a mockery of the scorecard and tarnishes an otherwise decent article.”

It is bizarre, isn’t it? But the scorecard is automated, so I’m afraid I can’t do anything about it. Also, “otherwise decent”? Nice backhand!

1st over: Sri Lanka 5-1 (Nissanka 1, Kusal Mendis 4) It’s a good over from Wood, the only boundary a thick inside edge off a yorker.

“Excellent fightback by England,” says Colum Fordham, “and hats off to Sam Curran for making a match of this ‘dead rubber’ which is actually a useful warm-up ahead of the T20 World Cup. An excellent knock. England have strength in depth when it comes to batting, as Dawson showed. Let’s hope the spinners, Rashid first and foremost, can capitalise.” Good to see those quote marks. In cricket, no rubber is ever really dead – the sub-plots see to that.

19th over: England 118-8 (Curran 54, Rashid 2) Curran celebrates with a flick for four. His 50 came off 44 balls with four fours and a six. And he got a hat-trick earlier in the series … as Ed Smith used to say, he makes things happen.

18th over: England 109-8 (Curran 48, Rashid 0) So, after that solid partnership of 47 between Curran and Dawson, the collapse resumes with two wickets in the over. And Chameera already has 4-14, with one over still to come.

Meanwile, in Bulawayo, England U-19s need one wicket to beat Australia and reach the World Cup final. But the Aussie captain, Oliver Peake, is still there on 99 …

17th over: England 107-6 (Curran 48, Dawson 14) The latest batter to chip a slower ball up in the air is Liam Dawson. Facing Shanaka, he gets away with it as it plops to the ground in no-man’s-land on the leg side, when it might have been better for England if he’d been out. No offence to the admirable Dawson, but Jamie Overton is waiting to play some big hits. Curran, seeing the problem, finishes the over with a controlled slog for six. At last, a Curran boundary that’s not a pull!

16th over: England 96-6 (Curran 39, Dawson 12) Theekshana comes back for his final over. He it was who bowled Buttler, in the single biggest blow to England’s hopes of a decent total, and now he has Dawson playing at thin air. Curran, using his nous, turns a single into two by playing it with soft hands, and still there are only four runs off the over. It’s T20 cricket, but not as we know it.

15th over: England 92-6 (Curran 36, Dawson 12) Curran is getting ’em in pull shots. Wellalage returns, drops short, and for the fourth time Curran cashes in by crunching the ball into the gap.

14th over: England 85-6 (Curran 30, Dawson 11) Pathirana returns and restricts the batters to four singles. But this is now the longest partnership of England’s innings: it’s lasted a full three and a half overs.

13th over: England 81-6 (Curran 28, Dawson 9) On comes Kamindu Mendis, with his licorice allsorts, and for once the change doesn’t bear immediate fruit. Curran finds the boundary with another pull, his third I think. He is England’s top-scorer tonight, with 28 off 28 balls, and if I had my way, he’d be their next captain.

“I checked in earlier to see teams and toss info...” says Rob Knap. “Just came back to find the score at 55-5! Somehow a collapse in this form doesn’t quite emote the same despair or nostalgia for the 1980s and 1990s as it would in others. But it’s still that reassuring feeling of what-the-hell’s-happened-here-then that cricket matches seem to provide better than other sports.

“I’m also following the U19s semi-final. How long till Farhan Ahmed gets called up to a senior England squad do you think?” Good question! He looks a better cricketer than Shoaib Bashir.

12th over: England 72-6 (Curran 21, Dawson 7) Dawson celebrates not being run out by hitting his first four, a shovel round the corner to fine leg. The commentators reckon England still have a chance here, as the pitch is slow and taking turn. “They just need to have something to bowl at,” one of them says, “maybe 125.”

11th over: England 65-6 (Curran 20, Dawson 1) Dasun Shanaka can do no wrong. He brings back Chameera, who again strikes in no time, taking the pace off and bamboozling Jacks, who pops a dolly to midwicket. When Chameera tries a bouncer, Curran produces another powerful pull. But then he nearly runs Liam Dawson out by sending him back. Nine overs left, but can England last that long?

“Good afternoon Tim,” says Geoff Wignall. “And there I was thinking it takes a strong batting lineup to have Dawson at no.9.” Ha. He’s been sent in at 8 to shore things up!

10th over: England 59-5 (Curran 15, Jacks 3) Another good over from Theekshana, who starts with three dots and a howling LBW appeal against Curran. Shanaka reviews again, but without success as there may be an inside edge. After that England can only manage three singles, so at the halfway stage Sri Lanka are well on course for a consolation victory.

9th over: England 55-5 (Curran 12, Jacks 2) Curran, such a competitor, will relish the chance to mount a rescue operation. He takes the first step by pulling Wellalage for four.

8th over: England 49-5 (Curran 7, Jacks 1) Just because you’ve played 403 games for your country, doesn’t mean you can’t play down the wrong line. Buttler is befuddled by an off-break from Maheesh Theekshana and England have lost the only batter who made it into double figures.

7th over: England 46-4 (Buttler 25, Curran 5) Buttler, who has played more times for England than anyone else ever, has seen it all before. He hits Wellalage for the first six of the match and it’s a cracker, driven inside-out over extra-cover.

6th over: England 35-4 (Buttler 18, Curran 1) Pathirana kept on slinging and Brook, after tucking one slower ball away for four, was deceived by another, popping a dolly to short extra and departing in disbelief. As Buttler plays and misses and very nearly loses his off bail, the powerplay ends with all the power in the hands of the Sri Lankans. On the plus side, Sam Curran is in so early that he has time to make his first international hundred.

5th over: England 28-3 (Buttler 17, Brook 0) Shanaka’s bowling changes keep on working. He turned to spin, brought on Dunith Wellalage, saw him make a good tight start, and got another wicket as Banton picked the wrong ball to try and slog for six. It’s our old friend, an England collapse!

4th over: England 25-2 (Buttler 16, Banton 5) The batters decide that attack is the best form of defence, and it works. Shanaka’s second over begins with Buttler dabbing for four and ends with Banton, still in form from the other night, cover-driving for four more. A few singles in between and, without much effort, they’ve got 11 off the over.

3rd over: England 14-2 (Buttler 10, Banton 0) Chameera’s reward for grabbing an early wicket was to be taken off, but it worked. On came Matheesha Pathirana, Sri Lanka’s slingshot, bearing yorkers. He nearly bowled Buttler and could have broken his toe, before switching to a good length and a wide line to dismiss Bethell. Buttler, deciding that attack is the best form of defence, gets aa streaky four from a Harrow drive. SL well on top.

2nd over: England 7-1 (Buttler 4, Bethell 2) Dasun Shanaka starts well too – dot dot dot, a single for Buttler, and then two deliveries that beat the bat of Bethell, the first a shout for LBW (pitched outside leg), the second whistling past the outside edge. Even Buttler’s single was mistimed. Advantage Sri Lanka!

1st over: England 6-1 (Buttler 3, Bethell 2) The travelling fans were still singing Jerusalem, at a rather dirge-like tempo, when Ben Duckett faced his first ball. It was a beauty from Dushmantha Chameera, curling back into the left-hander, trapping him on the crease and looking a very plumb plumb. For some reason it wasn’t given on the field, but the review brought up three reds and poor old Duckett had to go. His miserable winter continues.

No such bother for Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell, who pick up a few singles.