Sonny Baker Dominates as Sri Lanka Falter in 124 All Out

Sonny Baker bends his back, Sri Lanka fold, and Harry Brook pockets the final act. A modest chase turns into a rout as Sri Lanka are bundled out for 124, their innings ending with a tame leading edge and a simple catch at mid-off.

It’s Baker who slams the door shut.

Running in for the 19th over, he goes full and straight at Dilshan Madushanka. The tailender clears his front leg and swings across the line, desperate for something, anything, to cling to. All he finds is a leading edge. The ball hangs in the air long enough for Brook at mid-off to stroll in, settle, and complete the formalities. Madushanka goes for 0 off 5, Sri Lanka’s resistance over with a whimper.

The over itself tells the story of England’s control. Madushanka faces five balls from Baker. Four dots. One wicket. No real answer. A full-toss at 141kph thuds into the pads via an inside edge. A back-of-a-length ball in the channel is met with a tentative block. A length delivery on middle and off cramps him as he backs away, the attempted cut dribbling away off the toe-end. Even the lbw shout first ball of the over, angling down leg, shows the pressure: Baker is hunting, Madushanka merely surviving.

This is not a one-over cameo. Baker has been on it from ball one.

His day begins with the new ball and a hard length. Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka’s anchor, is greeted with movement off the seam. A short-of-a-length ball seaming in from outside off is punched firmly but straight to cover-point. The next one strays down leg for a wide, Jos Buttler flinging himself to his left to keep it to just the extra. Baker adjusts immediately. A hard length, seaming in from outside off, and Nissanka finally gets going, steering it past short third for four. No panic from the bowler, though. The reply is a good length ball shaping in on off, Nissanka forced to guide it to deep backward point for a single.

At the other end, Lahiru Udara walks in with intent. Baker tests him with a back-of-a-length ball on middle and off that straightens, squaring him up. Udara survives, nudging it off the outer half to third man. The next ball, in the sixth-stump channel, is met with a solid block. England have their lines. Sri Lanka are already feeling the squeeze.

The real damage comes in Baker’s second over.

He switches to round the wicket and attacks the body and stumps. Kamil Mishara is cramped by a hard length seaming in on off, forced to hop and block to short mid-wicket. The follow-up, a skiddy back-of-a-length ball at 135kph shaping in on leg, is tucked away in front of square for a single. It’s work, not flourish.

Then comes the breakthrough. Udara, on 10 off 7 with two boundaries, looks to impose himself. Baker bangs in a hard length outside off, inviting the pull. Udara takes it on, aiming over mid-wicket, but only manages a top-edge. The ball swirls in the wind behind the stumps. Buttler turns, sprints back, then arcs to his left. It’s a tricky catch, the kind that exposes footwork and nerve. He nails both, settling under it and taking it cleanly. Udara goes, Sri Lanka lose a brisk start, and Baker has his first.

The rhythm of his spell is relentless. To Nissanka, he keeps mixing length and angle. A fullish ball swinging in on off is pushed back, Baker making an awkward stop on his followthrough but denying any run. A back-of-a-length ball outside off tempts the pull; Nissanka toe-ends it to short mid-wicket. The next delivery is classic fast bowling: 144kph, skiddy, seaming in on off. Nissanka, late and watchful, steers it towards gully to keep the strike. Just two runs and a wicket from the over. The control is suffocating.

Nissanka does land a punch. When Baker returns around the fifth over, the Sri Lankan opener finally breaks free. A fuller ball swinging in from outside off is met by a decisive stride down the pitch and a brutal whip with a strong bottom hand. The ball rides the wind and sails over deep backward square leg for six. A stunning strike, pure timing and power. For a moment, it looks like a momentum shift.

Baker doesn’t flinch.

He follows up with a 143kph full ball around off, Nissanka forced to push it back to the bowler. Then he goes full outside off, and Nissanka drives crisply towards mid-off, only for Brook to fling himself to his right and save a certain boundary with a full-length dive. England’s captain leads with the gloves; his outfielders match him with their commitment.

Charith Asalanka, Sri Lanka’s left-hander, finds no release either. A full ball swinging in from outside off is driven back at Baker, who parries it towards extra cover. When Baker goes back of a length at 141kph, seaming in towards leg-stump, Asalanka can only block it off the inner half towards mid-wicket to keep the strike. Even the singles feel hard-earned.

By the time the innings staggers into the 19th over, Baker has already shaped it. His lines have been nagging, his pace consistently hostile, his discipline unrelenting. The fielders around him—Buttler with the swirling catch, Brook with the diving stop and the final grab—have turned good bowling into a ruthless collective performance.

Madushanka’s dismissal, a leading edge looping gently to mid-off, is more than just a wicket. It’s the inevitable end to an innings England’s attack has controlled from the first over. No late flourish, no tail-end defiance. Just another English seamer, hitting the deck, hitting his areas, and walking off with Sri Lanka’s hopes in his pocket.

On this evidence, if Baker keeps bending his back like this, he won’t stay on the fringes for long.