Jos Buttler made his record 402nd appearance for England to seal a series-sealing victory, captain Harry Brook cameo and Tom Banton’s half-century led the tourists to a six-wicket win in heavy rain in the second T20 against Sri Lanka at Pallekele.

Buttler has played more international matches (including Test matches, ODIs and T20Is) than James Anderson (401).

The 35-year-old (39 off 29 balls) hit six fours as England managed to reach 168 in 17 overs and were originally set for a 190-run victory, but heavy rain prevented them from posting a 57-2 scoreline after the first 7.2 overs.

Brooke- Two days earlier, he admitted he had lied about a scuffle with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand late last year to “protect teammates”. – Hit four sixes in 12 balls of 36 balls while Banton (54 off 33 balls) smashed seven boundaries and perhaps cemented his place in the T20 World Cup XI as Sam Curran (20 off 14 balls) finished with the match-ending top score as England reached the target with two balls to spare.

Sri Lanka were hampered by a shoulder injury to Eshaun Malinga in the first game after the restart and the seamer was never seen again as the visitors hit 111 off 58 balls when play resumed, beating his teammates all over the park.

England won the rain-affected first match on Friday and will now aim for a 3-0 sweep in the third match of the T20 World Cup, also at Pallekele on Tuesday, before starting their T20 World Cup journey against Nepal in Mumbai on Sunday, February 8.

England pacers hit hard but spin stars

Sri Lanka, which co-hosts the T20 World Cup with India, posted a 189-5 win over England, scoring a total of 103 runs in eight overs, with the likes of Curran (0-31 from two overs), Jofra Archer (2-42 from four overs) and Jamie Overton (0-30 from two overs).

The home side found it much more difficult to face the spin of Will Jacks (1-25), Adil Rashid (1-24) and Liam Dawson (1-32), who all bowled their allotted four overs.

Pavan Rathnayake (40 from 22 games) – who failed to reach the opener tied at 20 despite scoring a century in the final one-day international last week – was the top scorer and was dismissed by Banton in the 12th over.

Five of Sri Lanka’s top six skaters crossed the 20-run mark and scored well above the run-on mark – the only exception being captain Dasun Shanaka (1), who fell while trying to get Rashid over the line – but only Rathnayake crossed the 30-run mark.

Kusal Mendis (32 off 17) followed opener Pathum Nissanka (34 off 22) and Kamil Mishara (36 off 30) who fell after a fast start – Nissanka and Mishara put on 56 for the first wicket of the powerplay as England pacers were hammered.

Charith Asalanka made 28 off 22 balls after being bowled by Banton in the final over, but the same batsman also got a reprieve on 11 in the 17th over when Phil Salt could not catch what should have been a stunning diving grab in the off-side position.

England get the job done in revised chase

Salter cut Matheesha Pathirana (2-47) to slip in the first over of the chase after Buttler whipped consecutive boundaries, while Jacob Bethell (13 off 11) – In the news as Brooke’s Bodyguard story takes a turn – Shanaka (1-24) fell behind in the fifth inning.

When the skies opened, Banton was at the crease with Buttler, sweeping the reverse with a superb six-run advantage at the start, and he continued to flourish once the rain abated.

The Somerset man may only be playing because of Ben Duckett’s injured finger, but now he’s giving England plenty to think about ahead of the World Cup, which you can watch live sky sports.

Banton and Curran ended the innings after Buttler was hit at deep cover off Dunis Veerarachi (1-30), Brooke scooping Patialana deep after a scintillating knock.

Brooke delighted with T20 World Cup

England captain Harry Brooke:

“I thought we played really well. We adapted to the conditions well with the bat and it was great to get over the line and win the series. The more time we have at half-time, the better it will be for us heading into the World Cup.”

“The way Banton played was fantastic, we couldn’t ask for more. We had enough at-bats and we backed ourselves up to chase that any time.”

England at Sri Lanka – results and fixtures

All time UK and Ireland

English T20 World Cup Schedule (First Round)

All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports

• vs. Nepal (Sunday, February 8) – Mumbai (9.30am)
• vs. West Indies (Wednesday, February 11) – Mumbai (1.30pm)
• vs Scotland (Saturday 14 February) – Kolkata (9.30am)
• vs. Italy (Monday, February 16) – Kolkata (9.30am)