COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Joe Root starred with bat and ball to help England beat Sri Lanka by five wickets and level their one-day international series on Saturday.
Root took two wickets in two balls to end Sri Lanka's innings on 219 with three balls to spare, then hit a crafty 75 runs off 90 balls to lead England to 223-5 with 22 balls remaining.
Click to Gallery
Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka leaves the ground after losing his wicket during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan, 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Ben Duckett collides with Sri Lanka's Pramod Madushan during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan, 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Joe Root celebrates his fifty runs during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Joe Root plays a shot as Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis watches during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
The third and last ODI is on Tuesday, followed by three Twenty20s to prepare for next month’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
“Thankfully we got the job done,” Root said. “When the ball gets softer and older it gets easier. Got to be precise in footwork.”
Root and Ben Duckett (39) combined in a better-than-a-run-a-ball 68-run stand.
Leg-spinner Jaffrey Vandersay, who starred in Sri Lanka’s 19-run win in the first ODI, broke the stand when he clean-bowled Duckett.
Jacob Bethell failed again when he chipped an easy catch to the covers on 6, then Root and captain Harry Brook negated the spin threat of Vandersay and Dunith Wellalage with an 81-run partnership.
Root gauged the slow pitch well and raised his half-century off 52 balls including five boundaries but fast bowler Asitha Fernando trapped him leg before wicket with a sharp yorker.
Brook's patient knock of 42 off 75 balls with only two boundaries was stopped plumb by a Vandersay fuller delivery.
Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 33 off 21 swept England home.
Earlier, Sri Lanka struggled to build momentum after captain Charith Asalanka won his second straight toss.
England’s ploy to deploy spin inside the first powerplay worked. England used six spinners in total and Adil Rashid was the most economical with 2-34.
Asalanka top-scored with a shaky 45 off 64 balls before he departed in the 42nd over after hitting just one boundary. He slog swept Rashid straight to Duckett at square leg.
Kusal Mendis, who missed out on a century in the first ODI, was run out on 26 in a mix up with Dhananjaya de Silva. Asalanka and de Silva tried to revive the innings and added 66 runs for the fourth wicket but the England spinners didn’t allow them to score freely.
”(We were) at least 30 runs short when batting,” Asalanka said.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka leaves the ground after losing his wicket during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan, 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Ben Duckett collides with Sri Lanka's Pramod Madushan during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan, 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Joe Root celebrates his fifty runs during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
England's Joe Root plays a shot as Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis watches during the second ODI cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Videos quickly emerged showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent that has been widely denounced as a case of excessive force carried out by untrained federal officers. The Trump administration says it was a case of an armed man provoking violence.
The Associated Press reviewed multiple bystander videos that show a Border Patrol agent shooting and killing 37-year-old Alex Pretti after a roughly 30-second scuffle around 9 a.m. Saturday. The videos appear to contradict statements by the Trump administration, which said the shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti as he “approached” them with a gun.
In the videos, Pretti is seen with only a phone in his hand. During the scuffle, “gun, gun” is heard, and an officer appears to pull a handgun from Pretti’s waist area and begins moving away. As that happens, a first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back.
Afterward, authorities said Pretti had a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. He was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said he watched one of the videos, said he saw “more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents, shooting him to death." Frey has said Minneapolis and St. Paul are being “invaded” by the administration's largest immigration crackdown, dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said Pretti wanted to do “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” In posts on X, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, called Pretti "a would-be assassin.”
It was the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis by federal immigration authorities this month. The first, on Jan. 7, involved Renee Good. It also was captured on videos and produced a similar schism among political leaders.
The shooting occurred when officers were pursuing a man in the country illegally who was wanted for domestic assault, Bovino said. Protesters routinely try to disrupt such operations, and they sounded high-pitched whistles, honked horns and yelled at officers.
Among them was Pretti. At one point, in a video obtained by AP, Pretti is standing in the street and holding up his phone. He is face-to-face with an officer in a tactical vest, who places his hand on Pretti and pushes him toward the sidewalk.
Pretti is talking to the officer, though it is not clear what he is saying.
The video shows protesters wandering in and out of the street as officers persist in trying to keep them at bay. One protester is put in handcuffs. Some officers are carrying pepper spray canisters.
Pretti comes in again when the video shows an officer wearing tactical gear shoving a protester. The protester, who is wearing a skirt over black tights and holding a water bottle, reaches out for Pretti.
The same officer shoves Pretti in his chest, leading Pretti and the other protester to stumble backward.
A different video then shows Pretti moving toward another protester, who falls over after being shoved by the same officer. Pretti moves between the protester and the officer, reaching his arms out toward the officer.
The officer deploys pepper spray, and Pretti raises his hand and turns his face. The officer grabs Pretti's hand to bring it behind his back, deploys the pepper spray canister again and then pushes Pretti away.
Seconds later, at least a half-dozen federal officers surround Pretti, who is wrestled to the ground and hit several times. Several agents try to bring Pretti’s arms behind his back, and he struggles.
Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backing away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot.
Someone shouts “gun, gun.” It is not clear if that’s a reference to the weapon authorities say Pretti had.
Then the first shot is heard.
Pretti slumps to the ground. Videos show the officers backing away, some with guns drawn. More shots are fired.
The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a gun. Officials did not say if Pretti brandished the weapon or kept it hidden.
An agency statement said officers fired “defensive shots” after Pretti “violently resisted” officers tried to disarm him.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz expressed dismay at the characterization.
“I’ve seen the videos, from several angles, and it’s sickening,” he said.
Trump weighed in on social media by lashing out Walz and Frey. Trump shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered from Pretti and said “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Armed community response members patrol near the scene where 37-year-old Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer earlier in the day, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier in the day Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
