Bethell stars as England warms up in style for T20 World Cup by routing Sri Lanka 3-0 in series

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (AP) — England rounded off its T20 World Cup preparations in style by sweeping the series 3-0 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell (4-11) was the unlikely hero as he grabbed the last four wickets in eight balls and Sri Lanka crumbled to 116 all out in the third and final game.

Sam Curran’s career-best 58 off 48 balls had earlier lifted England to 128-9. Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera also took a career-best 5-24 in his first game of the series.

“That was awesome, a great win to be part of,” England captain Harry Brook said. “We’ve shown we can adapt to surfaces. Tonight was a tricky one to bat on . . . the World Cup is here so when we have the opportunity to play here, we have the experiences to carry over.”

Sri Lanka needed 17 off 17 balls before Bethell ran through the tail by claiming three wickets in the 18th over. He then had Maheesh Theekshana caught at short third man.

In Bethell’s game-turning over, Jos Buttler hung onto a brilliant diving catch to dismiss Dunith Wellalage, Chameera offered a tame catch in the covers and skipper Dasun Shanaka was stumped while trying to go for a big shot on a dusty wicket.

For the second game in succession, Sri Lanka's batters struggled to cope with England's spinners, losing their last eight wickets for just 54 runs with Will Jacks (3-14) also starring.

Kusal Mendis top-scored with 26 and Pathum Nissanka (23) hit three sixes in his 12-ball knock before slicing Liam Dawson to Jacks on the edge of the circle in the covers.

Earlier, England crashed to 34-4 inside the power play after Brook had won his third successive toss and elected to bat.

With the ball gripping on the surface, Chameera varied his pace intelligently and made an immediate impact when he had Ben Duckett trapped leg before wicket for a first-ball duck.

Matheesha Pathirana struck twice with his slingy action when Bethell was caught behind and Brook lobbed an easy catch to extra cover after being beaten by a slower delivery.

England slipped to 47-5 when Theekshana hit the top of Buttler’s stumps with a delivery that zipped back in. Curran then held one end up with a gritty knock that featured six fours and a six.

Chameera picked up three wickets towards the end, while Curran fell when he top edged to third man in the final over.

“Very disappointed,” Shanaka said. “We lost 3-0. As captain I need to address the areas really well to play a good World Cup. We are looking forward to it and we desperately want to deliver something special.”

The World Cup starts Saturday.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka, center, plays a shot during the third T20 cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb, 3. 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's players celebrate after winning third T20 cricket match against Sri Lanka at Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb, 3. 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's Sam Curran plays a shot during the third T20 cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb, 3. 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

England's Jacob Bethell, left, and Jos Buttler celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Dunith Wellalage during the third T20 cricket match between England and Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Feb, 3. 2026. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump held talks with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday only weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States.

The meeting, which focused on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts, came as Trump says Petro — who has continued to criticize Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — has become more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia.

“Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” Trump told reporters on the eve of Petro's visit. “He changed his attitude very much.”

Yet, bad blood between the leaders loomed large over the roughly two-hour sit-down, even as Trump sought to downplay any friction.

In recent days, Petro, a leftist politician, has continued to poke at the conservative U.S. president, calling Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in the Gaza Strip, while asserting that the capture of Maduro was a kidnapping.

And ahead of his departure for Washington, Petro called on Colombians to take to the streets of Bogotá during the White House meeting. He plans to hold a news conference at the Colombian Embassy in Washington later Tuesday.

Petro brought along Foreign Relations Minister Rosa Yolanda Villavicencio, Defense Minister Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez and Ambassador Daniel García-Peña for the talks, while Trump was joined by Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who was born in Colombia.

Just minutes before the meeting started, Petro, in a video shared by his office, described himself as a politician who has denounced and prosecuted drug traffickers.

Accompanied by one of his daughters and his granddaughter, he lamented that most of his children live outside of Colombia, in exile, due to the fight he's waging against drug trafficking. “We have truly suffered its effects directly,” Petro said.

Historically, Colombia has been a U.S. ally. For the past 30 years, the U.S. has worked closely with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off rebel groups and boost economic development in rural areas. Colombia is also designated by the U.S. as a major non-NATO ally.

But relations between the leaders have been strained by Trump’s massing U.S. forces in the region for unprecedented deadly military strikes targeting suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific. At least 126 people have been killed in 36 known strikes.

In October, Trump's Republican administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade.

The Treasury Department leveled the penalties against Petro; his wife, Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia; his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos; and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti.

The sanctions, which had to be waived to allow Petro to travel to Washington this week, came after the U.S. administration in September announced it was adding Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades.

Then came the audacious military operation last month to capture Maduro and his wife to face federal drug conspiracy charges, a move that Petro has forcefully denounced. Following Maduro’s ouster, Trump put Colombia on notice and ominously warned Petro he could be next.

Colombia is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said of Petro last month. “And he’s not gonna be doing it very long, let me tell you.”

But a few days later, tensions eased somewhat after a call between the leaders. Trump said Petro in their hourlong conversation explained “the drug situation and other disagreements.” And Trump extended an invitation to Petro for the White House visit.

The Colombian president planned to use the meeting in part to detail his country’s counternarcotics initiatives to Trump. And in a diplomatic gesture amid the acrimony, Colombian officials said Petro came bearing gifts, including a signature Wounaan indigenous basket from Colombia's Chocó region for Trump and a handmade gown crafted by indigenous artisans from Nariño for first lady Melania Trump.

Petro's office released a photo of Trump and Petro chatting as they walked the colonnade toward the Oval Office at the start of the visit. García-Peña, Colombia's envoy to Washington, is captured in the frame holding a copy of Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal.”

Trump skipped on greeting Petro upon his arrival and posing for a photograph with him in front of the North Portico of the White House before a gathered press, a set piece for most foreign leaders' visits. Instead, Petro arrived at a side entrance of the White House along West Executive Avenue, minutes before the start of their scheduled meeting.

The two leaders did not deliver joint statements before the press, something Trump typically does at the start or end of most leader visits.

Suarez reported from Bogotá, Colombia. Associated Press writer Moriah Balingit contributed reporting.

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

FILE - Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrives at the presidential palace in Panama City, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)