England recovered from 36-4 to beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in the second Twenty20 and win the series with a game to spare.

Liam Livingstone finished 29 not out after Sam Billings – his partner in a fifth-wicket stand of 54 – fell for 24.

Sri Lanka earlier limped to 111-7, with Kusal Mendis making 39 and Mark Wood taking 2-18 and Adil Rashid 2-24.

Although England were not as ruthless as in Wednesday’s eight-wicket hammering, victory was rarely in doubt after they limited Sri Lanka to their lowest total they have conceded in a T20.

Livingstone – batting at six rather than the opening spot he occupies for Lancashire – and Billings had lifted England ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern target when rain arrived, and Sam Curran capped a resounding 24 hours with a six to seal the win.

The final game in the three-match series takes place at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday.

England impress with the ball

England made two changes from Wednesday’s side, with Jos Buttler rested as a precaution with a calf strain, while David Willey, playing his first T20 international in more than two years, replaced Chris Woakes.

Curran got the early breakthrough as he ran out Danushka Gunathilaka with some nifty footwork, before Avishka Fernando picked out deep square leg.

Mendis and Kusal Perera put on 50 for the third wicket, but it took them nine overs as Sri Lanka became only the 16th team in history not to hit a boundary in the six-over powerplay.

Rashid had Perera caught in the covers before the impressive Mark Wood dismissed Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella in successive balls.

Until the final over, when Isuru Udana hit a four and six off Chris Jordan, Mendis was the only Sri Lankan to find the boundary as England fielded superbly.

Billings & Livingstone aid World Cup case

Having chased 130 with the minimum of fuss just 24 hours before, England’s chase was expected to be a formality but Jonny Bairstow was bowled in the second over by Binura Fernando before Dawid Malan was given out lbw on review.

Malan, who is the number-one ranked T20 batsman in the world, averages 48 in the format, but has struggled in 2021 against India and now in this series, with his average down at 26.50.

Captain Eoin Morgan then cut a wide ball straight to point to leave the hosts 31-3 at the end of the powerplay – their lowest score in the six overs since 2015, and the first time they have lost three wickets in the spell in a home international since 2013.

Their struggles continued as Jason Roy danced down the track and picked out long-on to leave them struggling at 36-4.

Billings and Livingstone, who are likely competing for one slot in England’s squad for the T20 World Cup due to take place in India in October, showed maturity and calmness before the rain break.

Both manoeuvred the ball around before the rain delay, before breaking the back of the 34 needed from six overs with a boundary apiece.

Billings was bowled as he looked to cut Wanindu Hasaranga away, before Curran made 16 off eight deliveries, including hitting a straight six to win the game.

‘We want guys to back themselves’ – what they said

England captain Eoin Morgan on BBC Two: “Our bowling was right on point. The wicket played similarly to yesterday and batters on both sides struggled to get it away. You want to see batters entertain a bit more, especially with crowds back, but it ended up a good tight game anyway.

“We seemed to lose a wicket every time we took a risk which is a shame, but it was a good partnership between Sam Billings and Liam Livingstone. We want to see guys come in and backing themselves.”

Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur on BBC Two: “It’s about learning from every game and getting better and better as we go along.

“We talked about taking the handbrake off, and we need to be a bit more proactive, but our batters are learning all the time especially in these conditions.

“I am excited by the bowling unit and we have a good batting unit in our country, and it’s about transferring that to different conditions.”