Sam Curran is targeting a repeat of his 2022 heroics as England pursue a second T20 World Cup title in three tournaments. Curran was named player of the tournament when England won in Australia four years ago, finishing with 13 wickets, including three in the final against Pakistan.
The all-rounder had been dropped from England’s white-ball plans when Brendon McCullum became head coach in early 2025, but a strong summer for Surrey, a standout stint with Oval Invincibles in The Hundred and solid showings in franchise cricket earned him a recall.
Curran returned to form in the T20 series in Sri Lanka, top-scoring with 58 off 48 balls from No.6 as England completed a 3-0 T20I sweep — a confident send-off ahead of their World Cup opener against Nepal. He also took a hat-trick in the first T20 against Sri Lanka. Reflecting on his role, the 27-year-old said: “Whenever the team needs me, whatever position that is in, I’m hoping I can perform throughout this World Cup and hopefully be sitting here in similar scenes to 2022. It’s great to be back playing for England and I take massive confidence from this. It’s a very exciting time for every player going into the World Cup. I know my role with the ball is going to be quite flexible and I’m pretty happy with that. I’m just really pleased to get some runs as well, and get this series win.”
Curran’s half-century came after England had slumped to 60-6. His innings helped recover the total to 128-9, and England then produced the lowest successful T20 defence for the tourists by bowling Sri Lanka out for 116 in 19.3 overs. Part-time spinners Jacob Bethell (4-11), who claimed three wickets in a single over, and Will Jacks (3-14) ripped through the batting, while senior slow bowlers Liam Dawson (1-25) and Adil Rashid (1-25) completed tidy spells.
The left-arm seamer added: “To win away from home 3-0, and with the lowest score we’ve defended as well, is pretty cool to say. I think our spinners have bowled well throughout. We know Adil’s our main strike bowler alongside Dawson [but] you also see how Jacksy and Bethell are bowling exceptionally well. I was loving it. I was standing on the boundary, the ball was turning massively, and the required run-rate was going up. There were lots of missed chances and a lot of good bowling so I think the spinners can take great confidence from that. To defend 130 is an amazing achievement.”
England have extended their T20 winning run against Sri Lanka to 11 matches. After facing Nepal in their opener, they will meet West Indies (February 11), Scotland (February 14) and debutants Italy (February 16) in the first round of the World Cup.
England in Sri Lanka – results and fixtures (all times UK and Ireland):
– First ODI (Colombo) – Sri Lanka win by 19 runs
– Second ODI (Colombo) – England win by five wickets
– Third ODI (Colombo) – England win by 53 runs
– First T20 (Pallekele) – England win by 11 runs (DLS)
– Second T20 (Pallekele) – England win by six wickets (DLS)
– Third T20 (Pallekele) – England win by 12 runs
England’s T20 World Cup first-round fixtures (all times UK and Ireland):
– vs Nepal (Sunday February 8) – Mumbai (9.30am)
– vs West Indies (Wednesday February 11) – Mumbai (1.30pm)
– vs Scotland (Saturday February 14) – Kolkata (9.30am)
– vs Italy (Monday February 16) – Kolkata (9.30am)