As he nears the end of a hectic summer, Harry Brook was offered the chance to rest rather than play this series and how Sri Lanka must wish Pakistan’s red-ball side had extended him enough to force a layoff. As it turned out, the 27-year-old could hardly have looked fresher as he inspired his side to an overwhelming win over emphatically outclassed opponents, a brilliant century powering England to a 19th victory in 22 completed games since he took over the captaincy, secured by the margin of 119 runs.

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Brook cavorted to triple figures off 42 balls, of which precisely a third were dispatched to the boundary, six of them beyond it, and ended unbeaten on 114 as England posted 254. But as much as his power his running impressed, using the size of the ground and manipulation of angles to maximum advantage, aided occasionally by the tourists’ imperfection in the field, as he scurried a succession of twos.

“I’ve been feeling there or thereabouts all summer, in all three formats,” Brook said. “I feel I’ve let myself down a couple of times, I’ve had opportunities to get a big score, and thankfully I didn’t give that opportunity up today.”

These teams have already met nine times this year, with potentially six more encounters to come between now and Halloween. Having been left punch-drunk here, if Sri Lanka fail to recover their senses and create a plan to counter Brook in particular they are in for a miserable few weeks.

This was the 27-year-old’s second international T20 century, the other coming in Sri Lanka, against Pakistan during the World Cup earlier this year, the first time that he batted for his country at No 3. He has now done so eight times , scoring in addition to those two tons two unbeaten half-centuries and compiling an average of 95.2 at a ludicrous strike rate of 200.84.

Ben Stokes, posting on X in the moments after England’s innings concluded, described him as “an absolute freak” who “not even the genius of KP could come close to talent-wise”, referencing Kevin Pietersen, the new batting mentor. The same may well be true of Jos Buttler, by general acclaim England’s greatest white-ball batter, who scored a 44-ball 80 – aided by being dropped on 45 – but languished in deep shade opposite his successor as both captain and inspiration.

Aneurin Donald, at 29 England’s oldest debutant since Dawid Malan in 2017, started strongly, hitting Maheesh Theekshana for a six and a four off the final two balls of the first over, but the next one he faced, the opening delivery of the third over and Dunith Wellalage’s first of the night, was skewed into the air, straight down the ground, and easily caught.

Encouraged by an over that brought a wicket and just five runs, Wellalage – who would return to top score for Sri Lanka from No 8 – stayed on for a second, off which Brook flayed three sixes and as many fours, and from there England never let up.

England, put in to bat, had the best of the conditions but Sri Lanka’s innings featured nearly three times as many dot balls as theirs, and just over half as many boundaries. After six overs England had 90 for the loss of one wicket; the tourists at the same stage had 32 and had lost three, their task already far beyond forlorn.

It did not help that Sonny Baker, expensive against Ireland on T20 debut almost exactly a year ago, looked a player transformed on his second appearance, his four overs bringing three wickets and just 12 runs.

There were a few brief moments of fun as Dasun Shanaka hit Adil Rashid for successive sixes, struck with enormous power either side of long-off, but the next ball found his edge and Buttler’s gloves, and Wellalage’s cameo was the only succour for the tourists thereafter. They were eventually bowled out for 135, with an over unbowled. As Charith Asalanka, the Sri Lanka captain, put it: “It was a tough day for us. Positives-wise, it didn’t have anything.”

England seem to have taken a liking to the Rose Bowl, and in their last three appearances here have thrashed South Africa by 342 runs in a record-breaking one-day international, comfortably beaten India in a T20, and now this.

So perhaps giving Southampton an Ashes Test is not such a bad idea after all.