This series had already been decided before a ball had been bowled yet the final match in Southampton did offer Dawid Malan an opportunity to remind everyone why he is still the No 1-ranked batsman in international Twenty20 cricket. The 33-year-old had come into this dead rubber under pressure after a run of one half-century in seven previous innings, including scores of seven and four during England’s pair of victories in the opening two matches in Cardiff earlier in the week. Yet he responded to the doubters in style, scoring a fluent 76 from 48 balls to set up a comfortable 89-run victory and a 3-0 series whitewash for Eoin Morgan’s team. With Jason Roy’s tight hamstring the latest injury concern for England following Jos Buttler’s torn calf that rules him out for at least the one-day series against Sri Lanka that begins at Durham on Tuesday, Malan was moved to the top of the order from No 3. He responded with his third-fastest T20 half-century for England – in 30 balls – and a 12th 50-plus score in just 27 innings. It was the perfect riposte to those asking questions about whether Malan’s place in this England team was under threat ahead of this autumn’s T20 World Cup. It would surely take something extraordinary to see him miss out on that tournament after an innings that helped his team post a total that was well out of reach of a poor Sri Lanka batting lineup that were eventually routed for 91 after 18.5 of their chase. “To help us get to a winning score is a nice feeling,” said Malan. “The criticism does bother me sometimes but it drives me as well. I like to prove a point so when I do get criticised I like going out there and proving people with those opinions wrong. “One thing this England white-ball team has been so good at is they don’t listen to the noise. Eoin and [coach] Chris Silverwood are fantastic backing you as a player as soon as there’s any criticism. Even though you know you’re 100% backed it does hurt you sometimes, especially if you feel like it might not be fair.” One bright spot for Sri Lanka was the performance of Dushmantha Chameera, who took a career-best four for 17 to peg England back at the death. The fast bowler’s variations proved extremely effective, with three of his wickets, including that of Malan in the 19th over, coming from slower balls. It came during a passage of play that saw England, who were well set on 143 for one after 15 overs, lose five for 19. The mini-collapse followed a first century opening stand for England in T20 cricket since 2013, when Alex Hales and Michael Lumb achieved the feat against Australia at Durham. It got the hosts off to the perfect start, with Jonny Bairstow also making a half-century, in 41 balls, before he was bowled by Isuru Udana in the 12th over. The absence of Roy also saw Liam Livingstone move up to No 3 after his match-winning role with the bat in the previous match at Cardiff two nights earlier. But the Lancashire all-rounder was disappointing, scoring 14 from 10 balls before he was dismissed by Binura Fernando. Moeen Ali, who had missed England’s past 10 matches in this format, also failed to deliver on his return to the side, making little impression with the bat with a run-a-ball seven. However the all-rounder did at least wrap up the victory, trapping Chameera lbw to end Sri Lanka’s forlorn chase. The tourists were in trouble from the moment Danushka Gunathilaka edged the second ball of the innings from David Willey to Malan at second slip. By the end of the first six-over powerplay they were 39 for three after further wickets for Willey and Chris Woakes. The runs were never likely to come and so it proved as England’s seamers, who took seven of the 10 wickets to fall, cleaned up.