Sri Lanka suffered yet another defeat raising more questions as England pulled off a win by four wickets in their Super 12 match to enter the semi finals of the T20 Cricket World Cup in Sydney yesterday.
England was outplayed in only the first five overs when Sri Lanka batted as Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis picked 52 runs.
But the introduction of spinner Adil Rashid into the England bowling reversed the tide as Sri Lanka were eventually squeezed into making just 89 runs in the balance 15 overs to end up at 141 for 8 in the 20 overs.
Sri Lanka’s middle order pair of Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapakse continued their appalling poor form with the bat contributing scores of just 3 and 22 while the inconsistency of Dhananjaya de Silva (9) and Charith Asalanka (8) made the two look out of sorts at a time the team needed them to score after a solid opening start.
Express fast bowler Mark Wood was hit for 17 runs in his first over as he gave Nissanka and Mendis plenty of room to swing their bats, but he came back stunningly well to concede just nine runs in his next three overs while taking three wickets that included Shanaka and Rajapakse who could not come to grips with the bowling.
Rashid took just the one wicket that of top scorer Nissanka for 67 but he conceded only 16 runs off his four overs that turned things around for England.
Nissanka was the only dominant force in the Sri Lankan batting line-up hitting five fours to add to his two fours in just 45 balls.
In chasing down the target England got off to an explosive start scoring 70 runs in the first six power-play overs with openers Jos Buttler (28) and Alex Hales (47) hammering Kasun Rajitha for 32 runs in two overs, Lahiru Kumara for 13 runs in one over and Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva for 12 runs in one over.
England lost wickets in the closing stages but with Ben Stokes (42 not out) and Chris Woakes taking the crease with England needing 13 runs in the last two overs the result was a foregone conclusion.
Scores:
Sri Lanka 141 for 8 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 67, Kusal Mendis 18, Bhanuka Rajapakse 22, Mark Wood 3 for 26)
England 144 for 6 in 19.2 overs (Jos Buttler 28, Alex Hales 47, Ben Stokes 42 not out, Lahiru Kumara 2 for 24, Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva 2 for 23, Dhananjaya de Silva 2 for 24)