Josh Buttler’s side went into Saturday’s game knowing that victory would take them into the last four, but that a loss would see the hosts and defending champions Australia qualify at their expense. England reached their target of 142 with two balls to spare on a dry, used surface, but only after a five-wicket collapse for 36 runs when Alex Hales (45 off 27) and Buttler (28 off 23) had broken the back of the chase. with an opening stand of 75 from 45 balls. Ben Stokes (42no off 36), batting at No 3 after Dawid Malan tweaked his groin on the field, and Chris Woakes (5no) guided England home as they secured second place in Group 1, behind New Zealand on clean run rate, and a semi-final with the Group 2 winners in Adelaide on Thursday. Image: Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes celebrate after leading England to victory over Sri Lanka Sam Curran (6) was caught at deep fine leg off the last ball of the 18th over with 13 runs required, but Woakes’ replacement went on to win the four. Stokes played the key with the bat, however, just over three years after he did the same in the World Cup final with a 50 against New Zealand at Lord’s in July 2019. Sri Lanka had made a quick start after electing to bat, 65-1 after seven overs, largely thanks to Pathum Nissanka (67 off 45), but could only score 76-7 off the last 13 as Adil Rashid (1- 16) dried up raised the run-rate and Mark Wood (3-26) struck three times at the death. India are England’s likely semi-final opponents – Rohit Sharma’s men will beat Zimbabwe at the MCG on Sunday – but Buttler’s side could also play South Africa, Bangladesh or Pakistan. The semi-finalists will be denied by the host nation, with Australia paying the price for an 89-run hammering against New Zealand in their opening game at the SCG – a devastating defeat that Aaron Finch’s side could not recover from as they finished third.
Table of final group 1
Club He played He won Lost No result Pure run rate Points New Zealand (Q) 5 3 1 1 +2.112 7 England (Q) 5 3 1 1 +0.473 7 Australia 5 3 1 1 -0.173 7 Sri Lanka 5 2 3 0 -0.422 4 Ireland 5 1 3 1 -1.615 3 Afghanistan 5 0 3 2 -0.571 2
England rally after Sri Lanka’s strong start
Australia needed a win in Sri Lanka or a washout to progress – the latter never played out, but the former looked possible at times, starting with Sri Lanka’s brilliant start to their innings, including hitting two sixes off Wood who finished a third over 17 laps. . Kusal Mendis (18 off 14) dismissed Woakes (1-24) off the final ball of the fourth over as Liam Livingstone hit a terrific slip at deep backward square before Dhananjaya de Silva (9) dressed a cutter from Sam Curran (1-27) to Ben Stokes at deep mid off in the ninth over. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Liam Livingston takes a superbly timed sliding catch to get the much-needed wicket for England against Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup Nissanka kept going until the 15th over, when he became wicket-worthy for the leg-spinner Rashid after diving down leg – substitute Chris Jordan, in place of Malan, raced in from long off to complete the catch. Nissanka and Rashid were the stars of the innings – the Sri Lankan hitting five sixes and two fours to reach his second half-century of the tournament from 33 balls, and the Englishman was not hit for a boundary during the outstanding of his term at four. Nissanka had no support from his teammates as the innings progressed, but that was not the case for Rashid with his teammates helping to contain Sri Lanka, including Wood as England quickly recovered from their costly first over of the match . Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Mark Wood impresses with the ball as he dives to elude Wanindu Hasaranga in athletic fashion Wood had Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka (3) caught back in the 18th over and was then involved in a three-wicket haul in the final over, having Bhanuka Rajapaksa (22 off 22) and Chamika Karunaratne (0) and also run out by Wanindu Hasaranga ( 9) with a dive as the batsman tried to steal a bye. After batting, Sri Lanka needed early breakthroughs with the ball, but the powerplay was dominated by England as Hales and Buttler stole 70 off the first six overs, with Hales clobbering four boundaries off Kasun Rajitha in a fifth over 20 runs. Hasaranga, the Sri Lankan, bowled Buttler superbly from Karunaratne at deep mid-leg before catching Hales off his own bowling as the England batsman slog-swept back to him. When Harry Brook (4), Livingston (4) and Moeen Ali (1) suffered tame outings – Brook returns to Dhananjaya, Livingstone fell to Lahiru Kumara at long-on, Moeen cut Dhananjaya to extra cover – England were reeling at 111- 5 requiring an extra 31 runs from 33 balls. Stokes and Curran eased the pressure with a partnership of 18 off 21 balls, but it reopened when Curran stuck Kumara to the man on the fence at deep fine leg. But Stokes proved exactly why he is in this England line-up with a masterstroke and Woakes whipped in a match-winning four as Butler’s side kept alive their hopes of becoming double white-ball world champions. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Alex Hales was shy of his half-century but took a simple catch to Wanindu Hasaranga
Buttler in ‘nervous’ run chase | Hales played ‘beautifully’
Buttler did not enjoy the end of the run. “I’m not a great observer to be honest, so I didn’t like it that much, but we knew we had to win the game. It’s the situation he (Stokes) is made for. “He can play multiple roles, he’s a proper competitor and he’s getting to that stage of pieces where he’s going to develop. “They started well, we knew the wicket was going to go late as the match went on. Fantastic over from Rashid to change the momentum. “Maybe he hasn’t picked up the wickets, he’s had a few missed chances. He’s still bowling on surfaces like this, he’s a tough customer. “He (Curran) is someone who continues to grow. He is a fierce competitor who wants to be in these moments. “He played beautifully again tonight, such a tough guy. I think sitting there, one of us would love to be there all the way. “Excited, we wanted to find a way to win today and advance to a semi-final in one of the best stadiums in the world.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player Chris Woakes holds his nerve as his boundary sends England into the T20 World Cup semi-finals, knocking out hosts Australia in the process.
Shanaka: Sri Lanka played well in patches
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said his team could have done better in this tournament. He said: “It was a match, we could have done better with the bat. The wicket played a part in this game, even the English batsmen struggled in the latter part. “We didn’t play according to the wicket. We put up a good fight in the last 10 overs but we didn’t play well in the powerplay. “We played good cricket in patches but started with a few injuries but it’s a good tournament. If it wasn’t for the injuries, we could have done better. “Power hitting is a key we’re finding somewhere. Catching has been a problem this tournament. “I have to thank the colorful and wonderful spectators who supported us in this World Cup.”
What’s next?
Group 2 concludes on Sunday with the six teams in action. South Africa face the Netherlands in Adelaide (12am UK time) before Pakistan play Bangladesh at the same venue (4am UK time) and then India meet Zimbabwe in Melbourne (8 am UK time). Next week’s semi-finals are in Sydney on Wednesday followed by Adelaide on Thursday, both at 8am. UK time, with the final in Melbourne on Sunday 13 November also kicking off at 8am. UK time.
