ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Super 12, Group 1, Sri Lanka vs England: Pathum Nissanka’s 67, Wanindu Hasaranga’s 2-23 and Adil Rashid-Mark Wood’s 4-42 are top performances as England beat Sri Lanka at Sydney. England qualify for semi-finals from Group 1 along with New Zealand.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 141-8 (Nissanka 67, Rajapaksa 22, Wood 3-26) lost to England 144-6 (Hales 47, Stokes 42, Hasaranga 2-23) by 4 wickets
Player of the Match: Adil Rashid (1-16)
The free-spirited Sri Lankan bowlers fought hard, defending a mediocre total of 141. Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva ensured that the dangerous batting line up of England had to work their way out and there were no easy meals for them on the platter.
England’s death bowling has been sensational this entire world cup as they have picked up 21 wickets so far in the overs between 16-20, and are the highest wicket taking team in the death overs of the Super 12 stages. In batting with firepower come collapses, but the Test captain of England, Ben Stokes ensured that he took his team to complete safety with a calm, composed and sensible innings with zero-risk shots, Literally!
England bowlers dominate proceedings after SL make good start
With the semi-finals on the line, Match 39 of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 between England and Sri Lanka was a do or die match for England. A win for England would kick the current T20 World champions and the host out of contention, while England would seal their place in the semi-finals. Having won the toss, Sri Lanka decided to bat first. Pramod Madushan was dropped and Chamika Karunaratne was brough back in Sri Lanka’s playing XI, whereas, England went ahead with an unchanged eleven.
Sri Lanka kicked off in fine fashion with nothing to lose. Hitting a six off the second delivery of the innings, their intentions were clear. Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka then clobbered the fastest bowler of the tournament, Mark Wood for 17 runs in the third over of the innings. Sri Lanka batters were breathing fire as they scored at 9 runs per over scoring 54 in the first 6 overs. Sri Lanka were looking to score big with 116 runs on the board with just three wickets down at the end of the 15th over with Nissanka being the aggressor with 67 runs off just 45 deliveries.
The next five overs flipped like a coin in a paradise and England pulled things back like a magnet. Adil Rashid and Mark Wood wrapped up the Lankan innings, picking up five wickets in the next five overs giving just 25 runs at the death.
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If Sri Lankan batters were aggressive in the powerplay, England openers batted like their life was on the line. Scoring at a run rate of above 11, England reached 70 runs at the blink of an eye in a matter of six overs. This was also the highest powerplay total of the 2022 T20 World Cup. Sri Lanka spinners brought life back into the game and pulled the game back like a stringboard. Between overs seven to fifteen, Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva picked five wickets and put a full stop to England’s scoring rate as they were reduced to 113-5 at the end of 15 overs.
England were still in a comfortable position even after a mini collapse, as they just needed 28 runs in the next 30 deliveries. Ben Stokes’ calmness and an ODI like innings with just two boundaries during his entire stay on the crease, helped England sail the ship towards victory and anchored their ship onto the semi-finals.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between Sri Lanka and England in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
Pathum Nissanka plays a quickfire 45-ball 67
Pathum Nissanka started the innings handsomely with a stylish pull shot six off Ben Stokes on the second delivery of the innings. Sri Lanka had nothing to lose and that reflected in Nissanka’s strokeplay as he smashed England bowlers all around the park including the fast and furious Mark Wood.
Nissanka’s innings of 67 raced Sri Lanka to 80 at the end of 10 overs. Pathum was just dealing in sixes as he smashed five sixes in his innings of 67 with just two boundaries. If not for Nissanka’s free-flowing innings, Sri Lanka would have struggled to even get to 130 runs.
Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, Gr 1, SL v AFG: Hasaranga 3-fer, Dhananjaya 66* keep Lankan hopes alive
Wanindu Hasaranga’s magical spell of four overs brings life back into the match
England were cruising at one stage to say the least with 70 runs in just six overs while chasing a mediocre target. Wanindu Hasaranga was introduced in the 7th over and the man was quick to pick a wicket on the second delivery of his spell dismissing the dangerous Jos Buttler.
Buttler had faced 28 deliveries off Hasaranga, prior to Saturday’s game and had never been dismissed before this game. Surprisingly, the T20 specialist, Alex Hales had never faced Hasaranga before and it was evident with his game play as the former was struggling to read the mysterious Wanindu from the hand as he gave catching practice to the bowler off his own bowling. With these two wickets, Hasaranga will end his World Cup campaign as the highest wicket-taker (15) of the tournament in the group stage.
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Adil Rashid-Mark Wood duo destroy Sri Lanka’s middle order
Sri Lanka were set to post anything above 170, as they were dominating the game with 116 runs on the board at the end of the 15th over. Adil Rashid who has been wicketless so far in the tournament, picked his first and probably the most important wicket for England’s ticket to the semi-finals, dismissing Pathum Nissanka.
Mark Wood then came back in the 18th over, and was too quick for the Sri Lankan batters to handle. The fast and furious Wood first dismissed the Lankan captain. Wood also dismissed the ever so dangerous Bhanuka Rajapaksa.
Read More: T20 World Cup 2022, Gr 1, NZ v SL: Phillips 104, Boult 4-13 help New Zealand maintain pole position
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, Group 1, Points Table
What’s Next
After 21 days, we finally have the two semi-finalists from Group 1 – New Zealand and England – who have made it through after an enthralling and ever so exciting group stage.
Group 2 is still alive and four teams – India, South Africa, Bangladesh and Pakistan – are all still in the race and fighting for the two spots from Group 2 for the semi-finals.
Sunday will be a triple header with all the teams of Group 2 facing each other in a span of 12 hours. India are at the top of Group 2 with six points and a fairly steady net run rate (NRR) of 0.730 and they are almost certain to make it to the semis.
South Africa with 5 points and NRR of 1.441 look safe too, with one match remaining against the Netherlands and could go up to 7 points if they win against the Dutch. Pakistan and Bangladesh both are tied at 4 points, and their semi-final hopes are dependent on an unlikely victory of the Netherlands over South Africa.
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