Article Inlcudes
Openers of Sri Lanka
The former Asian champion Sri Lanka faced England in the 39th match of the ongoing T20 World cup on November 5,2022 at Sydney. Notably it was a do or die situation between both teams that was ended up with Lankan defeat.
Sri Lanka after opted to bat first get off an ideal start as their openers Nissanka and Mendis scored rocket 39 runs in 4th over until Mendis departed on 18 as he was picked up by Woakes. Nevertheless he provided good rhythm to the team.
Silva was the man who replaced Mendis and joined Nissanka on the field, who was going too good with bat on the other end. Sadly Sri Lanka couldn’t hold on to a situation that they were in during power play as the loss two consecutive wickets ; one of Silva on 72 while other was of Asalanka who return to dug out on 8 runs.
Middle order Batsmen
During middle overs none of the Lankan batter looked prepared to face strong English attack except Nissanka who played aggressively and scored 67 off 45 until being caught out by Jordan on a sizzling delivery of Rashid.
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka managed of setting a handsome target of 141 while lost 8 wickets. At that point, the english squad was looking quite satisfied with their performance on field. Pertinently, Mark Wood took 3 crucial wickets and slipped away 26 runs during the spell of 3 overs.
2nd Innings
In return, England displayed watchful cricket from the very first ball. Their opening pair that comprises Jos Buttler and Alex Hales stood firm with bat while played aggressively all around the ground, scoring 75 in 7th over.
The English side dropped their first wicket in the shape of Buttler who scored 28 off 23. Stokes was the next man in, owning great form with bat and yet continued. However the duo of Buttler and Stokes couldn’t work this time as Hales departures in 9th over, scoring 47 off 30.
After losing two wickets during quick session England went under pressure while Lankan bowlers dominated for the next few overs, taking wickets Brook and Livingstone. Perhaps, the target was achievable so they didn’t finish off well.
Conclusion
England though loses rapid wickets still managed to roll on run rate hence, achieving the target in the very last over. The experienced Stokes remained calm using his skills and scored 42 runs and took his team across the victory line.
At the end of the day England confirmed their berth in the semi-finals, joining New Zealand while throwing out Sri Lanka and eliminating Australia chances of reaching the Semis.