England beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs to claim the team’s fourth victory in a row. Sri Lanka has now lost three of its four games and only some form of a miracle will drag them to the Semis, meanwhile, England is well-set for making it to the Top Four.
Buttler fires away and a dogged Eoin Morgan
England lost three wickets in the PowerPlay, losing Bairstow, Malan, and Roy after the score got tied down by Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga. Then Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler first got the feel of the wicket by the halfway. Then Buttler targeted seamers Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara, starting to compile between 10-20 runs regularly. The two batters made sure England get to a substantial 163 as Buttler completed a stunning century.
Buttler made 101 runs in 67 balls while Eoin Morgan made 40 runs off 36 balls. The rest of the batting combined for just 16 runs. For Sri Lanka, Wanindu Hasranaga continued his brilliant touch and picked up three wickets for 21 runs in four overs. Meanwhile, Maheesh Theekshana gave just 13 runs in his four. Chameera and Kumara gave 43 runs and 44 runs respectively as once again an opponent tapped out runs through Sri Lankan seamers.
England: Brilliant with bowl and brilliant in the field
The fielding and bowling performance exemplified the English World Cup campaign. Like England, Sri Lanka also lost three wickets in Powerplay. But in contrast, no player could step up for them as Buttler did for England. Sri Lanka received no significant partnership and some superb fielding only furthered the collapse. Wanindu Hasranga tried to keep Sri Lanka in the game, plugging 34 runs off 21 balls but it didn’t work out as Sam Billings took a terrific catch to dismiss him.
Ultimately, Sri Lanka could only reach 137 and couldn’t even play 20 Overs. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid each had two wickets while giving just around 5 runs per over. Chris Jordan continued his superb World Cup run and gave just 24 runs in his four overs for two wickets. Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes picked one wicket each.