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Defending champions England are all but out of the ODI World Cup 2023 after an eight-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on October 26. England suffered a batting collapse and the non-threatening target was chased down with ease despite two early wickets. After the loss, England slipped to the ninth position whereas Sri Lanka left Pakistan behind to climb to the fifth position.
Earlier, Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first. After a cautious few overs, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow hit a few boundaries. Just when England openers were looking settled at the crease, Angelo Matthews was introduced into the attack. Malan could not judge the pace and got caught behind. Malan scored 28 runs from 25 balls. In the 10th over, Bairstow and Joe Root were involved in a mix-up which led to the run out of the latter. Mathews was quick at backward point to release the ball and catch Root short of the crease. Then Kasun Rajitha got the better of Bairstow who contributed with 31-ball 30.
Skipper Buttler could not make an impact. Lahiru Kumar lured him into a drive. Kusal Mendis dived to his right to take a stunning catch. In his next over, Kumara trapped Liam Livingstone in front of the stumps. England lost half the side for 85 in 17 overs. Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali looked to do some damage control in the middle overs. Mathews came back into the attack to dismiss Ali for a run-a-ball 15. In the next over, Rajitha got the wicket of Chris Woakes. However, it was a controversial decision as there were questions over whether Sadeera Samarawickrama took a clean catch or not.
Stokes fell short of his century as well. He went for the pull shot against Kumara but ended up getting caught. He scored 43 runs from 73 balls. In the 32nd over, Adil Rashid got run out in a bizarre manner as he was not paying attention to Mendis until it was too late. David Willey hit a couple of boundaries to provide a boost to the score but Mark Wood became Maheesh Theekshana’s only victim of the day as England were bowled out for 156 in 33.2 overs.
In the run chase, England lost the wicket of Kusal Perera in the second over. The leading edge off Kusal Perera's bat landed in Stokes' hands. Willey would have got two in two but Mendis' catch was dropped by Root. In his third over, Willey struck again to remove Mendis. Pathum Nissanka and Samarawickrama stitched a partnership to prevent a collapse. The first six of the innings was hit in the 15th over.
Nissanka reached his half-century from 54 balls. Samarawickrama completed his half-century from 44 balls in the 23rd over. England bowlers could not get the breakthrough. Sri Lanka chased down the target in the 26th over as Nissanka finished the game in style with a six. The opener remained unbeaten for 77 runs from 83 balls including seven fours and two sixes. On the other end, Samarawickrama scored 65 runs from 54 balls including seven fours and a six. Sri Lanka won the game by eight wickets with 146 balls to spare.
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