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England have knocked out defending champions and hosts Australia out of T20 World Cup 2022 with a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka. Chasing a below par total, England had a few too many hiccups with a string of wickets but their Test skipper Ben Stokes played sensibly and bested the Asia Cup 2022 champions. Finishing second on Group 1, England are likely to face India in the semi-final at Adelaide Oval until and unless Zimbabwe pull off an upset on October 6.
Chasing 142, England opener Jos Buttler and Alex Hales got off to a positive start. England crossed the 50-run mark in the fifth over. The openers used the powerplay overs well and put on 70 runs on the board after six overs. Hales scored 42 runs in the powerplay overs from just 19 deliveries.
England were looking like they will chase down the total with plenty of overs to spare but Wanindu Hasaranga got Buttler's wicket in the eighth over. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 28 runs from 23 deliveries including two fours and one six in the 75-run opening partnership. In his next over, Hasaranga prevented Hales from reaching his half-century. The opener scored 47 runs from 30 deliveries. His knock was studded with seven fours and one six.
Harry Brook (4) failed to capitalise on the start and gave the catch back to Dhananjaya de Silva in the 11th over. Liam Livingstone (4) got out for a single-digit score as well and suddenly Sri Lanka made their way back into the game. Moeen Ali (1), a better player of spin, was expected to take the team home but he played a loose shot to lose his wicket in the 15th over. Sam Curran could not cope with the pressure either and got out after scoring six runs from 11 deliveries.
After Curran’s wicket, England needed 13 runs from 12 balls. Stokes kept his cool and ran hard between the wickets to make the equation to five runs from six deliveries. In the final over, Woakes finished off the run chase with a boundary to help the English reach the semis. Stokes remained unbeaten for 42 runs off 36 deliveries including two boundaries to help his side win by four wickets.
Earlier, Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bat first. Sri Lankan openers took on England's lethal pace attack. Mark Wood's thunderbolts disappeared into the night sky as Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka hit one six each in the third over. Mendis lost his wicket to Woakes in the fourth over as he pulled one towards Livingstone. He scored 18 runs from 14 deliveries in the 39-run opening partnership. Nissanka continued the onslaught in the powerplay overs. Sri Lanka had 54 runs on the board after six overs.
Curran came back into the attack and got Dhananjaya (9) out for a single-digit score. At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka had 80 runs on the board but Nissanka did not get the required support from the other end. Charith Asalanka (8) got dismissed by Stokes in the 11th over. Meanwhile, Nissanka reached his half-century from 33 balls. With 116 runs from 15 overs, Sri Lanka were set to post a big total but Nissanka's wicket changed everything.
Adil Rashid got rid of Nissanka. The opener scored 67 runs from 45 deliveries including two fours and five sixes. Rashid conceded just 16 runs from his quota of four overs. Boundaries dried up and Shanka failed to play the finisher role. He managed to score just three runs from eight deliveries before getting dismissed by Wood. In the penultimate over, Hasaranga managed to hit first boundary of the slog overs. Bhanuka Rajapaksa hit a boundary in the final over but could not carry on. Wood got the wicket of Rajapaksa (22) and Chamika Karunaratne (0) whereas Hasaranga (9) got run out. Wood came back well after an expensive over in powerplay overs. Sri Lanka disappointed and scored just 25 runs from the final five overs to reach 141/8.
