England on Saturday defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets to secure their place in the T20 World Cup semi-final. England’s victory means that the hosts Australia have crashed out of the competition due to poor Net Run Rate.
Batting first, Sri Lanka could only manage 141-8 despite making a flying start in the power play. Sri Lanka were 72-2 after 8.2 overs but a batting collapse saw them being restricted to just 141 after 20 overs. Pathum Nissanka was the only batter to go past fifty. Nissanka made 67 from 45 balls.
Adil Rashid conceded just 16 runs in four overs and dismissed the danger man, Nissanka. Mark Wood finished with a spell of 3-26 in three overs.
England began their run chase on a positive note and appeared all set to achieve a comfortable victory. However, they too began to lose wickets at regular intervals, making the run chase an incredibly nervous affair. Benk Stokes played the anchor’s role and guided the English innings before Chris Woakes hit a boundary to pull off the much-needed victory.
England, New Zealand and Australia finished with seven points each but the hosts were knocked out due to a poot Net Run Rate.