CWC23:Sri Lanka beat defending champions England
Delhi: Chasing a target of 157 runs at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 26 October, Sri Lanka defeated the defending champions England by 8 wickets, with 146 balls remaining.
Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, England skipper Jos Buttler chose to bat first, but the team’s wickets continued to tumble. Aside from Ben Stokes (43) and Jonny Bairstow (30), no other English hitter could stay on the crease for long. And all of the wickets fell in 33.2 overs. Englnd only managed 156 runs.
Sri Lanka had put the brakes on England’s scoring following the powerplay as veteran Angelo Mathews (2-14) dismissed opener Dawid Malan (28) and then helped run out Joe Root before Kumara struck twice to leave the holders in tatters at 85-5.
Mathews, called in to play in his fourth World Cup as an injury replacement for Matheesha Pathirana, snared Moeen Ali in his second spell while Chris Woakes fell to Rajitha after a low diving catch by Samarawickrama.
For Sri Lanka, Lahiru Kumara took 3 wickets, Kasun Rajitha and Angelo Mathews picked 2 wickets each and Maheesh Theekshana clinched one wicket.
Lahiru Kumara is named Player of the Match for his figures of 3 for 35
Batting second, Sri Lanka lost two quick wickets of Kusal Parera and Kusal Mendis, but Sadeera Samarawickrama (65*) and Pathum Nissanka (77*) built a strong partnership and defeated England by 8 wickets. For England, the only successful bowler was David Willey who took the two wickets.
This is Sri Lanka’s fifth consecutive win over England in World Cup matches, which means this has been the result of this particular fixture for the past 20 years.
