England Defeat Sri Lanka by 10 Runs After Mathews Fall Short, Enter Semis

10 run win over Sri Lanka, helped England register their spot in the semi-finals along with West Indies from the group 1. With the defeat, Sri Lanka and South Africa face exit from the tournament.

Jos Buttler blitzed an enterprising 66, England v Sri Lanka, World T20 2016, Group 1, Delhi, March 26, 2016©AFP

DELHI: With a 10 run win over Sri Lanka, England registered their spot in the semi-finals of ICC World T20 tournament along with West Indies from the group 1.  Invited to bat first, England added 171 on the scoreboard with the loss of four wickets. Sri Lanka’s reply ended in 161 for eight when the overs got finished. Scoreboard: England-  171/4, Sri Lanka – 161/8.

Rengana Herath trapping Hales before the wicket for a duck in the second over, gave Sri Lanka a good start to the match. Score – 4/1 (1.5 overs).

England players celebrate their win while Sri Lanka's players come to terms with their defeat, England v Sri Lanka, World T20 2016, Group 1, Delhi, March 26, 2016 ©Associated Press

Everyone might have thought of repetition of stumbling from the top orders after they had stumbled before Afghanistan in their last match. But today, the English batsmen were determined and were not prepared for a fall. They made important partnerships for every wicket. For the second wicket, Joy and Root added 61, before Root departed after scoring a valuable 25 from 24 deliveries with the help of four boundaries. Score – 65/2 (10.1 overs)

Joy was the next man to depart. He scored 42 of 39 balls. His innings consist three fours and a couple of maximums. Roy too was trapped before the wicket on a Vandersay-delivery. Score – 88/3 (12.5 overs). Morgan was the last man to depart. He was run-out in the final over.

Before getting out, Morgan scored a useful 22 from 16 balls (1x6, 1x4) and added 74 for the fourth wicket with Buttler who top scored the innings with an unbeaten 66 from 37 balls. England added 71 runs in the last five overs which remained crucial in the match. For Sri Lanka, Vandersay picked up two wickets. Herath picked one.

A dejected Angelo Mathews walks off the field , England v Sri Lanka, World T20 2016, Group 1, Delhi, March 26, 2016 ©Associated Press

Chasing a target of 172, Sri Lanka had a horrible start. Once their score read 15 for four wickets in three overs. Top order stumbled in a very awkward manner but Angelo Mathews was not ready to give up the must-win match. Mathews played a wonderful innings but that was proved insufficient to take Sri Lanka ahead of the opposition.

Mathews, in his unbeaten 54-ball knock of 73, smashed five maximums and three boundaries. Kapugedra (30 of 27, 1x6, 2x4) and Perera (20 off 11, 1x4, 2x6) gave support to the captain. Shanaka too added some quick runs in the final overs. For England, Jordan picked four wickets. Plunkett claimed two while Willey and Stokes claimed one each. Rashid and Ali were victims of Sri Lanka attack and each conceded 32 and 31 runs respectively in two overs. Buttler is the player of the match.