The England batting lineup was decimated by Lahiru Kumara’s pacers before sensible half-centuries from Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama led Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory in the ICC World Cup 2023.
England Batting Lineup
Set to chase a modest 157, Sri Lanka scored the winning runs with two wickets down and 146 balls remaining.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had a contrasting start to their chase, losing two wickets with only 23 runs on the board in the sixth over, thanks to David Willey’s back-to-back strikes.
In the second and sixth overs, respectively, the left-arm pacer dismissed Kusal Perera (4) and Kusal Mendis (11) to put Sri Lanka under pressure.
Sadeera Samarawickrama joined Pathum Nissanka in the crease, and the duo launched an incredible comeback.
Samarawickrama & Nissanka Partnership
During their match-winning 137-run partnership, Samarawickrama and Nissanka batted sensibly and scored at a reasonable rate, with both scoring half-centuries.
Nissanka led the way for Sri Lanka with an 83-ball 77 that included seven boundaries and two sixes.
Samarawickrama, on the other hand, smashed seven boundaries and a six on his way to a 54-ball 65.
Only David Willey took two wickets for England, while the rest of their bowlers went wicketless.
A dominant eight-wicket win over England propelled Sri Lanka to fifth place in the ICC World Cup 2023 standings, replacing Pakistan, while the defending champions dropped to ninth.
After opting to bat, England raced to 44 runs in the first six overs, but the partnership was broken on the third ball of the next over by returning allrounder Angelo Mathews.
Angelo Mathews was called up to replace injured pacer Matheesha Pathirana in Sri Lanka’s ICC World Cup 2023 squad.
Dawid Malan left after scoring a 25-ball 28 with six boundaries.
Domination of Sri Lankan Bowlers
Jonny Bairstow, his opening partner, was out in the 14th over after scoring 30 runs with three boundaries.
Sri Lankan bowlers dominated, taking wickets at regular intervals, while Ben Stokes fought alone from the other end, scoring an anchoring 43 runs from 73 balls, with six boundaries.
Moeen Ali was the only batter to support Ben Stokes in a brief 37-run stand for the sixth wicket before Angelo Mathews dismissed the former.
Ben Stokes was out in the 31st over for 137-8, and the entire team was bundled out for 156 in the 34th over. Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Kumara took three wickets, while Angelo Mathews and Kasun Rajitha each took two.
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