Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign is officially over, after a nervy England defeated Sri Lanka in Sydney.
A score of 180 looked on the cards with Sri Lanka 1/71 after eight overs, but they could only limp to a total of 8/141.
England appeared to be motoring to victory when openers Alex Hales and Jos Buttler raised the 50 partnership in just five overs, but as the ball became older batting became tougher.
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Buttler’s dismissal with the score on 75 prompted a mini-collapse of 5-36. When Moeen Ali was dismissed in the 15th over, England required 31 from 33 balls, and when Sam Curran was caught on the boundary from the final ball of the 18th over, England needed 13 off 12.
Not for the first time, Ben Stokes (42 not out) broke Australian hearts, as he and Chris Woakes saw England home with two balls to spare, and secure a spot in the knockout stage of the tournament.
Despite finishing on the same number of points as both New Zealand and England, Australia’s poor net run rate relegated the home side to third. Only the top two teams in each group qualify for the semi finals.
Australian hopes were boosted when Sri Lanka started at better than eight an over, with opener Pathum Nissanka hitting five sixes in his 67 off 45 balls.
There was a scary moment for Sri Lanka when Nissanka and Charith Asalanka collided mid-pitch while taking a run, in scenes reminiscent of Mark Waugh and Matthew Elliott on the same ground in a Test in 1996/97. Unlike Elliott, who was taken from the field on a stretcher and subsequently needed knee surgery, the Sri Lankans seemed to escape serious injury.
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But their run rate wasn’t so fortunate, and an innings that promised much petered out, with the last five overs yielding just 25 runs for the loss of five wickets.
“It’s just one of the problems Sri Lanka have … that lack of firepower through the order,” said former England captain Mike Atherton.
“They had a perfect start, but the lack of dynamic power hitting in this Sri Lankan side has bedevilled them in the last year or two.”
The only negative for England is what appears to be a serious groin injury for batter Dawid Malan, who left the field late in the Sri Lankan innings and would have to be in serious doubt for the knockout matches.
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