New Zealand, England and Australia all finished with 7 points from 5 matches in Group 1 but the Kiwis topped the group with better NRR. Ben Stokes kept his composure and made an unbeaten 42 off 36 balls as England reached 144/6 in 19.4 overs after Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. Sri Lanka couldn’t have advanced even if they had beaten England but the islanders squandered a blistering start of 52/1 in five overs before ending up at a disappointing 141/8.
Opening batter Pathum Nissanka braved pain on his twisted ankle and made 67 before England hit back through its spinners. Adil Rashid was 1-16 and fast bowler Mark Wood picked up 3-26 after being smacked for two sixes by Nissanka in his first over.
England sank Sri Lanka in the death overs when Nissanka holed out to long on in the 16th over and then Wood claimed three wickets in his return spell, allowing the islanders to score only 25 in the last five overs. England had an injury scare when Dawid Malan limped off the field after sustaining groin injury.
But England didn’t feel Malan’s absence with Alex Hales (47) and Jos Buttler (28) racking up 70 runs in the first six overs. Sri Lankan premier spinner, Wanindu Hasaranga ignited the collapse by removing both batters in his successive overs. Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone then fell cheaply and Moeen Ali offered a tame catch against the offspin of Dhananjaya de Silva (2-24) in the covers as Sri Lanka slipped to 111-5 in the 15th over.
But Stokes, promoted at No. 3 in place of injured Malan, kept cool with wickets falling around him and carried England home with two balls to spare.
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