England registered a comfortable 51-run win despite posting a below-par total of 146 runs in the second Super 8 game against Sri Lanka and opened their account in the second round of the T20 World Cup.
The Start
Put in to bat first by the Sri Lankan captain, Dasun Shanaka, England got off to a poor start after losing the wicket of Jos Buttler early in the game on thescore of 16, which was followed by that of Jacob Bethal, who was dismissed after scoring three runs off four balls.
The Rebuild
The former T20 World Cup champions were in desperate needof a partnership after being reduced to 68 for 4 in 10 overs including that ofcaptain Harry Brook and Tom Banton who was one of the few in form batters in the English lineup and the onus was on Sam Curran and Phillip Salt who washolding one end to stitch a partnership and the duo provided some stability by adding 26 runs for the fifth wicket before Curran got out.
The Performance
Curran’s dismissal brought Will Jacks to the crease, who had to do the bulk of the scoring for England, with set batter Phillip Salt getting dismissed after scoring a crucial half-century. Will Jacks did get off to a start but wasn’t able to prolong his innings beyond the score of 21 runs, which he succeeded in scoring off just 14 balls, thereby giving England something to cheer about by taking them past the 100 run mark.
The Finish
As was the pattern in the entire innings, England’s batters weren’t able to get going and kept on loosing wicketsat regular intervals courtesy of some tight bowling and some poor shot selection. Harry Brook’s side was down to number eleven, Adil Rashid, who walked in to bat in the final over with Jamie Overon batting at the other end.
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Although Overton was able to clear the boundary in the last over and helped England reach a fighting total of 146 runs, it looked as if the team was10-15 runs short of what could have been a match-winning total.
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The Bowling
The bowlers, especially the spinners, played a vital role in restricting England to the above mentioned score, led by Dunith Wellalage with figures of 3 for 26. Wellalage was supported by Dilshan Madhushanka, Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera.
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The Chase
Chasing a score of 147, Sri Lanka, like England, got off to a horrendous start after losing half thesidefor 34 runs courtesy of some fiery bowling from Jofra Archer, who ended the game by picking up two wickets in three overs and breaking the back of theSri Lankan batting lineup.
Archer got good support in the form of Will Jacks, Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid, who picked up seven wickets between them, which resulted in Sri Lanka getting bowled out for 95 runs.
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