ODI World Cup 2023: England scored 156 runs against Sri Lanka

After suffering three losses in their four games, England and Sri Lanka faced off each other in the 25th match of the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Sri Lanka came after a win in their previous encounter while the defending champions had lost two games on the trot. Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. England scored 156 runs. Here is the recap of the first innings.

The defending champions named three changes to their playing 11 and brought back Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes replacing Harry Brook, Gus Atkinson and Reece Topley. Sri Lanka on the other hand brought in the experienced Angelo Matthews and Lahiru Kumara instead of Chamika Karunaratne and Dushan Hemantha. 

England lucky to just lose two wickets in powerplay

Dilshan Madhushanka opened the bowling for Sri Lanka and dismissed Jonny Bairstow on the first ball of the match but unfortunately for him, Sri Lanka did not go for the review. There was a doubt about whether the ball hit the bat first or the pad first. Replays came in and it showed that the ball hit the pads first and showed three reds for the LBW. Soon both Bairstow and Dawid Malan hit some boundaries and regained control in the first six overs. Malan was dealing in boundaries by hitting six fours in just the first five overs. 

Angelo Matthews was introduced in the attack in the seventh over. Matthews immediately made a difference by picking up Malan’s wicket with just his third ball of the match. Joe Root came to the crease but his short stay of just 10 balls came to an end after a mix-up resulting in a run-out. Before running himself out, Root was almost involved in another run-out which could have seen Bairstow walking back to the dugout, fortunately for the English opener a direct hit was missed and he was once again saved. At the end of the powerplay, England had scored 59 runs while Sri Lanka had picked two wickets.

Sri Lanka continues to take regular wickets

Right after the powerplay in the 11th over, Sri Lanka wasted a review on an LBW decision against Ben Stokes. Bairstow’s luck continued as the England opener once again survived a close shave in the 12th over where he inside-edged a ball to his foot. Kasun Rajitha finally got his man in the 14th over as he dismissed Bairstow thanks to a great catch from Dhananjaya de Silva. Bairstow scored 30 runs in 31 balls hitting three fours. Lahiru Kumara making a return to the side took his first wicket in just his second over as he dismissed the English skipper, Jos Buttler in the 15th over. Liam Livingstone was the next man to fall as Kumara picked his second wicket in his following over. 

Kumara almost picked up his third and dismissed Stokes, but Sadeera Samarawickrama fielding at backward point despite a great effort couldn’t hang on for the catch. Maheesh Theekshana too came close to picking up the sixth wicket when the on-field umpire had given Stokes out LBW. Stokes immediately reviewed the call and the ultraedge showed a deflection with the ball next to the bat.

Stokes and Ali regain brief control

Stokes and Moeen Ali found some boundaries and improved the scoring rate after five quick wickets. Madhushanka came into the attack in the 21st over, Stokes smashed him for a four to score nine runs from his over. Dhanjaya de Silva (DDS) was introduced into the attack in the 22nd over and he was welcomed by two fours each from Stokes and Ali. Stokes continued attacking in the next over as Madhushanka was too hit for two fours. Rajitha replaced DDS after just one over and bowled a tight over. England scored 30 runs in four overs (21-24). 

Matthews came back into the attack replacing Madhushanka and once again took the important wicket of Ali. Ali scored 15 runs in 15 balls hitting just one four. Rajitha in the next over dismissed Woakes for a four-ball duck. It was a dicey call for a clean catch from the third umpire Ahsan Raza but he ruled the fingers to be under the ball and gave the decision in favour of the fielder, Samarawickrama. 

Kumara came back for another spell after the drinks break in the 29th over. The right-arm pacer dismissed Stokes in just his second over of the spell. Stokes scored 43 runs in 73 balls hitting six fours.