England made it four wins out of four after a seeing off a valiant Sri Lanka by 26 runs in their Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka had won the toss and put England to bat. England’s start was shocking with Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow all departing inside the powerplay with the team 35/3 after 5.2 overs.
Jos Butler then stepped up with a formidable partnership with captain Eoin Morgan as the duo added 112 of 8 overs.
Butler in particular drove the England innings forward with a magnificent batting effort on a challenging track against some quality bowling.
He brought up his century of the final ball of the innings as England posted a total of 163 runs.
Sri Lanka struggled in the chase but managed to stay in the game till the last 2 overs. This was chiefly down to the quick fire knocks of Bhanuka Rajapaksa (26 of 18 balls) and Wanindu Hasaranga (34 of 21).
But they both failed to see their team through at the end. With 30 needed off 2 overs the match could have gone anywhere but Sri Lanka ran out of batsmen ending their hopes of progress while England show that conditions matter little when a team plays to its strengths.
SCORECARD SUMMARY
ENGLAND163/4(20 overs)Jos Buttler*101 (67)Eoin Morgan40 (36)Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva3/21(4)Dushmantha Chameera1/43(4)
SRI LANKA137/10(19 overs)Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva34 (21)Bhanuka Rajapaksa26 (18)Adil Rashid2/19(4)Moeen Ali2/15(3)
