Canada Global Tv: In a thorn four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka , Ben Stokes hit a valiant unbeaten 42 runs as England advanced to the T20 World Cup semifinals, halting Australia’s championship defence.
With New Zealand already qualified for the round of 8, England needed to win to join them in the final four. They did it in a nail-biting finale with two balls remaining.
Australia would have won if they had lost.
When Sri Lanka reached 80-2 after 10 overs, they appeared to be headed for a large total. However, the aggressive Pathum Nissanka was dismissed for 67, and the team collapsed to 141-8 with Mark Wood getting 3-26.
In response, England sped to 75 points without a loss and appeared to be headed for an easy victory. But as Sri Lanka’s spin attack put pressure on them, they fell apart and the game ended at 111-5.
Despite winning, England had to settle for second place behind New Zealand at the top of the standings. On Sunday, Group 1’s future will be decided.
Australia’s sputtering tournament came to an end with Sri Lanka’s defeat; their championship defence never recovered from a crushing loss to New Zealand on the first day and then having to share the points with England due to rain.
In order to surpass 1,000 T20 career runs, Nissanka reached his second 50 of the competition and ninth overall before stomping Stokes for six.
Adil Rashid’s tight bowling, though, slowed the run rate and allowed him to eventually dismiss Nissanka, who heaved to replacement fielder Chris Jordan at long-on after a 45-ball innings.
With three wickets falling in the final over, Sri Lanka never recovered its form, scoring just 25 runs off its final five overs.
In response, Alex Hales and Jos Buttler scored 70 runs off a six-over powerplay while slamming 11 boundaries.
When Buttler (28) and Hales (47) were dismissed in the span of three overs due to the spin of Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka gained optimism.
