England vs Sri Lanka, Cricket World Cup: Malinga, Mathews keep Sri Lanka's semifinal hopes alive

| PTI | Jun 22, 2019, 09:35 IST

Angelo Mathews hit a patient fifty before veteran pacer Lasith Ma... Read More

LEEDS: Angelo Mathews hit a patient fifty before veteran pacer Lasith Malinga returned with a sensational four-wicket haul as Sri Lanka stunned hosts England by 20 runs in a low-scoring thriller to keep their World Cup semifinal hopes alive on Friday.

SCORECARD | WORLD CUP SCHEDULE | POINTS TABLE
Electing to bat, Sri Lanka managed a modest 232 for nine, riding on an unbeaten 115-ball 85 by Mathews.

The 1996 champions then returned to dismiss England for 212 in 47 overs to register only their second win in this World Cup.

Malinga (4/43) emerged as the star for Sri Lanka as he dismissed the top three -- James Vince (14), Jonny Bairstow (0) and Joe Root (57) and also accounted for Jos Buttler (10).

Off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva (3/32) then mopped up the tail with a quick three-wicket burst.

After Root's 89-ball fifty, Ben Stokes kept England in the hunt with a 89-ball 82* but he ran out of partners.

The win took Sri Lanka to fifth spot with six points from six matches, while England remained in third spot with eight points from six games.

Earlier, Mathews added 71 and 57 runs with Kusal Mendis (46) and Dhananjaya de Silva (29) for the fourth and sixth wickets, respectively, as Sri Lanka recovered from three for 2.

Playing his first World Cup game, Avishka Fernando, too, contributed with a 39-ball 49.

Malinga's 4-43 leaves England in tatters

Lasith Malinga, who was later declared Man of the Match, punctured the England batting line up with crucial wickets, while maintaining that he followed a simple bowling line with some bouncers and variations. (AFP Photo)

After the 3rd wicket fell with just 62 runs on board, Angelo Mathews became the anchor for the Lankan batting, staying on the pitch for more than 37 overs and scoring a crucial unbeaten innings of 85. (Reuters Photo)

With 3 wickets apiece, fast-bowlers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer again demonstrated what a lethal pace-attack can bring to the team. The Sri Lankan middle order disappointed yet again. (AFP Photo)

Coming in at just the 3rd ball of the match may be unnerving, but Joe Root exhibited a responsible innings of 57 off 89 balls to give England some much needed momentum in the run-chase. (AFP Photo)

After dismissing Bairstow for a golden duck in the very first over, it wasn't soon after that Malinga overwhelmed opener Vince and the dangerous Joe Root, who seemed determined to take his side home. (Reuters Photo)

The 41st over almost effectively choked the run-chase for England, as de Silva picked up two wickets in quick succession to send Woakes and Rashid back to the dressing room. (Reuters Photo)

Stokes struggled till the very end of the match, desperately trying to hit sixes and fours of every ball he faced, with England needing 47 runs from the last wicket. Despite coming close, there wasn't much he could do when Mark Wood nicked his 4th ball to the keeper, ending the hopes of an escape for England. (Reuters Photo)

With Malinga bowling out his 10 overs and the dangerous Ben Stokes still in the middle with 21 more runs to win, Nuwan Pradeep went straight for the kill against Mark Wood, finishing off the match for his team. He finished with tight figures of 1-38 from his 10 overs. (Reuters Photo)

Chasing the total, England could not recover from the twin strike by Malinga and could score only 38 for two in the powerplay.

Root and Eoin Morgan (21) added 47 runs for the third wicket before Isuru Udana (2/41) produced a stunning caught-and-bowled effort to remove the skipper as England slipped to 73 for 3 in 18.4 overs.

Root completed his fifty off 78 balls and soon new man Stokes brought up the team hundred with a boundary off Pradeep.

Malinga then brought Sri Lanka back in the match when he had Root caught behind off a ball drifting down the leg side.

De Silva then had Moeen Ali holed out to long-off, while Chris Woakes' thin edge was caught by the keeper and another edge sent Adil Rashid back to the hut as England slipped to 178 for 8.

Earlier, Sri Lanka lost Dimuth Karunaratne (1) and Kusal Perera (2) in three balls to be reduced to three for 2.

Fernando then blasted six fours and two sixes, sharing some valuable runs with Mendis. But an upper cut gone wrong saw Sri Lanka lose Fernando and slip to 62 for three.

Leg-spinner Rashid struck twice on successive balls, removing Kusal Mendis and new man Jeevan Mendis (0), as Sri Lanka slumped to 133 for five in the 30th over.

Mathews and Dhananjaya then took the team close to the 200-mark.

Once Dhananjaya was removed by Archer in the 44th over, it was a lonely battle for Mathews.

Use your cricket knowledge to play CricPlay, India’s first free fantasy cricket app

Top Comment

Yash

1980 days ago

Aussie Rules Football(Rugby) is no.1 in Australia, in England Cricket is at no. 6 in terms of participation and viewership, rugby is no. 1 in SA. Ireland and Netherlands are still associate countries after more than 20 years of featuring in WCs so we can guage the strength of the game there.

Follow Us On

England vs Sri Lanka, Cricket World Cup: Malinga, Mathews keep Sri Lanka's semifinal hopes alive

Follow Us On Social Media

Top Trends