World Cup 2019: Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga star for Sri Lanka in shock upset against England
Sri Lanka stunned the No.1-ranked ODI side in the world, England, by 20 runs to revive their hopes of reaching the 2019 World Cup semi-finals.
Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first. However, that proved to be a disastrous decision as England picked up 2 early wickets to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 3 for 2. Avishka Fernando came to the crease and played with positive intent, putting pressure on the England bowlers.
At the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka crawled to 48 for 2. After the power play, Fernando continued to play with positive intent and looked to take the England bowlers on. Mark Wood though got the breakthrough, dismissing him for 49. Angelo Mathews then came to the crease but struggled to get going.
Disciplined bowling by England meant Kusal Mendis and Mathews struggled to score runs and the pressure eventually got to them. Adil Rashid dismissed Mendis for 46 to end the partnership of 72 runs. Rashid then got the wicket of Jeevan Mendis off the very next ball to put Sri Lanka firmly on the backfoot.
The experienced Mathews struggled to time the ball, but remained at the crease, reaching his half-century off 84 balls. Dhananjaya de Silva and Mathews steadied the Sri Lankan innings with a 57-run stand for the 6th wicket. A late flourish from Mathews helped Sri Lanka posted 232 in their 50 overs. For England, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood took 3 wickets each.
Chasing down a relatively meagre total, England got off to the worst possible start as Lasith Malinga got the early breakthrough, dismissing Jonny Bairstow for 0. James Vince played some lovely strokes but he too was dismissed by Malinga, for 14. At the end of 10 overs, England were 38 for 2.
After the power play, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root steadied the innings, however, Isuru Udana dismissed the England skipper by taking a brilliant catch. Ben Stokes walked out to the crease and looked in decent touch, while Root reached his fifty off 78 balls at the other end.
Malinga though swung the game firmly in Sri Lanka's favour by dismissing both Root and Jos Buttler. Moeen Ali and Stokes then added 26 runs for the 6th wicket before another collapse ensued. Dhananjaya de Silva got three quick wickets of Moeen, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid to put Sri Lanka in command.
Udana then struck again, dismissing Jofra Archer to leave England reeling at 186 for 9. Stokes continued to fight though, reaching his fifty off 61 balls, but just as things began looking dangerous for Sri Lanka, Nuwan Pradeep dismissed Mark Wood to seal a historic 20-run win.
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