BENGALURU – Sri Lanka thrashed England by eight wickets in the 25th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Bengaluru on Thursday evening.
Chasing a modest 157 runs target for victory, Sri Lanka reached the milestone with eight wickets in hand and 24.2 overs to spare.
After losing Kusal Perera (04) and Kusal Mendis (11) with only 23 runs on the board, Pathum Nissanka (77) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65) guided the team to victory without any further loss to keep the hope of reaching semi-final alive. In the process, England is now out of the race of reaching the last four.
David Willey bagged two wickets.
Lahiru Kumara was named player of the match.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, England continued losing wickets and the entire team was bundled out for 156 runs in 33.2 overs.
Ben Stokes was the top scorer with 43 runs followed by Jonny Bairstow who made 30 runs.
Dawid Malan made 28 runs, Moeen Ali 15 and David Willey 14 runs.
Lahiru Kumara bagged three wickets, Angelo Mathews and Kasun Rajitha two each while Maheesh Theekshana took one wicket.
England made three changes in the playing XI that featured in the last match.
Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis said that they would also have opted to bat first on a good batting track. Experienced Angelo Mathews came into the side along with Lahiru Kumara.
Bengaluru pitch for the match is a slow and dry surface.
England Playing XI:
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler † (c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka Playing XI:
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis † (c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Lahiru Kumara
