Ben Stokes keeps cool amid collapse as England scrape past Sri Lanka to reach World Cup semis and knock Australia out
BEN STOKES kept his cool and guided England to victory over Sri Lanka and a place in the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals.
Stokes remained strong during a dramatic England collapse that turned an apparent cruise to victory into a tense final few overs.
The Durham all-rounder finished 42 not out from 36 balls as England beat Sri Lanka by four wickets with two balls remaining.
So England emerge from Group One of the Super 12s on net run-rate and their semi-final will be in Adelaide on Thursday – most likely against India.
Their win has the delicious added bonus of knocking out hosts and reigning champs Australia from their own tournament.
Stokes has a relatively poor record for England in T20s but there are few better in tight situations in must-win matches.
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He was promoted to No3 because Dawid Malan tweaked a groin muscle in the field and don’t forget Stokes’ fielding has been superb and his bowling useful in this tournament – despite his wonky right knee requiring heavy strapping.
Openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales broke the back of England’s chase and swept to 75-0 after 7.1 overs but, on a used pitch, Sri Lanka’s spinners started causing problems.
England succumbed to 111-5 and then 129-6 with the middle-order self-destructing and Malan unable to bat because of his injury.
England needed five from the final over and Chris Woakes completed the job with a square cut to the boundary.
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Captain Buttler said: “It got a bit close at the end. I’m not a great watcher so I didn’t enjoy it much. We had to find a way to win the game and thankfully we did that.
“It was the kind of situation that Ben Stokes is made for and, while he was at the crease, we had a sense of calm. He can play a lot of roles – he affects the game in all three facets and he’s a proper competitor.
“When we get to the later stages of competitions, you’ll see him grow and grow.”
Sri Lanka chose to bat because they believed the surface would become harder to bat on. And they made an electrifying start with Pathum Nissanka hoisting the second ball of the innings for six.
Then Kusal Mendis deposited Mark Wood’s opening delivery into the stand and Nissanka uppercut the final ball of the Durham speedster’s first over for another maximum.
Sri Lanka were going very nicely at 65-1 from seven overs. But their innings disintegrated after that with 76-7 coming from their final 13 overs and 25-5 off the last five.
Wood’s first over cost 17 runs but he finished with 3-26 while Adil Rashid, out of sorts recently, showed encouraging signs of a return to form with 1-16 from his four overs.
Rashid also equalled Chris Jordan’s record of 90 wickets for England in men’s T20s.
When Buttler and, especially, Hales blitzed the start of England’s reply, the game looked over. The 70 runs they plundered in the first six overs was the highest powerplay score in the tournament.
But some poor shot selection undermined England’s innings with Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali among those culpable.
Stokes stayed and, although it was not as epic as his innings in England’s 50-over World Cup final triumph in 2019, it was another show of determination and mental resilience against the white ball.
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Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood, sacked by England after their 4-0 Ashes hammering last winter, added: “I wish England all the luck – I have so many friends in their camp.
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“There are a lot of good players in that England dressing room but Ben has been their talisman. Getting England over the line will do his confidence a lot of good.”
Here's how the action unfolded on our live blog...
England 38/0 (4 overs)
Lahiru Kumara comes into the attack.
Hales plays another straight drive, this time over the on-side, over the top for four runs.
The very next ball is too far down leg and Hales dispatches to the leg-side boundary from a no-ball.
13 runs from the over.
England 24/0 (3 overs)
Maheesh feels he gets an edge from Buttler's bat with the first delivery of the over but the keeper puts it down.
Ultra-edge shows there was no bat involved however.
9 runs from the over.
England 15/0 (2 overs)
Kasun Rajitha opens the bowling from the other end for Sri Lanka.
England are trying to work the ball around.
Hales steps outside leg stump and drives the ball high over mid-off.
England 3/0 (1 over)
Maheesh Theekshana opens the bowling for Sri Lanka.
Trying to baffle England with his 'mystery spin'.
Hales seemingly getting a feather edge to the last delivery with no bounce at all as it bounces back out of the keeper's gloves.
The ultra-edge replay shows there was no bat involved.
Sri Lanka 141/8 (20 overs)
England will feel they dragged the game back after the brilliant start made by the openers.
This is the lowest score by a side batting first at the SCG in the World Cup.
It is all now down to the England batsmen to take on the Sri Lankan spinners.
Sri Lanka 141/8 (20 overs)
Mark Wood comes on to bowl the final over.
His pace means he can come off the bat quicker but it is also harder to pick when he varies.
Exactly what he did to remove Bhanuka Rajapaksa, with the batsman already through the shot, not picking the slower ball.
Wood picking up three wickets in the final over of the innings.
Wicket - Chamika Karunaratne (Sri Lanka)
Wicket - Wanindu Hasaranga (Sri Lanka)
Wicket - Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka 136/5 (19 overs)
Sam Curran comes on to bowl the penultimate over.
Such an intelligent bowler at the death.
Sri Lanka have seen their innings collapse a little after that fantastic start they made to the game.
8 runs from the over.
Sri Lanka 128/5 (18 overs)
Mark Wood comes back into the attack for England.
After his first over going for 17 runs, he was looking to make a mark on the game.
Five runs from the over but Wood got that all important wicket.
Wicket - Dasun Shanaka (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka 123/4 (17 overs)
Sam Curran has become England's go-to death bowler.
He has great variation in his bowling.
Two runs from the over.
Sri Lanka 120/4 (16 overs)
Adil Rashid gets his first wicket of the World Cup, getting rid of the dangerous Pathum Nissanka.
Great four over spell by Rashid, going for only 16 runs.
The slower ball to get rid of Nissanka caught by the sub fielder Chris Jordan.
Wicket - Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka 116/3 (15 overs)
Not good news for England as Malan goes to chase the ball and immediately feels his groin and signals to the changing rooms.
Nissanka is looking like the dangerman for Sri Lanka, England really need to try and dislodge him.
12 runs from the over as Nissanka plays that trademark cut over the top of the slips for four runs to end the over.
Sri Lanka 104/3 (14 overs)
Rashid continues to look for his first wicket of the World Cup.
Bhanuka going for the big slog/sweep but missing.
Brilliant over from Rashid at this stage, only going for four runs from it.
Sri Lanka 100/3 (13 overs)
Stokes continues his spell, with the second ball of the over being sent into the stands by Nissanka,
That is over 1000 runs in T20I cricket for Nissanka.
The Sri Lankan opener is still feeling the effects of that collision earlier as he stretches out his ankle.
Sri Lanka 89/3 (12 overs)
Livingstone bowls looking to utilise his leg-spin with the left/right hand combination in for Sri Lanka.
England are starting to peg their opponents back in this phase of play.
Only five runs from the over, Nissanka moves onto his fifty.
Sri Lanka 84/3 (11 overs)
Stokes comes back into the attack.
The change works as Charith Asalanka tries to go big and hits the ball high in the air with Malan underneath it.
He takes a good catch to give England the breakthrough.
Wicket - Charith Asalanka (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka 80/2 (10 overs)
Moeen Ali comes into the attack for Jos Buttler's side.
Some ball-watching from the batsmen leads to a collision between the two in the middle.
Fortunately for Sri Lanka, both batsmen make it back home.
Nissanka required some treatment after the coming together.
Sri Lanka 75/2 (9 overs)
Sam Curran adds to his wicket haul for the tournament.
Dhananjaya de Silva trying to go big on the leg side but does not have enough on it and Stokes takes the catch on the ropes.
Great catch by Stokes, ensuring not to step on the boundary rope in the process.
Wicket - Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka)
Sri Lanka 71/1 (8 overs)
Rashid balls are more varied this over.
Looking to flight the ball and tempt the batsmen.
Six from the over with his last flighted ball deceiving the batsman all ends up as he swings and misses.
