England tried every combination to swing the result in their favour. England went in with three changes in their line-up. Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes back in the squad. They weren’t playing for the side, a week earlier.
Defending champion hold onto a hope that their X-factor player may bring the match home. As he did back in 2019. Well… Ben Stokes in the middle, never seemed to adjust to the condition. He tried to hit the ball hard, almost like reaching for the ball that’s not even in his radar. As wickets fall around him, left, right and center.
ENGLAND PLAYING XI
Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Jos Butler(c)(wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
SRI LANKA PLAYING XI
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(c)(wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Mathews, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka.
England skipper winning the toss decided to bat first. He did remember the heat of Wankhede that exhausted the boys. The batting order that features Chris Woakes at number 8. England was all set to score a big total at Chinnaswamy. Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow started the inning with the same intent.
The first ball by Dilshan Madushanka was a perfect yorker. Jonny somehow managed to bring to bat at the end. The ball passed through the mid on. Malan looked absolutely perfect playing the cover drives. Malan strook 6×4, before getting caught behind on the delivery of Angelo Mathews. Joe Root looked in a hurry to be at the non-striker end. His lack of composure cost his wicket.
This match was played between the Number 8th and 9th team on the points table. In a head to head match with Sri Lanka in 50 overs format. Both team stands equal. With 38 win by England and 36 by Sri Lanka.
The current form, raises question that the defending champion wouldn’t have been qualified for the World Cup. If they were to put against the likes of West Indies and Ireland.
Nissanka with a massive six on the long on, brought it home from the Lankans. And helped in grabbing 2 crucial points. Sri Lanka have their next 2 matches against in-form Afghanistan and India. The fixtures on Monday will be a do or die match. If Pakistan loses against South Africa in the next match. Sri Lanka needs to put everything on the line playing against the Afghan team. After one more match, We will get our first qualifier for the semis in this World Cup edition.
