England is taking on Sri Lanka in Match 27 of World Cup 2019 this Friday (June 21) at Headingley. 

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and opted to bat first on a flat deck. But he himself perished very early edging through to the keeper off England pacer Jofra Archer on 1. Other opener Kusal Perera (2) fell off against fast bowler Chris Woakes. He was out caught. The visitors were reeling at 4-2. 

Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis tried to counter-attack. Avishka, especially, played some outstanding shots before he was dismissed after a quickfire 39-ball 49. Kusal, however, continued steadily in a partnership with senior pro Angelo Mathews. The duo stayed together for 61 runs. Kusal was eventually scalped on 46. Jeevan Mendis followed him with a golden duck. England bowled fantastically well to pull things back. 

But Mathews kept batting and found an ally in No.7 Dhananjaya de Silva. The duo resurrected the innings with a partnership, albeit at a slow rate, before trying to give the late flourish that was required. 

In that process, De Silva got out caught on 29, Thisara Perera (2) and Isuru Udana (6), Lasith Malinga (1) too suffered the same fate. Mathews hung on for a fifty, though. He struck a few important boundaries towards the death and remained unbeaten on 85*. No.11 Nuwan Pradeep made 1*.  Sri Lanka huffed and puffed its way to finish with a modest 232/9 in 50 overs. 

For England, Chris Woakes (1/22), Jofra Archer (3/52), Mark Wood (3/40), Ben Stokes (0/16), Moeen Ali (0/40) and Adil Rashid (2/45) delivered fruitful spells.