The 27th match of the ICC World Cup saw England take on Sri Lanka at the Leeds ground in Headingley as both the teams were looking for a win, Sri Lanka a lot more than England, who have lost just one match so far in the tournament.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first, given the slow nature of the pitch. Avishka Fernando (49), Kusal Mendis (46) and Dhananjaya de Silva (29) were the main contributors to the Sri Lankan innings, which was held together by an amazing 85* by Angelo Mathews, as the Lankan team managed 232/9 in 50 overs. Jofra Archer (3/52) and Mark Wood (3/40) were the picks of bowler, while Rashid Khan picked two wickets.
England’s chase got off to not so good start, As Lasith Malinga removed Jonny Bairstow for a golden duck and then had Vince caught in slip for 14 runs. Joe Root (57) and Eoin Morgan (21) tried to rebuild the innings, but Udana sent him back caught and bowled and Malinga came back to remove Root denting hopes of England further. Malinga (4/43) also accounted for dangerous Buttler for 10, before Dhananjaya de Silva (3/32) picked three quick wickets of Woakes (2), Rashid (1) and Ali (16) to put Sri Lanka ahead.
Amidst all the wickets and everything, Ben Stokes showed why he is regarded so highly by everyone in world cricket, as he held one end together and took chances when he could to keep the scoreboard moving.
However, he remained not out on 82 in 89 balls, as Nuwan Pradeep managed to induce an edge from Wood on the last ball of the 47th over, to gain a 20-run win for Lankans, as England was bowled out for 212 runs.
The Cricket fraternity lauded the tremendous effort by Sri Lanka to topple no.1 ranked ODI team and hosts and favorites to win the tournament England with such brilliant bowling performance on Twitter.
