Pallekele: A fiery spell by out of form Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga and some attacking batting from their batsmen helped the home team beat defending champions England by 19 runs in the last Group 2 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup. The result ensured that Sri Lanka top the group with West Indies also qualifying for the semifinals with two wins.
England chasing a stiff target of 170 got off to a worst possible start as they caught Malinga on his best day. Malinga took three wickets in his first over to deliver a shock from which England team could not recover. He first got the dangerous Luke Wright caught at point, two balls later he got Jonny Bairstow with a beautifully disguised slower ball, on his last ball of the over he got Alex Hales with a in-swinging Yorker.
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Brief Score:
Sri Lanka: 169/6 (Jayawardene 42, Mathews 28, Broad 3-32)
England: 150/9 (Patel 67, Swann 34, Malinga 5-31)
Match Facts:
Toss: England
Sri Lanka Powerplay: 44 runs, 1 wicket
England Powerplay: 36 runs, 3 wickets
Man of the match: Lasith Malinga
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After losing three quick wickets, Samit Patel and Eoin Morgan steadied things and put up a partnership of 45 runs for the fourth wicket. Samit Patel batted very well and attacked the Sri Lankan bowlers, he was particularly hard on Ajantha Mendis hitting him for four boundaries through the off side. Young Dananjaya than got into the act and got Morgan trapped in front.
That opened the flood gates for Sri Lanka as they picked up three quick wickets before Patel and Graeme Swann got involved in a partnership.
Together, Patel and Swann put a 51 run stand in 28 deliveries, but Malinga got back and bowled Patel to ensure that there were no tense moments for Sri Lanka. England finished their innings at 150/9.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka after being put in to bat got off to a rollicking start once again. Their openers have looked in great touch from the past few matches and they quickly got Sri Lanka off the mark. Sri Lanka were at 35 in the fifth over when Dilshan got out to Steven Finn.
Jayawardene with Kumar Sangakkara than put up a descent little innings before both of them got out in the 11th over on consecutive deliveries from Swann. All-rounders Angelo Mathews and Jeevan Mendis than were involved in a very good partnership of 52 runs. That provided Sri Lanka a good platform to launch and some lusty blows from Thisara Perera and Lahiru Thirimanne ensured that Sri Lanka get to 169.
England captain Stuart Broad was the pick of the English bowlers taking three wickets for 32 runs.
By Indian Sports News Network
