Had Sri Lankan captain Angelo Mathews managed to get couple of more big hits or if he could run properly, it would have been one of the greatest run chases in the history of T20 cricket.
However, a super-duper final over by Ben Stokes helped England edge out Sri Lanka in a thriller and to qualify in the semi final of World T20.
After scoring 4/171 in their 20 overs, England managed to hold off Sri Lanka at 161 for eight wickets, claiming a 10 run victory.
England will play an almost ‘unstoppable’ New Zealand in the second semi final on Thursday, at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium.
But, it was a game of Angelo Mathews, the Sri Lankan captain. Let us have a look at how he has ‘almost successfully’ chased down the 171 target.
England Innings
Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 66 helped England to reach a good total in their share of overs. He has got it from just 37 balls. Valuable contributions from Jason Roy and Joe Root made them look easy against an out-of-form Sri Lankan side.
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Bad Start for Sri LankaSri Lankan innings started with a collapse. The lost their opener Tilakaratne Dilshan in the third ball and it looked like an easy path ahead for England. Even cricket pundits have predicted it.
Tweet: Harsha Bhogle
After three overs, Sri Lanka were almost drowning for 4/15. It looked like the record for the lowest total in this World T20 could be snatched away from Bangladesh in a few hours. England was planning ahead for semi final
Tweet: Michael Vaughan
Magic Mathews But there came Angelo Mathews, with his master strokes. With the support of Chamara Kapugedera, Mathews hammered the English bowlers to all corners of the Firoz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. Fighting a sore hamstring, he made a partnership of 80 from 10 overs with Kapugedera. Lankans needed 61 from last five overs. Moieen’s next over went for 21 runs, taking things closer for Sri Lanka. Now, English fans were nervous.
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But a stunning catch by Joe Root dismissing Dasun Shanaka diverted all the attention now.
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The English spinners had already conceded 63 runs from just four overs. The moments were so tense, and the galleries were getting another spell of nail-baiting final overs in this world cup
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However the English smiled finally, thanks to an unbelievable final over by Ben Stokes. Angelo Mathews needed 15 runs from six balls, which was not impossible for a batsman who had already hit five sixes and three fours. But, Stoke restricted Mathews to just four runs with some length and full length deliveries.
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