SHARJAH, England, CMC – Barbados-born all-rounder Chris Jordan snaffled an excellent catch to account for the final wicket as England beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs here yesterday, to all but clinch a semi-final spot and further endanger West Indies’ chances of reaching the final four.
Sent in for the first time for the tournament, unbeaten England battled back from 35 for three in the sixth over to post 163 for four off their 20 overs, thanks to opener Jos Buttler’s sensational unbeaten 101 – his first triple figure score in Twenty20 Internationals.
In reply, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 137 off 19 overs to plunge to their third defeat of the tournament, with off-spinner Moeen Ali (2-15), leg-spinner Adil Rashid (2-19) and seamer Jordan (2-24) all finishing with two wickets each.
Wanindu Hasaranga top-scored with 34 batting at number seven while Bhanuka Rajapaksa and captain Dasun Shanka both got 26 but Sri Lanka struggled to recover after slumping to 76 for five in the 11th over.
The victory left England top of Group 1 with eight points from four matches, with South Africa second on four points and above Australia only by virtue of a superior net run rate.
Sri Lanka, who have now won just one game in four outings and are virtually out of contention for a semi-final spot, are fourth on two points with West Indies fifth also on two points with two games left and Bangladesh already eliminated having lost their three games.
The Caribbean side need to beat Sri Lanka Thursday and Australia on Saturday in order to have any chance of reaching the next round.
England captain Eoin Morgan, who struck 40 from 36 balls, said the game had been an excellent test for the 2016 losing finalists.
“I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve done tonight. The guys had to fight unbelievably hard with the ball and probably in the first ten overs with the bat,” Morgan said.
“Sri Lanka have pushed us further than we have been pushed so far in the tournament.”
When Jason Roy (9), Dawid Malan (6) and Jonny Bairstow (0) perished cheaply, England were struggling to find their footing but Buttler exploded to strike half-dozen fours and half-dozen sixes to dominate a 112-run, fourth wicket stand with Morgan, who counted a four and three sixes.
Rashid then hurt Sri Lanka early on with a brace of wickets before Jordan and Moeen made key strikes to knock over the top order.
Hasaranga and Shanaka put on 53 for the sixth wicket to revive Sri Lanka’s hopes but the 34 runs required from the last three overs proved a mountain too high to climb.
