Hosts Australia have been knocked out of the ICC T20 World cup and the defending champions are no more in contention to defend the title they won a year ago. Their hopes of reaching the last 4 were hanging on the edge after they failed to register a big margin victory against Afghanistan yesterday.
A brilliant cameo by Rashid Khan towards the ending overs meant Australia will finish with a net run rate of -o.173. The Aussies were hoping Sri-Lanka would defeat England in the final game of Group A but the 2010 T20 World cup winners won the match by 4 wickets.
A thriller in Sydney and England hold their nerve to book a spot in the semi-finals! 🤯#T20WorldCup | #SLvENG | 📝: https://t.co/b4ypDYs5Dx pic.twitter.com/NF7bHadhGf
— T20 World Cup (@T20WorldCup) November 5, 2022
The Asia Cup champions won the toss and decided to bat first. Pathum Nissanka smashed 67 runs off 45 balls while opening with Kusal Mendis who got out rather cheaply for 18. Dhananjay De Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka and Bhunka Rajapaksa could only gather 51 runs. As a result England were asked to chase a total of 142.
England came out to bat with Captain Jos Buttler and Alex Hales opening the innings. Buttler got out on 28 off 23, while Hales played a crucial knock of 47 runs before getting caught and bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga. All-rounder Ben Stokes remained on the crease till the final run was scored and the Englishman scored 42 off 36 balls.
Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook scored 4 runs each with Moeen Ali and Sam Curran scoring 1 and 6 respectively. Chris Woakes went on to hit the winning four to help England finish second in Group A and book their ticket for the Semis.
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