ICC Men's T20 WC 2021 - Super 12 - Buttler's 101* secures England's SF berth; SL lose by 26 runs

Jos Buttler's brilliant hundred took England past Sri Lanka, semi-final berth all but confirmed.

England 163 for 4 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 101*, Morgan 40; Hasaranga 3/21) defeat Sri Lanka 137 all out in 19 overs (Hasaranga 34, Rajapaksa 26; Ali 2/15, Adil Rashid 2/19) by 26 runs

Jos Buttler becomes only english batsman to have hundred in each format (©ICC/GettyImages)

Sri Lanka and England clashed in the 29th match of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 tournament on Monday. It was a do-or-die encounter for Sri Lanka following a 4-wicket loss to South Africa on Sunday. They have shown mettle in their Super 12 matches but they haven’t had the rub of the green going their way and their current situation in the tournament lies at the hands of other teams too.

On the other hand, England crushed Australia by 8 wickets in the last game and registered their third straight victory in the tournament. They look completely invincible at this stage, with players playing their hearts out storming into the semi-finals with their victory over Sri Lanka as well.

The battle only got interesting when Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and put England in to bat first at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday, November 1.

Wanindu Hasaranga strikes early for Sri Lanka

England, boasting of one of the most destructive opening pairs in the tournament comprising of Jos Buttler and Jason Roy, failed to exemplify their prowess and lost their first wicket in the 2nd over of the match. Although the side got off to a good start, aggregating 12 runs from the 1st over, their quest of going big was halted when Wanindu Hasaranga struck with his second ball to dismiss Jason Roy. Hasaranga had the better of Roy (9), who in attempting a slog sweep missed the ball and it went through to shatter the stumps.

England incurred another loss in the 5th over as Dushmantha Chameera rattled Dawid Malan’s off stump with a peach of a delivery, the wicket he deserved owing to his consistency. England managed a run-a-ball 36 runs in powerplay at the loss of two wickets.

Sri Lanka inflicted the third damage to England with Hasaranga who got his second wicket of the game by sending Jonny Bairstow for a duck off the first delivery he faced. Sri Lanka bowlers outplayed England’s top-order batsmen in the early half.

Jos Buttler hit a six off the final ball to bring his maiden T20I ton (©ICC/GettyImages)

Jos Buttler takes on SL bowlers with a calculated assault

While wickets fell at regular intervals, Jos Buttler stayed at the crease and ensured the scoreboard kept ticking at 5 runs per over. After Bairstow’s departure, England skipper Eoin Morgan came to bat for just the second time in the Super 12 league matches. The skipper played cautiously, while on the other end, Jos Buttler started with the onslaught on the Sri Lankan bowlers after the 10th over. He replicated his very own style and form that he did against Australia.

England batted cautiously until 10 overs of their innings and slowly started to go bigger as Buttler started targeting all the SL bowlers at will. He hit a boundary and a six off Karunaratne’s over followed by scoring his second fifty in the tournament.

The left-right duo completed a fifty-run stand with a six in the 14th over, followed by a six off Jos Buttler’s bat as England crossed the 100-run mark. Buttler continued to punish Sri Lankan bowlers, especially pacers Chameera and Lahiru Kumara. He plundered six boundaries and as many sixes and also brought his maiden T20I century in style with a six off the last delivery of the innings.

Buttler remained unbeaten on 101 runs and took the team total to 163/4 in 20 overs. Wanindu Hasaranga finished as the most successful bowler for his side with his spell of 3/21 including the final wicket of Eoin Morgan for 40 runs.

Sri Lanka off to turbulent start

Sri Lanka were off to the most unfortunate start after having lost Pathum Nissanka for a run out in the first over. The second wicket fell within a span of two overs as Charith Alasanka who looked menacing departed for 21 runs off Adil Rashid’s first over. During his short stay at the crease, Asalanka smacked three boundaries and an audacious six towards the cow corner.

The lack of a strong opening partnership was clearly visible in this game and that clearly hurt them going forward in the chase. The side lost their third wicket with Adil Rashid striking for his second wicket of the game in the 6th over. He came in and dismissed Kusal Perera with a googly, the most useful weapon up his sleeve. Kusal Perera stepped out and mistimed the ball towards extra cover to get caught by Eoin Morgan for just 7 runs.

Sri Lanka were 40/3 after the powerplay. It was the highest powerplay score by any team against the steadfast England bowlers in the ongoing tournament.

Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were still on the crease and added 23 runs for the 5th wicket before Chris Jordan spoiled their nurturing partnership and dismissed Fernando (13) leg before the wicket. Sri Lanka lost another set batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa who departed for 26 runs off Chris Woakes’ delivery. Rajapaksa smacked a six and a boundary before getting caught at long-on by Jason Roy leaving a broad smile on Woakes’ face.

England bowlers steal it away from SL

England bowlers had already done enough damage to derail Sri Lanka’s innings with half of Sri Lankan team back to the pavilion at 82/5 after 12 overs. However, Dasun Shanaka and Wanindu Hasaranga came to the rescue and added 53-runs for the 6th wicket.

As Sri Lanka looked to get closer towards victory, Liam Livingstone got England a breakthrough by dismissing Wanindu Hasaranga (34) who was caught near the boundary through an acrobatic effort by Jason Roy aided by Sam Billings. Sri Lanka needed 35 more runs off 19 balls and with 4 wickets in hand.

From there on, England bowlers and especially the fielders hijacked Sri Lanka’s hopes of winning the match. Sri Lanka lost the next three wickets in the next three overs and so was their quest of staying alive in the tournament terminated. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 137 runs in 19 overs and succumbed to a 26-run defeat.

Group 1 Standings

Player of the match

Jos Buttler was indisputably adjudged the player of the match following his century knock as he laid the foundation for a competitive score and even took the team total to 163 runs. He also scored his maiden century in T20Is.

Stats and Facts

- England have now won 8 of the 13 T20Is against Sri Lanka, including three of the four times they have met at T20 World Cups.

- Hasaranga with a three-wicket haul against England now becomes the leading wicket taker for Sri Lanka in the ongoing T20 World Cup. He has taken 13 wickets in six matches so far.

- Jos Buttler completed his 2000 runs in T20I format. He reached the feat (2085 runs) in his 78th innings.

- Eoin Morgan is the most successful captain in T20Is in terms of wins. He has won 43 games for England in 68 matches as skipper. Afghnaistan's Asghar Afghan is second with 42 wins.

Here are some of the top twitter reactions from ENGvsSL game:

Jos Buttler's sensational hundred in tough conditions made it even more special.

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