ENG 156 (33.2)
SL 160/2 (25.4)
Sri Lanka won by 8 wkts
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Lahiru Kumara
Cricbuzzteam, In a game that was crucial for both teams, ENG vs SL in Bangalore. England had to win, but they only managed to score a low 156 runs. England’s plan was to score a lot of runs first and put pressure on the opponents, but it didn’t work.
At the beginning of their innings, England did quite well. Dawid Malan hit the ball for boundaries, and Jonny Bairstow also played some good shots. It looked like there might be a high-scoring game. However, things changed when Angelo Mathews and Maheesh Theekshana started bowling for Sri Lanka. Malan and Bairstow had a good start, reaching 39/0 in the first five overs, but they could only score 20 runs in the next five overs. Mathews took a wicket in his first over by dismissing Malan, and Joe Root got run out.
This was the beginning of England’s batting problems. The pitch wasn’t easy for batting; it had different speeds for the ball, which helped Sri Lanka. Kusal Mendis, the Sri Lankan captain, managed his bowlers well and took advantage of the pitch conditions. England’s batsmen couldn’t adjust to the pitch, and their usual aggressive approach didn’t work.
Three of England’s top four batsmen got a decent start, but they couldn’t score quickly. Ben Stokes, in particular, took a long time to score his 43 runs, facing 73 balls. Except for Dilshan Madushanka, who was expensive, all of Sri Lanka’s bowlers bowled well and used the pitch to restrict England’s scoring. Sri Lanka also maintained their intensity in both bowling and fielding, and England’s innings collapsed. Angelo Mathews was the key with his early wickets and the run-out of Joe Root. After that, Sri Lanka dominated the game until the end.
Kusal Mendis: It’s great that our net run rate (NRR) is improving, which is good for our team. Our bowlers did a fantastic job today, and everyone contributed. We have four more games to play, and if we win three of them in a row, we can make it to the semifinals. Our team performed well in the last match too. I hope we continue to do well in the next few games.
Our fast bowler, Kumara, had an excellent performance today, and it’s good to see him back in form, bowling at speeds between 140-145. Angelo Mathews also bowled really well and brings a lot to the team with his ability to bat and handle pressure situations. I consider myself lucky to play alongside him. Our fielding was excellent today, and we aim to maintain this level in the next four matches.
Jos Buttler: It’s been incredibly tough. As the captain, I feel the disappointment, both in my own performance and that of the team. We haven’t been playing anywhere near our best. We have many experienced players in the team, and we don’t become a bad team overnight. That’s what’s frustrating. We’ve consistently fallen short of our best, and there doesn’t seem to be a specific reason for it. Our team selection hasn’t been the problem; it’s been our failure to meet our own high standards. Many of our dismissals, like Joe Root’s run-out, are unusual for us.
We haven’t been building partnerships and haven’t been doing the basics well with both batting and bowling. The most important thing is our personal pride and the standards we set for ourselves. In the remaining matches, we aim to get back to playing good cricket and hope for the best.
England led Sri Lanka 6-1 in World Cups before this sequence, Sri Lanka’s only win coming in the 1996 quarter-final.
ENG vs SL in the last 5 WC matches
2007 – SL won by 2 runs
2011 – SL won by 10 wickets
2015 – SL won by 9 wickets
2019 – SL won by 20 runs
2023 – SL won by 8 wickets*
Highest partnership for SL vs ENG in World Cups
231* – T Dilshan & U Tharanga, Colombo (RPS), 2011 (1st wkt)
212* – K Sangakkara & L Thirimanne, Wellington, 2015 (2nd wkt)
137* – P Nissanka & S Samarawickrama, Bengaluru, 2023 (3rd wkt)*
– This is the first time England has lost three consecutive matches in a World Cup edition since 1996.
– Sri Lanka beat England for the fifth time in a row in the World Cups since 2007.
Lahiru Kumara, the Player of the Match, said, “I’m really pleased with my performance today, especially against a strong team like England. I didn’t make many changes in my game after the last match; the Australia game didn’t go well for me, but I’ve been working hard on improving my bowling. Having Angelo Mathews back in the team was a big boost; he supported and guided me throughout. My role in the team was to bowl tightly in the middle overs and take wickets, and it worked well.