England opened the T20 World Cup Super Eights phase with a decisive 51-run victory in Kandy on Sunday, bundling out Sri Lanka for 95 to give skipper Harry Brook the ideal birthday present.
Jofra Archer and Will Jacks claimed five wickets in the six-over power play to leave Sri Lanka’s top order in ruins at 34/5 after England was asked to bat first and produced what appeared to be a below-par 146/9.
“That’s a beautiful birthday present. I thought we played exceptionally there. To get over the line and bowl them out for less than 100 is an awesome effort. I didn’t think there were really any demons on the pitch. I think the spinners on both sides used the pace really well, and that’s what brought a lot of wickets,” AFP quoted Brook, who turned 27 on Sunday, as saying.
On a slow, sticky pitch that had been wet all week in Kandy, it was England’s 12th consecutive victory over Sri Lanka.
The New Zealand-Pakistan match was rained out on Saturday in Colombo, and the victory margin provides England a healthy net run rate edge in a Super Eights group that could be further impacted by weather.
“We’re buzzing with that. At the halfway stage, we were pleased to get up to 146, but obviously we knew we were going to have to bowl well and work hard,” said Jacks, who was named player of the match for the third time in five matches in the tournament.
Both openers, including the in-form Pathum Nissanka (9), who had hit a century and 62 in his previous two knocks but was unable to clear Jamie Overton at deep mid-wicket, were dismissed by Jofra Archer’s scorching speed.
Jacks completed with 3-22, while Archer concluded with 2-20. The latter took consecutive balls to dismiss Pavan Rathnayake (0) and Kusal Mendis (4). Despite preventing the hat-trick, Dunith Wellalage was dismissed by Jacks for 10 after just 10 balls.
Dasun Shanaka was dismissed by Adil Rashid after a solitary struggle in which he scored 30 off 24 balls. The leg-spinner was taken on by the Sri Lanka skipper, but Jacks took the catch and threw the ball to Tom Banton before crossing the boundary.
“It’s one bad game which is not affordable in a World Cup. But we need to bounce back in the next couple of games,” said Shanaka.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Wellalage took 3/26 to help Sri Lanka restrict England to 146/9. Despite Phil Salt’s 62 at the top of the order, Sri Lanka, who are without three of their best bowlers, took regular wickets to hold the rest of the England batting lineup in check.
Wellalage was brought on during the powerplay and trapped the out-of-form Jos Buttler (7) and Brook (14), both lbw, as England faltered to 68/4 after 10 overs. Salt was caught in the deep off Wellalage after 40 deliveries that included two sixes and six fours.
Jacks was the only other batter from England to score more than 20 runs, with 21. Maheesh Theekshana took 2-21 with his off-spin, while left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka got 2-25.
