Sri Lanka restricted England to a below-par 156 all out in 33.2 overs in a must-win clash between the World Cup’s stragglers on Thursday, with only Ben Stokes offering some resistance in a dismal batting display by the defending champions.

Stokes (43) took the attack to Sri Lanka on a dry wicket at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after England’s middle-order collapsed in the face of some incisive bowling, but he holed out to Dushan Hemantha in the deep off Lahiru Kumara (3-35) in the 31st over. 

England got a slice of luck early on after Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first as Jonny Bairstow (30) survived a shout for lbw, but the right-hander did not capitalise on his breezy start and gifted his wicket to Kasun Rajitha (2-36). 

Sri Lanka earlier put the brakes on England’s scoring as returning veteran Angelo Mathews (2-14) removed opener Dawid Malan (28) and helped run out Joe Root, before Kumara struck twice to leave the holders in trouble at 85-5. 

Mathews, called in to play in his fourth World Cup as an injury replacement for Matheesha Pathirana, snared Moeen Ali in his second spell while Chris Woakes fell to Rajitha after a low diving catch by Sadeera Samarawickrama. 

Sri Lanka, who came into the contest with the same record as England with three defeats in four matches, ran through the tail to lay the platform for a big upset.

Source - The Times of India 

- Agencies