England, in its last group match of the Super 12 Stage, has competed well enough to defeat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets, in the T20 World Cup edition of 2022.
England Crushed Australia’s Hopes of Getting into the Semi-finals
Australia’s chances of successfully securing a Semifinal spot in the Points Table were dashed, on Saturday, after England put up a spectacular effort to qualify for the T20 World Cup semifinals. For Australia to advance to the T20 World Cup semifinals, Sri Lanka needed to defeat the English team. However, Jos Buttler’s team put on an all-around performance, first limiting the Sri Lankan team to 141/8. Further, successfully chased down the target with two balls left. This ended the Australian campaign.
NRR (Net Run Rate) playing as a Decisive Factor in the Tournament
Australia had kept their T20 World Cup semi-final hopes alive by defeating Afghanistan by four runs in a tight game. The team ended with seven points from its four games—two victories, one defeat, and one tie – but Australia had a net run rate of -0.173 due to a humiliating 89-run loss to New Zealand in their tournament opening match. Australia was ultimately disturbed by the significant loss to the Kiwis since they were unable to raise their NRR throughout the whole Super 12 stage.
The fact that Aaron Finch and his team’s match against Eng was called off due to rain and it didn’t help in improving Australia’s Net Run Rate. Also, as Afghanistan extended their run-chase against Australia until the final over before ultimately missing the mark by 4 runs to prevent Australia from receiving a significant NRR boost.
Eng, however, had defeated Afghanistan and New Zealand with ease; by the time they shared the field with Sri Lanka, all they needed was a victory since their NRR was already in the positive (+0.547). England’s unexpected defeat against Ireland didn’t change the scenarios very much. Â
England Versus Sri Lanka: Match in Brief
England’s bowlers, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, and Sam Curran, all of the four claimed a wicket, while Mark Wood sparkled with the ball as he racked up outstanding figures of 3/26 in three overs. Pathum Nissanka, the captain of Sri Lanka, produced a brilliant 67 off 45 deliveries, but he kept losing partners at the other end of the field; Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 22 was the next-highest score in the innings.
Alex Hales sped to 47 off only 30 balls to give England an exhilarating start in the run chase. By the time England’s score was at 75 in just 7.1 overs, England lost its Captain Jose Butler at 28. England did lose three wickets simultaneously and the Sri Lankan bowlers played well to extend the game to the final over, Eng nevertheless advanced to the semifinals thanks to Ben Stokes’ composed unbroken effort of 42 in the chase against Sri Lanka.
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