T20 World Cup 2022: England beat Sri Lanka to reach semifinals, defending champions Australia knocked out

England defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets to reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Saturday. England’s win means that defending Champions and hosts Australia have been knocked out of the tournament.

Hales was England’s top-scorer on the night (Courtesy: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: England defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Saturday and knock out defending champions Australia from the competition.

Alex Hales and Ben Stokes were the heroes for the English side on the night as they reached target with two balls to spare.

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bat first. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis got the Island nation off to a sensational start as they put on a partnership of 39 runs in four overs.

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Mendis’ stay at the crease was ended by Chris Woakes but Nissanka kept on playing the big shots and scored a well-made fifty. However, the other batters found it on the pitch with Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka getting dismissed for single-digit scores.

Once Nissanka fell in the 16th over, the Sri Lankan innings also unraveled. The opener scored 67 runs from 45 balls, with his innings consisting of two boundaries and five sixes.

Apart from Nissanka and Mendis, only Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the only batter who reached the double-digit mark as Sri Lanka ended up scoring 141 runs in their 20 overs for the loss of eight wickets.

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Mark Wood was the pick of the English bowlers as he picked up three wickets for 26 runs in three overs.

Chasing 142 runs to win, Jos Buttler and Alex Hales got England off to the perfect start as the duo put on 75 runs for the first wicket in eight overs. Hasaranga provided the first breakthrough for Sri Lanka in the form of Buttler’s wicket. Hales also didn’t last for long as he also perished to the Sri Lankan spinner after scoring an entertaining 47. Hales’ innings consisted of seven boundaries and one six in 30 balls.

England then lost a few wickets in a hurry and the rate slowed down a bit as Dhananjaya picked up the scalps of Harry Brook and Moeen Ali, while Lahiru Kumara got Liam Livingstone.

The Sri Lankan bowlers were able to apply pressure and bring the equation to 13 off 13 balls, and Kumara took the wicket of Sam Curran to make things interesting heading into the final two overs.

However, Ben Stokes showed incredible composure to score 44 off 36 balls to ensure that England got home. Chris Woakes hit the winning runs as England won the match by four wickets to enter the semi-finals.