T20 WC 2021: ENG vs SL Review – Buttler’s ton and Morgan’s leadership gets England home

England’s clinical campaign at the T20 World Cup 2021 continued as they produced a win against Sri Lanka at Sharjah on November 1. They had to work hard for this much but the scoreboard will reflect that they won the match by 26 runs. This was their fourth win in as many games and secures them a place in the semi-finals. Sri Lanka are knocked out after this loss.

Earlier in the evening, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first. The decision was spot on as they got three wickets inside the power play to put a lot of pressure on the Englishmen. However, skipper Eoin Morgan and his deputy Jos Buttler formed a brilliant stand of 112 runs to get to a good total. While Morgan scored 40 runs from 36 balls, Buttler was at his best on the other end, playing the role of the aggressor. He ended with 101 runs from 67 balls.

His effort helped England post 163 for 4, which was just about par on the Sharjah wicket. With the ball for Sri Lanka, it was Wanindu Hasaranga once again showing all his tricks. He ended with figures of 3 for 21 from his four overs. Sri Lanka started as poorly as England losing three wickets in the powerplay. But, they managed to remain in the game for the longest with cameos from Charith Asalanka (21 runs), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (26), Dasun Shanaka (26) and Hasaranga (34).

However, England kept getting wickets at regular intervals which didn’t allow Sri Lanka to be ahead in the chase. Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan picked up two wickets each while Liam Livingstone and Chris Woakes also picked up a wicket each. In the end, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 137 runs.

Top performers:

Jos Buttler:

The England vice-captain showed in the previous match why he is a different batter than most. He continued his form, showing all his class during his century. It was a tough wicket and not the easiest attack to face on it. Yet, he timed his innings beautifully with six fours and six sixes and carried the innings despite wickets falling around him.

Wanindu Hasaranga: The all-rounder has done everything he can in this tournament so far. He was once again excellent with the ball, picking up wickets of Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan. With the bat, England was under the pump until he was there at the crease. His knock of 34 runs from 21 balls kept his team in the hunt but the wicket caused a collapse.

Records/Achievements:

• Jos Buttler became the second English men’s batter after Eoin Morgan to get to 2000 runs in T20Is.
• Buttler also became the third English player to score more than 500 runs in T20 World Cups after Morgan and Kevin Pietersen.

Way ahead:

England will now face South Africa on November 6 while Sri Lanka will play the West Indies on November 4.