Kusul Mendis stumps Mark Wood in the course of the ODI World Cup 2023 match between Sri Lanka and England on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on October 26, 2023.
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR Okay
England wanted a return to their aggressive methods however they produced a cagey batting effort to get bowled out for a modest 156 towards a assured Sri Lanka of their World Cup match on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Having logged simply two factors from 4 video games, England have been anticipated to point out some urgency however the defending champions struggled massively on a pitch that provided spongy bounce after batting by selection.
But greater than the floor or the enterprising Sri Lankan bowlers, the English batsmen battled interior demons, save Ben Stokes who made a gritty 43 off 73 balls.
Opener Dawid Malan who milked 45 runs with Jonny Bairstow, may very well be excused although.
Angelo Mathews, an damage alternative for pacer Matheesha Pathirana, put him in two minds with a supply that bounced from the size simply sufficient to take an edge off his bat to Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.
However, Malan throughout his 25-ball 28 confirmed that the pitch just isn’t a tough one to bat on whereas essaying some beautiful drives via the off-side.
Unfortunately, the route was not taken by a number of subsequent batters they usually have been additionally culpable of taking part in some actually poor cricket.
Joe Root acquired run out whereas taking off for a non-existing single, captain Jos Buttler made an expansive drive exterior the off-stump off Lahiru Kumara to get caught behind and Bairstow by no means timed the pull off Kasun Rajitha to seek out Dhananjaya de Silva at mid-on.
Liam Livingstone performed the incorrect line off Kumara to get trapped leg-before. Moeen Ali went for a lower off Mathews when there was no width on provide, and Kusal Perera snaffled the straightforward providing at level.
These batsmen have been anticipated to steer England’s batting cost in a must-win match, they usually failed to reply to the scenario.
Stokes did strive on his personal. He had the help of fortune as effectively when Sadeera Samarawickrama floored a tricky likelihood at level off Kumara when the all-rounder was on 12. England have been 86 for 5 then.
The left-hander performed some archetypal power-packed pictures via both aspect, however the day was not made for a one-man present that Stokes is thought to provide.
His dismissal, caught by substitute Dushan Hemantha, at deep of Kumara, successfully ended England’s possibilities of posting a difficult complete regardless of them having an extra-long batting line-up.
Adil Rashid’s comical run out whereas backing up too far may very well be taken as an emblem of England’s drudges with the bat on the day.
But the inept batting show of England shouldn’t rob the Lankan bowlers of the simply credit score.
Kumara (3 for 35) has the tendency to be in every single place however when he hits his lengths accurately, the right-arm pacer is a unique beast, who may also crank up some critical pace to hustle the batters.
And hustled England have been certainly on the day. They will hope for some extra spunk from their bowlers to conjure an unlikely win and stay within the semifinals race.
