By Srian Obeyesekere
Sri Lanka blew up a crucial Super Eight starter of the ICC T20 World Cup by extravagant stroke play to letting off a wobbling on their knees England at 124 for 7 seizure to limping to 146 for 9 off 20 on opener Phil Salt’s battling 62 after being put into bat as their bowlers hit back bundling out the co-hosts for 95 in 16.4 overs as skipper Dasun Shanaka stood a alone defiance on the sinking ship which ended for 30 attempting to bridge a gap of 65 runs off 34 balls with two wickets remaining, going for a third six held outside the ropes by Will Jacks, the main Player of the Match 3-wicket destructor, at mid wicket who threw the ball back in for Banton to grab it off Adil Rashid as England claimed victory by a huge net run rate 51 runs in inflicting a running hoodoo 12 wins over their opponents continuing from the most recent 3-0 yanking to yesterday’s cup foray at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium to leading their group with 2 points to the 1 shared point by Pakistan and Nepal from Saturday’s rain abandoned game at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium.
Indeed, the Lankans saw their early box seat 4 for 68 nailing of England at the halfway stage to a manageable target flung out of the window by their batsmen in ultimate bitter defeat led by the 3 for 26 strike by off spinner Dunith Wellalage of front man Joss Buttler leg before wicket for 7, lynchpin Harry Brooks in like manner for 14 with his third and sixth of the innings the key one of Salt held by Dushan Hemantha with the score 6 for 106 after 14.2 evaporated in the face of Sri Lanka’s frontline batters folding in next to no time as England hit back via Jacks and the 2 wickets apiece upfront Jofra Archer and Liam Dawson with Adil Rashid following up the polish off.
In that havoc, Jofra Archer removed both openers Kamil Mishara for 6 and Pathum Nissanka 9 before Will Jacks 3 of Kusal Mendis playing a return catch into the hands of Jacks for 4 and next ball Pavan Rathnayake lofting him to Jacob Bethell at cover and Wellalage playing into the hands of Jamie Overton at mid on sparked the dramatic turn around of an intense low scoring contest as the Lankan batting debilitated by apparent rush of blood in a total reversal of bludgeoning Australia at the same venue when Nissanka fired a ton of which he was a shade of it before a telling heavy top spin attack supported by the fiery pace of Archer.
The role of recalled Kamil Mishara whose listless occupation of the crease that slowed down the Lankans at the start left question marks about his inclusion of a batsman with a poor average of less than 25 in the format and how the selectors with Head Coach Sanath Jayasuriya and skipper Shanaka who have a final say in selections closed their eyes to Kusal Janith Perera who came up with a fair 22 on recall and fighting form in the lost game versus Zimbabwe where his contribution was suggestive of getting better in the next. It left a bad taste as a struggling Mishara against England left one wondering, why Mishara despite failures?
England 146 for 9 (Salt 62, Wellalage 3-26) beat Sri Lanka 95 (Shanaka 30, Jacks 3-22) by 51 runs
