T2O World Cup: England reach semi-finals with nervy win over Sri Lanka

Gulf News

England have booked their spot in the T20 World Cup semifinal after a tense win four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Sydney. Jos Buttler’s side were chasing a modest 142 in the win-or-bust match and suffered a middle order collapse. They needed 13 from 12 balls with four wickets in hand but Ben Stokes’ calm 42 not out took them to victory with two balls to spare. Gulf News cricket experts Shyam and Satish discuss the match…  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #cricket #t20worldcup

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Straight Bad.

00:09The equation was quite simple today for England.

00:11A victory in their last group game against Sri Lanka would mean Joss Butler and co would

00:16secure their place in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup.

00:20Sri Lanka won the toss and they only scored 141 runs, but England made a real meal of

00:26that chase.

00:27They eventually won by four wickets, and it means that they are in the semifinals and

00:31hosts Australia have failed to reach the last four.

00:35Shyam, that was another thriller.

00:36What did you make of that one?

00:40It turned out to be a thriller.

00:41It didn't have to be.

00:43Because if you look at the chase, I mean, England chased, because one thing, first up

00:47is that 141 is not a good score, even given the slowness of the wicket.

00:54But England were off the flyer.

00:56They had something like 75 runs in around seven overs.

00:59And I think after Hayes and Butler left, they lost their way.

01:03I think otherwise, it was pretty much an England slap.

01:06They made heavy with the weather of the chase, I would say.

01:10Satish, like Shyam says, Sri Lanka made a great start.

01:13But England, to their credit, they fought back really well to contain them, didn't they?

01:17Yes.

01:18Great credit to Adil Rashid.

01:21He bowled a brilliant spell.

01:23And being a spinner, he was able to keep the Sri Lankans quiet, despite their being good

01:28players of spin.

01:30But yes, Adil Rashid, and then Sam Curran followed it up.

01:34And then finally, Chris Wokes.

01:36So the last five overs, I think got only about 25 runs, which actually turned the match in

01:41England's favour.

01:42Yeah.

01:43Shyam, England were bowling like a very nervous team.

01:46Sri Lanka were batting clearly like a team with nothing on the line.

01:50England had a very poor start with the ball.

01:52Do you think it was a mistake for them to start with that much pace in the first few overs?

01:56Yeah.

01:57Now, in retrospect, you could say that.

02:01Because Patil Nisenga was just firing you away.

02:05And I think they should have got Adil Rashid right into the powerplay itself.

02:10And in fact, both the spinners into the powerplay, maybe that would have slowed down.

02:14Because if you look at Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka has done exactly that.

02:17They started with Sikshna, and I think third or fourth over they had Hasranga in.

02:22That is when things slowed down.

02:24Satish, I mean, it looked like a very good wicket to bat on.

02:28But apart from Nisenga's knock, Sri Lanka lost a lot of that momentum after the powerplay.

02:33Why was that?

02:35See, this is a wicket where you can't come and hit the shots immediately.

02:40You need to spend some time.

02:41Because it's a…

02:42It bounces, it stops and comes to the bat.

02:45So you need to spend considerable time.

02:47At that point of time, when Nisenga got on, I think Sri Lanka instead of going to attack

02:51and keep the momentum going, they should have at least tried to rotate strikes, run aggressively,

02:57get ones and twos, and then make England do the mistakes.

03:01But instead, they were trying to hit the ball and giving a lot of dot balls, which played

03:05into England's hands.

03:06Yeah.

03:07Shyam, do you think if Sri Lanka had posted at least just 10 or 20 more runs, which they

03:11should have done, really.

03:12I mean, they should have got at least a few more runs on the board.

03:15It would have been a totally different game with their spinners, the way they started

03:17out as well, wouldn't it?

03:18Yes.

03:1920 more runs would have been a winning total on this wicket.

03:23And the way Sri Lankans bowl, I think England would have had trouble crossing that.

03:28Because even with this, they struggle.

03:31Yeah.

03:32And Satish, interestingly, England in their last, I think, T20s and I think in the last

03:3912 games, they've lost, I think, nine when they've been chasing.

03:43Today, it could have almost been another defeat.

03:46It looked really difficult for a little while, didn't it, when that middle order started

03:49to collapse?

03:50Yeah.

03:51Again, this is again, pure, I wouldn't say inexperience, but lack of application.

03:57Because when you needed only about six runs and over, there was no need to play those

04:01big shots.

04:02Or even play those shots in the air.

04:08If they just missed the bowling, get ones and twos, that would suffice, actually.

04:13But instead, they played these big shots and they started giving away the wickets quite

04:18easily.

04:19So, that's where the fault was with England.

04:23They could have played better than what they did.

04:28That start from Hales and Butler was, in the end, very important.

04:33You know, Hales produced a fantastic knock.

04:35He was just short of his half-century.

04:38But Sham, how important was that start in the end?

04:41Because clearly, it went right down to the last over with just three balls remaining

04:44thanks to Ben Stokes' unbeaten knock.

04:47It would have been another story.

04:49Absolutely.

04:50Because that start, that blistering start set up the England win.

04:57Because by the time these two guys left, I think England needed just less than one ball.

05:03So, actually, there shouldn't have been any pressure.

05:07But I think the English batsmen lost their head, really.

05:11Barring Ben Stokes.

05:13Ben Stokes showed superb game awareness.

05:16If it was not for Stokes, England wouldn't have overhauled the game.

05:20And Satheesh, we knew before the match that Hasaranga was going to be dangerous for Sri

05:25Lanka with his spin.

05:26In the end, he got two wickets, I think, for 23 runs or 24 runs in his four overs.

05:32How impressed were you with his bowling today?

05:34Actually, if you look at it, the Spaniards are not getting too much out of this Australian

05:39wicket.

05:40Because the reason is, they get that extra bounce.

05:43Hasaranga, Teekshana, these are skiddy bowlers who like to hit the wicket.

05:47Whereas the extra bounce is, once I think the ball, Butler missed the shot and the ball

05:52went over the middle stump, literally.

05:54So these things are working against their favour.

05:58But I didn't see a Hasaranga threat or even a Teekshana threat today.

06:03Because 141, the body language was not good.

06:06It was more about English batsmen giving away the wickets than Teekshana or Hasaranga or

06:12even Gananjaya Desilbao, who just bowled to the stumps and they didn't do anything great.

06:17Whereas English batsmen, they went, tried to play in the air, they were a bit nervous,

06:22they were a bit, say, hasty, and then they gave up the wicket.

06:26So absolutely, the wicket helped the spinners, but it was not alarming.

06:32And Shyam, finally, it means Australia are out.

06:35I mean, is that detrimental for the tournament, not to have the hosts there anymore in the

06:38semi-final stage?

06:57Actually, before the tournament started, I picked Australia to win.

07:03But I am not shedding any tears over their absence.

07:06Because if you are dependent on another team's result to enter the semi-final, then you don't

07:12deserve it.

07:13So I am not at all shedding any tears for Australia.

07:18And Satish, just finally, it's a real shame that we didn't get to see England against

07:21Australia.

07:22That match was rained off in the end.

07:24I mean, we could have been seeing a totally different finish to this group, wouldn't we,

07:28if that game had been played?

07:30Yes.

07:31No, for that matter, rain played a havoc in this tournament.

07:34But thankfully, at the end of it, it made a very interesting contest.

07:40So because of rains, there were some games which were washed out.

07:43So the favourites ended up with just one point.

07:46And now they are scampering for the final, adjusting for the final positions, the semi-final

07:52slots, which makes it more interesting.

07:54So I wouldn't say that, yes, on that day, the match would have been a thriller.

07:58But I think, finally, it came down to the last match of the group to get the result

08:06of the semi-finals or two semi-finals.

08:09Yes.

08:10Okay, guys.

08:11I think we'll leave that there.

08:12There are three big games tomorrow.

08:13South Africa against Netherlands.

08:14India is playing Zimbabwe.

08:15And Pakistan against Bangladesh.

08:16We'll be back tomorrow evening to discuss how that all goes.

08:17In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news, reviews and updates.

08:18We'll be back tomorrow evening to discuss how that all goes.

08:19In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news, reviews and updates.

08:20We'll be back tomorrow evening to discuss how that all goes.

08:21In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news, reviews, videos and also

08:25check out, of course, our social media channels for lots of good content there.

08:29Thanks to Sharm and thanks to Satish and see you all later on.

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