Saturday Feb 28, 2026
Saturday Feb 28, 2026
Monday, 23 February 2026 03:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Will Jacks broke the back of the Sri Lankan batting with 3/22
Jofra Archer removed both openers as Sri Lanka’s innings started to crumble
Dunith Wellalage struck vital blows to the England batting to take 3/26
England crumbled around Phil Salt’s 62 off 40 balls
Maheesh Theekshana tied down the England batsmen with a tidy spell
Succumb to England by 51 runs
PALLEKELE: Sri Lanka, who had a good run-up in the group stages, found to their dismay that playing in the Super Eights of the Men’s T20 World Cup was a totally different ball game as England defended their small total of 146-9 to complete a comprehensive 51-run win by bowling the co-hosts out for 95 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Two things that stood out from this match was that Sri Lanka had not learnt their lessons from their 3-0 defeat to England in the bilateral series that preceded the T20 World Cup and played at this very same venue, and Sri Lanka did not read the pitch properly when they were chasing.
The circumstances did not require any big hitting boundaries but a commonsense approach to reach the target of 147. But once the in-form Pathum Nissanka fell, followed by Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake – the three in-form batsmen – inside the first four overs, Sri Lanka’s innings simply folded like a pack of cards.
Sri Lanka’s batting in the powerplay was a shocker. Nissanka whipped one with the angle and holed out to deep mid-wicket. Mendis tamely chipped one back to Will Jacks and next ball, Rathnayake had a brain explosion as he holed out to cover. Kamila Mishara then edged one to short third and Kamindu Mendis went with hard hands and offered a leading edge to the bowler.
At 34-5 inside the batting powerplay, the packed crowd in Pallekele was truly silenced. It was the first time Sri Lanka had lost five wickets in this phase in T20 World Cups and it was the second lowest powerplay score for a full-member team in this World Cup after 33-0 by West Indies against Scotland at Kolkata.
Skipper Dasun Shanaka chipped in with a 24-ball 30, but he was simply unable to stem the rot from the other end. Sri Lanka’s total of 95 is their lowest score of the tournament so far and they have left themselves with plenty to do in the next couple of games, especially with a big minus net run rate.
Off-spinner Will Jacks, first with that impactful knock (21 off 14) and with three quick wickets, killed the match for Sri Lanka and deservedly took the Player of the Match award – his third in the current World Cup. Every England bowler took a wicket with Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Liam Dawson getting two apiece.
At the halfway stage of the match, Sri Lanka’s camp were cock-a-hoop with their bowlers having done a stupendous job to restrict the powerful England batting line-up to a mere 146 and would have really fancied their chances of chasing down the score. Barring Phil Salt (62 off 40 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes), none of the batters found the rhythm and timing to build their innings. To add to that, Sri Lanka were superb in the field with their catches and an excellent run out to dismiss Tom Banton in the eighth over played the part in keeping the run-flow in check. 12 overs of spin produced 85 runs and 5 wickets.
Dilshan Madushanka was excellent in the powerplay and he came back to bowl the penultimate over to collect a couple of wickets. Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage were the pick of the bowlers and the duo used their variations smartly to restrain the big hits through the middle overs.
What should have been a comfortable chase for the hosts turned into a nightmare when they came out to bat.
