Defending champions England are all but mathematically out of the Cricket World Cup as Sri Lanka cruised to an emphatic eight-wicket victory in Bangalore.
Jonny Bairstow (30) and Dawid Malan (28) put on a 45-run opening stand after England won the toss and elected to bat, only for a flurry of wickets to see Jos Buttler’s side dismissed for just 156 inside 33.2 overs in Bangalore.
Ben Stokes top-scored with 43 in an innings where six players failed to reach double figures, as Lahiru Kumara (3-35), the returning Angelo Mathews (2-14) and Kasun Rajitha (2-36) helped bowl out England for their lowest total of an already disappointing tournament.
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Mark Wood is stumped for five England’s final wicket to set Sri Lanka a chase of just 157
David Willey (2-30) took two early wickets to briefly raise England’s hopes, before Pathum Nissanka (77 not out) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65no) fired an unbroken 137-run partnership for the third wicket to guide Sri Lanka to an emphatic victory in the 26th over.
England have yet to be officially eliminated from the competition, despite registering just two points from five matches and being joint-bottom of the table, although would need to win all four of their remaining matches and for several other results to go in their favour if they are to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.
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Adil Rashid was run out for two and failed to take a wicket in England’s latest heavy defeat
How Sri Lanka put England on the brink
England – making three changes from their record-breaking loss to South Africa – were fortunate not to lose a wicket from the opening delivery when Sri Lanka decided against reviewing a Madushanka yorker that hit Bairstow’s pad first, with replays showing it would have gone on to clatter leg stump.
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England got lucky off the first ball against Sri Lanka as the ball appeared to hit Jonny Bairstow’s pad first but wasn’t sent for a review
Bairstow and Dawid Malan negotiated a moving new ball to put on 45 for the opening wicket, including 15 from one Rajitha over as they scored quickly on a fast outfield, only for Angelo Mathews to make the breakthrough in his first ODI bowling spell since March 2020.
Mathews needed just three balls to have Malan (28) caught behind after a successful review, with England suffering another setback in the 10th over when a huge mix-up saw Joe Root (three) sent back by Bairstow when chasing a risky single and being run out trying to dive back into his crease.
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Joe Root walks off before the review after a mix-up with Jonny Bairstow to gift Sri Lanka’s second wicket
Stokes almost chipped one to extra cover as he struggled for rhythm early in his innings, while Bairstow (30) hacked a length ball from Rajitha to leave a simple take at mid-on and captain Jos Buttler (eight) fell to a superb Mendis catch off Kumara to leave England languishing at 77-4.
Livingstone (one) lasted just six balls until he was trapped lbw by Kumara, with his immediate review unsuccessful, while Moeen Ali (15) offered some brief respite with a 37-run stand for the sixth wicket until a loose shot presented a routine catch at backward point.
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England’s Chris Woakes reacts after Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka hits a four on his delivery
Samarawickrama produced a brilliant diving catch at point to dismiss Woakes off Rajitha without scoring, with Stokes’ one-man charge and boundary burst ended when he picked out the sub fielder at deep mid-wicket.
Sharp work from Mendis saw Rashid (two) run out at the non-striker’s end, having seen the England batter backing up out of his crease, before the Sri Lanka keeper wrapped up the innings with a stumping off Theekshana after Wood (five) danced down the wicket.
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Adil Rashid run out at the non-striker’s end as Sri Lanka reacted by throwing down the stumps while he was out of his crease and a direct hit had him run out
Willey got England off to a strong start when a leading edge from Perera (four) looped up to Stokes at mid-off, while Mendis almost fell with the next ball as his nick just evaded Root at slip and raced for a boundary.
Mendis (11) top-edged Willey and left a ballooning catch for Buttler behind the stumps, leaving Sri Lanka 23-2, before Nissanka and Samarawickrama confidently made chanceless half-centuries to push them towards their victory target.
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England’s Chris Woakes reacts after Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka hits a four on his delivery
Sri Lanka breezed past the 100 mark in the 17th over and brought up their century stand four overs later, before Nissanka secured victory in style as he blasted Rashid for a huge six with the fourth ball of the 26th over.
Victory moves Sri Lanka to four points and fifth in the standings, with the top four at the end of the round-robin campaign reaching the semi-finals, while England drop one place to ninth in the 10-team table and see their net run rate – which could determine qualification – worsen to -1.63.
Sunday 29th October 8:00am
More to follow…
What’s next?
The Cricket World Cup continues Friday, as Pakistan face South Africa (9am on Sky Sports Cricket, 9.30am start), before a double-header on Saturday sees Australia take on New Zealand (5.30am on Sky Sports Cricket, 6am start) and the Netherlands play Bangladesh (9am on Sky Sports Mix, 9.30am start).
England are next in action against hosts India on Sunday (8am on Sky Sports Cricket, 8.30am start), where a defeat will officially end their qualification hopes. Sri Lanka are next in action on Monday with a must-win game against Afghanistan (8am on Sky Sports Cricket, 8.30am start). Stream the Cricket World Cup and more top sport with NOW.