BENGALURU- England’s reign as the 50-over World Cup champion sunk into serious jeopardy as resolute fifties by Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama along with a set of on-the-money bowlers spurred tenacious Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory here on Thursday.
England, opting to bat first, suffered a baffling batting implosion and were bundled out for a paltry 156, courtesy the five wickets shared among themselves by comeback man Angelo Mathews (2/14) and impressive Lahiru Kumara (3/35).
Despite losing a couple of early wickets, Sri Lanka confidently finished their chase as Nissanka (77 off 83 balls) and Samarawickrama (65 off 54 balls) led the process with an unbroken 137-run stand for the third wicket.
With just two points from five matches, England retain a mere theoretical chance to make it to the semifinals, while the Islanders, who now have four points, can eye a few stronger outings in the remaining four matches.
England might have hoped for a miracle when they dismissed opener Kusal Perera and Lankan captain Kusal Mendis through left-arm pacer David Willey to reduce their opponents to 23 for 2.
But Nissanka and Samarawickrama, two of SL’s best ODI batters this year, combined to produce a solid partnership to ease Lanka’s nerves.
England lacked determination on the day. It was just a matter of a couple of batsmen sticking out in the middle for the Three Lions to reach a far better and competitive total.
But none barring Ben Stokes (43) and Dawid Malan (28) did not even remotely attempt to bat with purpose for a team that was playing in a must-win match.
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