T20 - England v Sri Lanka (The Oval)

England fall short against Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 183-7 (20 overs) beat England 174-7 (20 overs) by 9 runs

England fell 9 runs short of chasing down 183 as they ended up losing the first and only T20 match of the Series against Sri Lanka. After being put into bat first, Sri Lanka made a decent start to their innings and ended up with a respectable score of 183-7 from their 20 overs. Vithanage (38) and Thirimanne (40) were their key scorers whilst T. Perera starred at the end of the innings, smashing 49 runs from only 20 balls. Gurney was the pick of the English bowlers after taking two wickets but it was a tough task ahead for England to chase down 183 runs to win.  

England made a great start to their innings, reaching 44-1 after their first five overs. However, Bell (13) and Root (5) were both dismissed during the next five overs which left England five runs behind what Sri Lanka scored after 10 overs as they struggled up to 74-3. Morgan (5) was next to go but Hales passed fifty off 30 balls to push England up to 122-4 after 15 overs. Requiring 62 runs off the last 30 balls, England took a huge blow as both Buttler (26) and Hales (66) were dismissed, leaving them 124-5 in the 16th over. Malinga bowled Jordan (5) out in the penultimate over as England fell to 158-7 whilst Bopara (28*) was seemingly left too much to do in the last over as England finished on 174-7, falling 9 runs short of their target.

My Opinion:

England took a heavy battering against the Aussies over the winter and didn’t cover themselves in too much glory against the West Indies earlier in the year. However, despite a disappointing World T20 campaign, they actually defeated Sri Lanka in an absolute thriller thanks to Alex Hales. Unfortunately, they were unable to reproduce the goods on home soil as they fell just short this time around. England bowled reasonably well but it was the debutant Harry Gurney that was the pick of the bunch. It was a tough target to chase down, especially when you have to bat against the likes of Malinga for four overs. I was disappointed by Carberry, Bell, Root and Morgan who all got out cheaply but at least Hales and Buttler put in a shift. Possibly too much was expected of Hales after his unbelievable winning performance in the world cup but 66 was still a great effort. In the end, Bopara was left with too much to do in a short space of time. He gave it his best and maybe with another over could have pulled it off. Overall, the bowlers should have kept the Sri Lankan total down whilst the top order needed to produce a stronger performance. A couple of positives to take away from the match was Harry Gurney taking a few wickets whilst Alex Hales once again proved very dangerous with the bat. I’m hopeful that England will have more success during the one day international series coming up next.

Match Guide: Key Moments

England win the toss and elect to field

Sri Lanka Innings:
(2.4) 24-1, Dilshan 14 (9), 3 fours, bowled by Gurney.
(3.3) 24-2, K. Perera 10 (10), 1 four, 1 six, caught Bopara, Jordan.
(5) 31-2, Vithanage 5*, Thirimanne 2*.
(6.3) 50-2, Vithanage 16*, Thirimanne 10*.
(8.3) 74-2, Fifty partnership between Vithanage 36* and Thirimanne 13* off 31 balls.
(9.4) 78-3, Vithanage 38 (26), 7 fours, caught Carberry, Woakes.
(10) 79-3, Thirimanne 15*, Chandimal 1*.
(10.3) 85-4, Chandimal 7 (5), 1 six, caught Hales, Root.
(13.1) 100-4, Thirimanne 24*, Mathews 4*.
(15) 122-5, Mathews 13 (13), 1 six, caught Root, Tredwell.
(17.1) 141-6, Thirimanne 40 (32), 3 fours, 1 six, caught Hales, Gurney.
(17.5) 151-6, Kulasekara 1*, T. Perera 25*.
(20) 183-7, T Perera 49 (20), 7 fours, 2 sixes, run out by Gurney. Kulasekara 9*(5), 1 four.

Batsman of the Innings: T. Perera 49 (20)
Bowler of the Innings: Gurney 2-26

England Innings:
(1.2) 9-1, Carberry 7 (7), 1 four, caught Kulasekara, Mathews.
(5) 44-1, Hales 17*, Bell 13*.
(5.5) 45-2, Bell 13 (17), 2 fours, caught K Perera, Malinga.
(6.2) 50-2, Hales 22*, Root 1*.
(8) 58-3, Root 5 (7), caught Chandimal, Lakmal.
(10) 74-3, Hales 31*, Morgan 4*.
(11.3) 85-4, Morgan 5 (11), caught Lakmal, T. Perera.
(13.3) 102-4, Hales 47*, Buttler 10*.
(14.4) 120-4,  Fifty for Hales off 33 balls.
(15) 122-4, Hales 52*, Buttler 25*.
(15.3) 124-5, Buttler 26 (16), 4 fours, caught Dilshan, Kulasekara.
(16.4) 139-6, Hales 66 (41), 7 fours, 2 sixes, bowled by Malinga.
(17.3) 150-6, Bopara 7*, Jordan 4*.
(18.3) 158-7, Jordan 5 (4), 1 four, bowled by Malinga.
(20) 174-7, Bopara 28*(15), 3 fours, 1 six. Woakes 2*(2).
Sri Lanka win by 9 runs.

Batsman of the Innings: Hales 66 (41)
Bowler of the Innings: Malinga 3-28

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