- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Jos Buttler’s side faced yet another batting collapse and was bowled out for a paltry 156, their lowest total in this World Cup.
By: Shubham Ghosh
DEFENDING champions England slipped further in the ongoing cricket World Cup on Thursday (26) when they were beaten by Sri Lanka by eight wickets in a key round-robin match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru after getting bowled out for just 156.
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, England were off to a decent start with their openers Jonny Bairstow (20) and Dawid Malan (28) adding 45 runs. But once the partnership was broken by veteran Angelo Mathews who took two wickets and Joe Root got run out for three, the Three Lions witnessed another batting debacle. Their much vaunted batting line-up failed to fire on yet another occasion — the third time in a row — and eventually got bundled out for 156 in 33.2 overs. Ben Stokes (43) was the top scorer for his side but England batters never looked at ease against a tight bowling attack from the Lankans.
Lahiru Kumara claimed three wickets for 35 runs as the top Sri Lanka bowlers while Kasun Rajitha also took two.
Sri Lanka, who lost their first three matches before defeating the Netherlands in their previous outing, lost two quick wickets early on but an unbeaten 137-run partnership between opener Pathum Nissanka (77 not out) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (65 not out) took the former champions home and earned two crucial points. Pacer David Willey took both the Sri Lanka wickets. The islanders won the game with nearly 25 overs to spare.
This was Sri Lanka’s fifth consecutive victory over England at the World Cup since the 2007 edition. The defeat saw England sliding to the ninth position in the points table with just one win from five outings. They next play hosts India in Lucknow on Sunday (29) while a resurgent Sri Lanka take on Afghanistan in Pune on Monday (30).
