England blown away by Lasith Malinga and reckless batting to fall to second World Cup defeat
England's hopes of progressing smoothly to the World Cup semi-finals were dealt a shock blow at Headingley, where Sri Lanka upset the form book to land a 20-run win.
The hosts were chasing a modest 233 as they sought a victory that would have seen them leapfrog Australia in first place, but instead crashed to 212 all out.
They were undone by Sri Lanka's two oldest stagers, 32-year-old Angelo Mathews digging deep for an unbeaten 85 that kept the first innings afloat and 35-year-old seamer Lasith Malinga rolling back the years with four for 43.
The veteran quick ripped out four of the top six in a match-turning contribution, leaving England with two defeats in their six matches and staring at a run-in that pits them against Australia, India and New Zealand.
England had been handsome favourites at the halfway stage, restricting their opponents to a modest 232 for nine with a disciplined bowling performance, but never found any momentum with the bat.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...-score-latest/
England's hopes of progressing smoothly to the World Cup semi-finals were dealt a shock blow at Headingley, where Sri Lanka upset the form book to land a 20-run win.
The hosts were chasing a modest 233 as they sought a victory that would have seen them leapfrog Australia in first place, but instead crashed to 212 all out.
They were undone by Sri Lanka's two oldest stagers, 32-year-old Angelo Mathews digging deep for an unbeaten 85 that kept the first innings afloat and 35-year-old seamer Lasith Malinga rolling back the years with four for 43.
The veteran quick ripped out four of the top six in a match-turning contribution, leaving England with two defeats in their six matches and staring at a run-in that pits them against Australia, India and New Zealand.
England had been handsome favourites at the halfway stage, restricting their opponents to a modest 232 for nine with a disciplined bowling performance, but never found any momentum with the bat.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/...-score-latest/