England shocked as Sri Lanka claim famous victory

World Cup semi hopes dealt a blow

England’s hopes of progressing smoothly to the World Cup semi-finals were dealt a blow at Headingley yesterday, where Sri Lanka landed a shock 20-run win.

The hosts were chasing a modest 233 as they sought a victory which 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 wickets for 43 runs.

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 which 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.

Joe Root scrapped for 57 and Ben Stokes launched a stirring late fightback before being stranded on 82 not out, Mark Wood last man out to Nuwan Pradeep in the 47th over.

There were a handful of slack shots to bemoan when the post mortem takes place, with the record-breaking, sixstrewn outing against Afghanistan three days earlier a distant memory.

Jofra Archer had earlier continued his happy hunting on the big stage, taking three wickets for the fifth time in six games to join Australia’s Mitchell Starc on top of bowling charts, but that was cold comfort for a side now facing considerable pressure.

England captain Morgan felt the hosts’ batting let them down.

He told Sky Sports: “I thought we were really good with the ball. We adapted to the conditions and held Sri Lanka to a chaseable total.

“I think we were probably at fault with a lack of substantial partnerships to chase down a total like that. There were a couple of individual performances that nearly got us over the line but it wasn’t good enough.”

With games against Australia, India and New Zealand to come, defeat could prove costly for England.

But Morgan said: “It’s a tournament where you have to dust yourselves off quickly and turn things around. As a team we tend to come back strongly. That’s our strong point.

“This is a long tournament. There are huge opportunities in every game. Every game is tough and we have three more of them.”

Getty.