In the crucial Group One match of the T20 World Cup, England defeated Sri Lanka by 27 runs thanks to a brilliant century by Jose Butler to claim their fourth consecutive victory.
In the Super 12 match played in Sharjah, Sri Lanka captain Dasan Shinaka won the toss and invited England, the top team in the group, to bat first.
When England started batting, Jesse Roy scored 13 runs in the first over but could not save his wickets on the second ball of the second over.
Jason Roy was dismissed for 9, after which David Millan and Jose Butler took the score to 34 but David Millan could score only 6 runs.
England’s third wicket fell at 35 when dangerous batsman Johnny Bairstow was dismissed without opening his account, he was dismissed by de Silva.
Captain Owen Morgan backed Butler for the fourth wicket and the two batsmen put on 112 runs to put the team in a position.
Morgan was the last England batsman to be dismissed for 40 off 147 balls.
Jose Butler continued to bat brilliantly till the end and completed the first century of the current World Cup by hitting six off the last ball of the innings, for which he faced 67 balls, hitting 6 fours and 6 sixes.
England scored 163 for 4 in the allotted overs, with Moin Ali scoring one run without being dismissed.
For Sri Lanka, De Silva took the most 3 wickets.
Sri Lanka chased down the target and suffered the first loss on the third ball of the first over when Nissanka was run out.
Adil Rashid gave England their second victory in the fourth over when Charth Asalanka, who scored 21 runs, caught Moin Ali for 21 runs.
The score was just 34 when Adil Rashid took another wicket and ended Kosal Perera’s 7-run innings.
Ayushka Fernando was the fourth batsman to be dismissed for 13 and was dismissed for 57.
After which Banuka Rajapaksa returned to the pavilion in the 11th over after scoring 26 runs for a total of 76 runs. He was dismissed by Chris Vokes.
Captain Dasan Shinaka and De Silva shared the sixth wicket, batting well and advancing the score.
Jason Roy made a superb catch to De Silva while the Sri Lankan team was batting aggressively at the time and dismissed De Silva, who scored 34 off 21 balls.
With the addition of one run, captain Dasan Shinaka was also run out.
Dashmantha Chamira was out at the boundary line in an attempt to hit a six with 4 runs. At that time, Sri Lanka’s score was 134 runs and 30 runs were needed to win.
Jason Roy’s catch turned the match around and the Sri Lankan batsmen kept getting out.
Moin Ali came to bowl the 19th over and gave only 3 runs and on the last ball Mahesh Thakshana was caught by Jordan and won the match by 27 runs.
The entire Sri Lankan team was bowled out for 137 and this was their third defeat, which also knocked them out of the semi-finals.
Butler, who had the honor of scoring a century in all three styles of cricket for England, was declared the best player of the match.
The match was crucial for Sri Lanka to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, while the England team was close to the semi-finals due to its excellent performance.
England retained the winning team for the match and made no changes, as did the Sri Lankan team.
Both teams consisted of these players for the match.
England: Owen Morgan (captain), Jason Roy, Jose Butler, David Milan, Johnny Bairstow, Liam Livingston, Moin Ali, Chris Vokes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Time Mills
Sri Lanka: Dasan Shinaka (captain), Pathum Nisanka, Koshal Perera, Charth Asalanka, Aushka Fernando, Bhanuka Raja Pakse, Chamika Krunartne, Vinod Hasaranga de Silva, Dashmantha Chamira, Lehiro Kumara, Mahesh Thakshana.