T20 World Cup: Brits enter Semis; spoilsport Aussie hopes

England defeated Sri Lanka in their final Super 12 encounter at the SCG in Sydney on Saturday by four wickets to book their berth in the semi-finals. 

Pathum Nissanka Shines but England restrict Sri Lanka to 141

The Sri Lankan openers put on a stand of 39 runs in the first four overs and at 80/2 at the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka were in a very good position in the game. Although Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva departed, Nissanka carried on and made his way to a fine knock of 67 from 45 deliveries.

Sri Lanka were 118/4 when Nissanka departed and things started going haywire after that as they scored only 23 runs from their last 27 deliveries in the innings. The England bowlers clawed their way back into the game after a difficult start and kept the target within a chaseable limit.

Buttler and Hales get England off to a flying start

England needed a steady start to chase the target down and they got more than that as Alex Hales and Jos Buttler put on an opening stand of 75 runs. The batters looked at absolute ease against the Sri Lankan pacers. While Buttler played the second fiddle in the partnership, scoring 28 from 23 deliveries, Hales blasted his way to 47 from 30 deliveries

Hasaranga gets Sri Lanka back into the game

Buttler and Hales looked in a hurry to finish the game off but Wanindu Hasaranga had other plans as he sent both batters back to their dug out in consecutive overs.

Those two wickets triggered a collapse and England went on to lose four more wickets in the space of just 47 runs, making the chase extremely difficult for themselves.

Stokes guides England home

While wickets kept tumbling at one end, Ben Stokes played a calm and composed knock from the other end as he remained unbeaten on 42 from 36 deliveries. The experienced all-rounder took the game deep and Chris Woakes finished the chase off with a boundary in the final over. 

England won the match by four wickets and two deliveries to spare, and also booked a semi-final berth in the process while knocking out Australia.

Both Aussies and Lankan fans were hoping the 2014 champs would repay the compliments after the aussies visited the island during the height of the economic crisis. However, it wasn't meant to be. 

Chief scores: 

SL: 142 for seven (20) (Pathum Nissanka 67, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 22, Mark Wood 3/26, Adil Rashid 1/16) beaten by

ENG: 144 for six (19.4) ( Alex Hales 47, Ben Stokes 42 not out, Lahiru Kumara 2/24, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/23)