England nears the semi-final in the T20 World Cup as Jos Buttler scores a sublime first century T20I before Eoin Morgan’s team successfully defends 163-4 for the fourth consecutive victory in the United Arab Emirates; England’s final quarter will be guaranteed if South Africa lose to Bangladesh on Tuesday.
Jos Buttler scored 67 balls for England and had four consecutive T20 World Cup victories.
Jos Buttler scored a sensational first international T20 ton on a slow surface in Sharjah as England beat Sri Lanka by 26 runs to secure a place in the World Cup semi-finals.
Buttler completed a 67-ball century with last-ball six to propel England to 163-4 from their 20 overs, after Eoin Morgan’s team, which hit first for the first time in the tournament, stuttered to 36-3 in the powerplay and 47-3 of 10 overs having been inserted by Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka.
Buttler and Morgan (40 of 36) shared a fourth-field partnership of 112 on 78 balls, with England racking up 116 runs of their final 60 balls while Buttler backed up his 71 blisters, not out of 31 deliveries against Australia in Dubai on Saturday. evening. with another star performance.
The 31-year-old, who scored six sixes and four fours, reached fifty-of-45 balls but only took another 22 to pass three figures for the second time in all of T20 cricket, having scored a single century in the format. of Rajasthan Royals. in the Indian Premier League earlier this year.
Sri Lanka looked cooked at 76-5 in the 11th final of the run chase, only to Wanindu Hasaranga (34 of 21), so impressive on the ball earlier as he led 3-21 with his leg-spin, and Captain Shanaka (26) to put 53 out of 36 deliveries for the sixth gate to reduce the requirement to 35 out of 20.
That position was broken at 17 when Jason Roy and Sam Billings, the latter as runner-up Tymal Mills, who injured his right quad in the middle, completed an excellent relay reception in extra deep coverage to eliminate Hasaranga, before let Shanaka go. brilliantly exhausted by a conscientious Buttler at 17.
Sri Lanka then fell to 137 in total in 19 overs, as England followed their beating of the West Indies, beating of Bangladesh and annihilation of Australia with a fourth consecutive victory.
That should be enough to secure a place in the semi-finals with their net run rate so healthy, but it will be guaranteed if they defeat South Africa in their fifth and final group match, also in Sharjah, on Saturday night.
However, England may have sealed a final spot by then, if South Africa loses to Bangladesh on Tuesday or if Australia takes off against Bangladesh on Thursday or the West Indies in Saturday’s early game.
Sri Lanka took off against England, their semi-final hopes are now ended after a third loss in four, which will frustrate coach Mickey Arthur as his team started so strongly on the ball before altering their bowling plans and being Buttlered.
Roy (9) and Jonny Bairstow (0) were knocked out by Hasaranga – Roy pitched on the sweep and Bairstow lbw in review for a golden duck after advancing and missing a googly – while Malan was thrown by godfather Dushmantha Chameera, a ball after being dropped by wicketkeeper Kusal Perera.
Leg spinner Hasaranga and off spinner Maheesh Theekshana (0-15) held England down in the first half of innings, but Morgan’s charges set the pace for bowling in the second half, with the 15th run of 22 runs. Lahiru Kumara with two highs for Buttler. and one for Morgan, whose entry was the highest in T20I cricket since August 2020.
Buttler made sure Shanaka’s 18 over went to 19 as he hit six in a row on the side of the leg and then cut a four from his pads, but it was the twentieth over that was most memorable, with Buttler slumped in the depths of the ball. leg side at 93 by Pathum Nissanka before dragging Chameera’s final ball full pitch over the square leg to bring in a sublime century.
Buttler became the fourth male player from England to achieve a T20I century, after the now-abandoned Alex Hales and his current teammates Malan and Liam Livingstone, and the first to reach a hundred in all three forms of international cricket.
Morgan, meanwhile, was thrown by the excellent Hasaranga on the 19th, a ball after hitting the roulette wheel for six, as the bowler converted the England captain in his 50th T20 international wicket in his 32nd match.
Morgan then completed a milestone of his own, securing his 43rd international T20 victory as captain, breaking the previous record of 42 held by Ashgar Afghan of Afghanistan and MS Dhoni of India.
England got back on power playing grounds – their tally for the tournament is now 13 after they cut Sri Lanka to 40-3 from the first six overs with Nissanka (1) outscored by Morgan and Adil Rashid (2-19 ) with Charith Asalanka (21) and Perera (7) caught with difficulty.
Morgan’s men then took a group of grounds in death, without the services of Mills, to thwart Sri Lanka’s hopes of victory, with exceptional field and cunning field placements from Morgan seeing Shanaka’s side fall from 129-5, losing his last five wickets for eight races.
South Africa vs Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi is the early game on Tuesday (9.30am, Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event) followed by Pakistan vs Namibia later in the day in the same place (1:30 pm, Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event). If Pakistan achieves its fourth consecutive victory in Group 2, it will be in the semifinals of the T20 World Cup for the first time since 2012.
Watch the T20 World Cup live on Sky from now until November 14.
