Harry Brook’s side ignited England’s T20 World Cup campaign with a superb bowling performance, defeating co-hosts Sri Lanka by 51 runs in their opening match of the Super 8 stage.
England remained inconsistent with the bat.
Scoring 146-9, their bowlers took full advantage of the difficult surface to bowl out the hosts for 95 runs.
Jofra Archer dismissed key batsman Pathum Nissanka and fellow opener Kamil Mishra, but even more impressive were all-rounder Will Jacks’ three wickets inside the powerplay.
Jaques, who has struggled with the ball at times in this tournament, dismissed Kusal Mendis and Pawan Rathnayake in successive balls and included Dunith Velez as Sri Lanka crumbled to 34-5 under pressure to chase the target.
After Kamindu Mendis had Liam Dawson caught back and Dushan Hemantha bowled at his own wicket, Jack combined with Tom Banton to complete a fine relay catch at the boundary to dismiss Sri Lankan captain and last recognised batsman Dasun Shanaka for 30.
England’s batting is still far from ideal; this has been postponed for another day. Jos Buttler scored seven runs in 14 balls, Jacob Bethel fell in a tremendous slog and Tom Banton himself was run out.
Phil Salt’s 62 and Jack’s 21, the next highest score in an excellent all-round performance, were crucial.
England will play Pakistan on Tuesday and New Zealand on Friday in their remaining Super 8 matches.
Two wins will ensure a place in the semi-finals. One may be enough.
