ICC T20: Buttler ton helps England beat Sri Lanka

Jos Buttler smacked an unbeaten century as England downed Sri Lanka by 27 runs at Sharjah International Stadium in a crucial T20 World Cup fixture.

England bowled Sri Lanka out for 137 while defending 164-run target.

England have now won four consecutive matches in the competition and have almost confirmed their place in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are virtually knocked out from this group while Australia and South Africa will fight it out for the second place.

West Indies have also a minimal chance to sneak into the last four but the results of upcoming matches will decide their fortunes.

Buttler makes history

Buttler becomes first England batter to score centuries across formats. His 101* made him star of the show.

The 31-year-old continued his impressive batting form in today’s clash.

He showed patience at the start when the wickets were falling but he ended superbly to hand England a competitive total.

He stroked six fours and as many sixes in his undefeated knock.

The right-hander scored the first 50 runs off 45 balls while the remaining were achieved in just 22.

He is second English batter after Alex Hales to score century in T20 World Cup while he is the first Englishman to hit century in all three formats.

“I think staying patient and keeping my head. I found it really tough early on. I managed to get a really good partnership going with Morgs and we tried to attack the back end,” said Buttler while receiving Player of the Match.

Morgan regains form

England captain paired with Buttler and provided a much-needed stand to England after they were teetering at 35/3 inside powerplay.

Initially, both the batters were finding it tough to hit boundaries but later they attacked and added 112 runs to the total.

Morgan, who has been criticized heavily for his bad form, scored 40 off 36 balls.

The left-handed batter hit three towering sixes and a four.

The 35-year-old hailed his side for showing great fightback in the match.

“I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve done tonight,” the skipper said in the post-game interview.

“I felt the guys had to fight unbelievably hard, particularly with the ball and in the first 10 overs with the bat.”

Hasaranga ‘The Saviour’ for Sri Lanka

Wanindu Hasaranga was the only notable performer for Sri Lanka in both batting bowling departments.

The leg-spinner bagged crucial two wickets in the power play to put England on the back foot and finished with figures of 3/21, becoming the leading wicket-taker (34) in T20Is in 2021.

He saved Sri Lanka in the middle-overs with the bat after the side was 76/5.

He paired with captain Dasun Shanaka and put up a 53-run stand until brilliant fielding at the boundary sent Hasaranga back.

He scored 34 off 21 balls and other batters couldn’t finish the chase after his dismissal.

Adil Rashid impresses once again

Leg-spinner was once again on his toes with the ball.

The 33-year-old dismissed dangerous Charith Asalanka (21) and Kusal Perera (7) inside powerplay.

He finished with figures of 2/19 in four overs.

Mills sustains injury

England received a blow during the 13th over when pacer Tymal Mills started limping ad couldn’t complete the over.

He left the field, holding his right quad and Chris Woakes completed the over by bowling three remaining deliveries.

Part-timer Liam Livingstone completed his spell towards the backend and finished with figures of 1/34.

England 163 for 4 (Buttler 101*, Morgan 40, Hasaranga 3-21) beat Sri Lanka 137 (Hasaranga 34, Moeen 2-15, Rashid 2-19) by 26 runs