T20 World Cup 2022: Ben Stokes guides England into semis after batting wobble against Sri Lanka; Australia knocked out 

Ben Stokes scored a composed 42* off 36 balls to guide England into the semi-finals of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

Chasing 142 for victory in the must-win Super 12 match against Sri Lanka in Sydney on Saturday, November 5, England crumbled from 75/0 to 111/5. However, Stokes held his nerve and the England innings together to lead his team to a four-wicket victory, which also knocked the defending champions and hosts Australia out of the World Cup.

The England all-rounder struck only two fours in his innings. Knowing the team could not afford to lose him, with Dawid Malan also struggling with an injury, Stokes placed the ball in the gaps and ran hard between the wickets. Chris Woakes (5*) hit the winning runs off the fourth ball of the last over, cutting a short-and-wide delivery from Lahiru Kumara to the boundary.

Needing 142 to book their place in the semis, England were off to a superb start as Alex Hales and Jos Buttler added 75 for the opening wicket at a rapid pace. Hales was once again the dominant partner in the stand. He tonked Kasun Rajitha for two fours in the second over and then pounded Kumara for consecutive boundaries in his first over.

When Sri Lanka introduced Wanindu Hasaranga in the fifth over, Buttler slammed him for a four and a six as England reached 50/0 after five overs. Hales ripped apart Rajitha in the last over of the powerplay, whacking him for a six and three fours. After a short ball was deposited over midwicket for a maximum, the next two balls were clubbed to long-on and deep midwicket. The third four of the over was hammered past mid-off.

England were 70/0 at the end of the powerplay and had one foot in the semi-final. Sri Lanka, however, fought back commendably to give the English side some nervous moments. The opening partnership was broken when Buttler (28 off 23) lofted Hasaranga to deep midwicket, where Chamika Karunaratne took an excellent diving catch.

Hales (47 off 30) fell just short of a deserving half-century. Attempting a slog-sweep off Hasaranga, he completely mistimed the ball and lobbed a catch to the bowler. Sri Lanka kept chipping away at the wicket as Harry Brook (4) gave a simple return catch to Dhananjaya de Silva. Liam Livingstone (4) also toe-ended a big hit off Kumara to long-on.

From 75/0, England stumbled to 111/5 when a nervous Moeen Ali (1) chipped a simple catch off Dhananjaya to extra cover. Sam Curran also perished for 6, hooking a short ball from Kumara to fine leg.

The dismissal would have raised Australia’s hopes of a backdoor entry into the semis, but Stokes firmly shut the door on them with his defiance under pressure.

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England hold Sri Lanka to 141/8 despite Nissanka’s 67

Batting first after winning the toss, Sri Lanka put up yet another disappointing effort and managed only 141/8. Opener Pathum Nissanka top-scored with 67 off 45, but there was no other innings of note. For England, Mark Wood claimed 3/26, running through the middle and lower order, while Adil Rashid stifled Sri Lanka with figures of 1/16 from his four overs.

Nissanka got Sri Lanka off to a bright start, whipping the second ball from Stokes for a maximum. Kusal Mendis and Nissanka then managed a maximum each off Wood in the third over as Sri Lanka raced away to 32/0. The entertainment, however, did not last long. Mendis fell to Chris Woakes for 18 after pulling a short ball and seeing Livingstone take a good catch running in from deep backward square leg.

Nissanka carried on his terrific hitting form and raced to 41 in 23 balls. However, Dhananjaya perished for 9 at the other end. He holed out to deep midwicket off Curran’s bowling. Charith Asalanka (8) then top-edged a length ball from Stokes that bounced a little extra to point.

It seemed like Nissanka was batting on one pitch and his teammates on another. The opener raced to fifty in 33 balls and then clubbed Stokes for a six to midwicket to complete 1000 T20I runs. His fine innings ended when he was deceived by Rashid and skied a delivery, which was caught in the deep.

Wood's pace proved too good for Dasun Shanaka (3), Bhanuka Rajapaksa (22) and Chamika Karunaratne (0) at the death, while Hasaranga’s poor tournament with the bat continued as he was run out.

Sri Lanka’s innings had no momentum at all after Nissanka’s departure. Had they scored an additional 20 runs, they could have been in with a real chance of ending the tournament with a win. In a sense, though, their up-and-down performance against England encapsulated their entire World Cup campaign.