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The match between Sri Lanka and England was expected to be a one-sided contest. While England were the pre-tournament favorites, Sri Lanka were not given much chance to cause an impact on the 2019 World Cup. The Island nation came up with an inspired performance to register a 20-run victory over the hosts.
England has one of the best batting line ups in the tournament, so they were not expected to break a sweat while chasing the target of 233. Lasith Malinga removed both openers early to give some hope to his team. The hosts did not give up as Joe Root stabilized the innings with his captain Eoin Morgan, who was caught and bowled by Isuru Udana.
Joe Root and Ben Stokes built a good partnership but Malinga got the crucial wickets of Root and Buttler in quick succession to put pressure on England. Ben Stokes was anchoring the chase but he kept losing partners on the other end. Dhananjaya de Silva picked three wickets quickly to put the hosts under pressure. Stokes tried his best but the Sri Lankans held their nerve to cause one of the biggest upsets of this edition of the World Cup.
Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch which looked to be on the slower side. The move backfired as the Sri Lankans lost both their in-form openers early in the innings. Avishka Fernando launched a counter-attack as he scored 46 off 39 balls to bring his team back in the game.
Kusal Mendis built a good partnership with Angelo Mathews - however, England kept the pressure on by chipping in with wickets at regular intervals. Despite not getting much support from the other end, Angelo Mathews looked like a man on a mission. Mathews used all his experience as he remained unbeaten, helping his team post a competitive team in the process.
Lasith Malinga proved yet again that there is no substitute for experience, as he took four wickets to give Sri Lanka much-needed self-belief by dismissing both the openers. When England seemed to be running away with the game in the middle overs, he came back to dismiss Root and Buttler to put England under pressure.
Here's how Twitter reacted to Sri Lanka's fascinating comeback:
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