Eng 65-2 in 10.1 overs.
Advertisement
The powerplay total was 38 for one and by the halfway point that had crept to 65 without further loss. He is Sri Lanka’s third highest wicket-taker in the format. England have 88 in 13 overs.
Roy opened the boundary account with a reverse sweep off the veteran and Root quickly pocketed three neatly placed fours of his own.
Mathews: ‘We’ll bowl first. Sri Lanka captain explained.
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews chose to bowl first after winning the toss given the conditions at Delhi under the lights against England led by Eoin Morgan in the Super Ten Group 1 match of ICC WT20 2016 in India.
Pitch and conditions: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi the pitch has proved to be more low and helpful to spinners.
But the Yorkshire batsman insists England are capable of rising to the challenge.
“There is always pressure to perform. Between Trevor Bayliss and myself we know a fair bit about them and their players, but our focus will be on us and what we need to do and how we need to win the game”, he stressed. They added 74 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.
“Being from England, you’ve got to work it out pretty quick and be quite smart”, said Root. “We have qualified for the World Cup and played some good cricket”, Inzamam said. “It’s all about getting over the line”. Any top modern-day batsman, may it be Steven Smith, Joe Root or Virat Kohli, are all excellent at taking singles and doubles early on in the innings before they accelerate.
But he made just 12 against Afghanistan, part of a string of failures by the top-order who had a to rely on a cameo from Moeen Ali Root to save their blushes.
“We chased down 230 a game ago”.
“We were very disappointed with the way that we batted”. I would, however, gladly take a couple of wickets hit, which makes the gamble worth it. They do however play the West Indies on Sunday and may still have a say on who ends up in the semi-finals.
Sri Lanka have been in the doldrums nearly from the word go and are need help from other results in the unlikely event of a win here on the morrow. A team firmly in the transition phase, the defending champions were further rocked by the injury to pace spearhead, Lasith Malinga. It is nearly a must win game for the Sri Lanka and England will also be looking to win to become 3rd team to qualify for the semifinal after new Zealand and west indies. “When we get out we are really clear on how the pitch is going to play”. “If those bowlers do their best we have a good chance”.
Advertisement
If England wants to win against Sri Lanka, then they will have to raise the level of their game.
