Bengaluru: Sri Lankan bowlers shocked defending champions England here on Thursday as they skittled out the opposition for 156 and registered an eight-wicket victory. Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama starred with the bat by smashing fifties and taking his side to an eight-wicket win. Nissanka played a knock of unbeaten 77 runs. while his batting partners scored an unbeaten 65 runs. David Willey picked a couple of wickets but none of the other bowlers were able to take wickets during their spell.
Earlier in the day, Jos Buttler opted to bat first after winning the toss, but the batters failed to justify his decision losing their wickets at regular intervals.
Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan opened the innings for England and added 45 runs for the opening wicket. Malan was dismissed by Angelo Matthews on a score of 28 and it led to an innings collapse. With some more wickets in quick succession, half of the English side were back in the pavilion for a total of 85, but Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes showed some resilience scripting a 37-run stand for the sixth wicket. However, wickets tumbled continuously after their partnership was over and England was wrapped up on a meagre total.
Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets while Kasun Rajitha and Angelo Matthews picked a couple of wickets each to produce a stellar bowling performance.
Also read: World Cup 2023 | ENG vs SL: Head-to-head record, interesting facts, pitch report, weather forecast
