Sri Lanka thrashed defending champion England with a mammoth eight-wicket win. Initially, while bowling Sri Lankan fast bowler, Lahiru Kumara set the tone for the team with his amazing bowling figures. Lahiru Kumara was also honored as the player of the match for his terrific performance with the ball.
Both teams were in serious need of a victory for keeping their mark in the points table. England started as favorites, but Sri Lanka turned things around and scored two points in their account.
In the 25th match of the ICC World Cup 2023, England came with the bat first on the batting deck of M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. They had a good first step with the bat in the first powerplay, but their middle order could not hold on to that start. England’s prime batter, Joe Root, was unlucky to get run out, and other English batters also threw their willows against the Sri Lankan bowling attack.
They kept on losing wickets, but Ben Stokes stood in the crease for a while, unable to get a partner at the other end. England only managed to score 156.
While chasing a very small total, Sri Lanka lost two early wickets, but two young batters, Pathum Nissanka and Sadeera Samarawickrama, scored half centuries to do the job for their team. At the end, Sri Lanka won the match with eight wickets. Lahiru Kumara was the standout performer with his three important wickets for the team.
In the post-match presentation, Lahiru Kumara expressed their plan for bowling against the English team:
“Playing for a team like England, I am really happy to perform this way today for my team. I didn’t make a lot of changes after the previous match; the Australia game was an off day for myself. I have worked hard on my bowling,” said Lahiru Kumara.
“Having him (Mathews) back is an inspiration; he gave me a lot of support and was talking to me throughout my bowling. The plan was to attack the middle overs with tight bowling, and we were rewarded with wickets,” he added.