Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga carried out their responsibilities in perfect fashion as Sri Lanka stunned England by 20 runs in Leeds on Friday.
No doubt, this defeat of England goes down as the biggest upset in this World Cup so far.
First, former captain Mathews, after a tough time out in the middle, fought his way to remain unbeaten on 85 and help Sri Lanka post a somewhat competitive total of 232 for nine. Thereafter, Malinga brought all his experience and skills into play, showing the pitch wasn’t very easy for batting.
He finished with four wickets, eventually guiding Sri Lanka to a massive win and winning the Man-of-the-Match award.
Sticking to plans helped Sri Lanka in their cause, Malinga said later. “We stuck to the basics and our plans.
“We wanted to make sure we maintained our line and length on this pitch with slower balls and bouncers,” Malinga said at the post-match presentation.
Ben Stokes, who looked to take the game away from Sri Lanka, gave a half chance to mid-wicket on 57 in the penultimate ball of the 45th over, which was bowled by Malinga. Although the fielder couldn’t hold on to it, that didn’t turn out to be a costly miss as Nuwan Pradeep removed last man Mark Wood soon after.
“We know how good a player he (Stokes) is. We’ve seen it in T20 cricket and in the IPL. But we stuck to our plans, ensured that he played more dot balls and put pressure on him in this manner. It paid off,” Malinga explained.
“We have the confidence to influence matches and we have faith in ourselves,” the pacer added.
Mathews, another architect of Sri Lanka’s victory, termed the victory “amazing.”
“It’s been a see-saw kind of a tournament for us, but to beat England is amazing,” he told Sky Sports.
Can Sri Lanka reach the last four? “Absolutely,” Mathews replied.
Happiness and relief were writ large on captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s face. “It was a close game. Sometimes we were under pressure and sometimes we were dominating. At the end of the day, it was teamwork that won us the game. ”