Stokes sends England past Sri Lanka into semi-final at expense of Australia

England beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in Sydney to secure the two points they needed to claim a place in the semi-finals, and to knock Australia out of their own tournament, but only after bringing to an apparently straightforward run chase more wobbles than a Weeble collectors’ convention. The winning runs eventually came with just two balls remaining; fortunately, like the popular 1970s toy, England wobbled but they didn’t fall down.

At 70 without loss at the end of the powerplay they had required less than a run a ball and needed only to keep the ball on the floor and augment a string of singles with the occasional boundary. There are not many situations in this format where ambition and aggression are best avoided, but here was one. Instead England got greedy, and Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali were all caught to bring Sri Lanka back into the game.

After Sam Curran followed off the last ball of the 18th over the fielding side gathered in a huddle as their supporters whistled and danced, literally bouncing now with belief. England had lost their first wicket in the 70s, then one in the 80s, the 90s, the 100s, the 110s and the 120s. At which point Chris Woakes joined Ben Stokes, the pair adopted the strategy England should have been using for a while, and sprinted to victory in ones and twos before Woakes finally cut past point for four to win the game.

Conditions will have played a part: this was the sixth World Cup game in Sydney and the first to have been won by the side batting second; early indications were that losing the toss was just the first blow of what would be a difficult evening for the English.

It was carnage off the quicks as Sri Lanka opened their innings with a brutal assault on England’s seamers, starting when the second ball of the innings was dispatched into the stands by Pathum Nissanka, very much the shape of things to come from the 24-year-old. Mark Wood’s first over went for 14, with his first and last deliveries going for six, and after five overs Nissanka had 31 off 15, Sri Lanka were 52 for one, and England were weighing up their chances of chasing 200.

Adil Rashid (centre) celebrates dismissing Pathum Nissanka. The England spinner took 1-16 from his four overs and was named player of the match. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/PA

In both innings the sixth over was to be crucial. In Sri Lanka’s Adil Rashid used it to change the game. His four overs, marked by excellent control and variation of pace, cost just 16 runs and brought his first wicket of the tournament, Nissanka caught by Chris Jordan at long-on – the catcher helping bowler to join level with him on 90 T20i wickets, the most by an Englishman. Rashid was named player of the match.

Curran was also superb, unlucky that his first over cost 13 – after a top-edged pull for four, Nissanka scooped to deep square leg where Harry Brook misjudged it and ran in from the rope, changed his mind, back-pedalled, and finally watched it fly just over his head for six – but rewarded by his final three going for just 14. Wood returned to wreak some havoc against the tail and Sri Lanka scored 61 for six off their last 10 overs, and 25 for five off their last five. There were more boundaries in their first seven overs than in their last 13.

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Sri Lanka might not have made the most of the excellent start their openers gave them but the challenge was for Buttler and Hales to show similar intent anyway, and it was one they accepted, eventually making 28 and 47, respectively. After five overs Sri Lanka had been 52 for one; England were 50 without loss. And then came that crucial sixth over.

It was bowled by Kasun Rajitha, veteran of a dozen T20s at the age of 29 and none in two years until he became one of the bowlers added to Sri Lanka’s squad during the tournament because of injuries, and it cost 20 runs. At the start England’s required run rate was 6.13 and at its end it was 5.14. England needed only to avoid complete collapse, and just about managed it.