Sri Lanka find Super Eights a totally different ball game

■Succumb to England by 51 runs

- By Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka, who had a good run-up in the group stages, found to their dismay that playing in the Super Eights of the Men's T20 World Cup was a totally different ball game as England defended their small total of 146-9 to complete a comprehensive 51-run win by bowling the co-hosts out for 95 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Two things that stood out from this match was that Sri Lanka had not learnt their lessons from their 3-0 defeat to England in the bilateral series that preceded the T20 World Cup and played at this very same venue, and Sri Lanka did not read the pitch properly when they were chasing.

The circumstances did not require any big hitting boundaries but a commonsense approach to reach the target of 147. But once the inform Pathum Nissanka fell, followed by Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake the three inform batsmen inside the first four overs, Sri Lanka's innings simply folded like a pack of cards.