The final nail was hammered in Australia’s World Cup title defence at the SCG on Saturday night when England accounted for Sri Lanka in a nail-biting clash to advance to the semi-finals ahead of the host nation.
England needed to beat Sri Lanka to leapfrog Australia on net run rate to join New Zealand in advancing past the Super 12 stage and they overcame a few anxious moments to snare a four-wicket victory after being set a modest target of 142.
Australia edged out Afghanistan in their final group game in Adelaide on Friday night but ultimately paid the price for their 89-run drubbing at the hands of the Black Caps in their opening match.
South Africa and India are likely to join New Zealand and England in the semis as long as they account for the Netherlands and Zimbabwe respectively on Sunday to keep Pakistan, who play Bangladesh, at bay.
Jos Buttler and opening partner Alex Hales got England’s run-chase off to a superb start with a 75-run partnership inside the opening eight overs before the skipper departed for 28 off 23.
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Hales was dismissed for 47 off 30 and Harry Brook (four) followed soon after. And when Liam Livingstone (four), Moeen Ali (one) and Sam Curran (six) went cheaply, England needed 13 off the last two overs.
Ben Stokes (42 from 36) and Chris Woakes produced enough run-scoring strokes to sneak home with just two balls to spare.
Alex Hales. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
The match started with Australia’s team sitting back in Adelaide needing a Sri Lanka victory, Pathum Nissanka hit 67 off 45 but had little support in his team’s 8-141.
The opener made his intent clear in a big start to the powerplay, hitting Stokes for six over backward square leg from the second ball of the match.
He struck five sixes, regularly clipping the ball off middle and leg stump into the crowd and playing a fine uppercut for six off Mark Wood.
But when he was caught trying to take on Adil Rashid, Sri Lanka struggled to find any momentum as they lost 5-25 in the final five overs.
England became the first team to win chasing at the SCG this tournament. The pitch offered plenty of assistance to the spinners after being used for the third match in eight days.
That was evident in Sri Lanka’s innings, as England’s three spinners went for 1-37 off their seven overs with Rashid claiming 1-16 from his four-over spell.
Australia’s exit means skipper Aaron Finch may have played his last match at international level but teammate Glenn Maxwell said the opener’s decision to not play against Afghanistan because of fears about his hamstring showed his commitment to the team-first mentality.
“He would have loved to have been out there with us. He was awesome around the group … supported us as hard as we could,” teammate Maxwell said.
“That’s typical Aaron. He will never put his personal interests in front of everyone else’s, he will never look for the limelight of ‘this show is about me’ or anything.
“For him to say that he was still feeling it a little bit must have been a big decision for him, especially in a must-win game where he’s coming off a bit of form.
“He was hitting the ball really well and that must have been a really hard decision for him but credit to him, he didn’t want to hinder in the field in any way.”
New Zealand will play the runner-up from Group Two, likely to be the Proteas on Wednesday at the SCG, with England set to take on India in Adelaide on Thursday for the right to play in the final next Sunday in Melbourne.
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