Another exciting game, another win and England are in the semifinals of the World Twenty20.
If women defeat Pakistan Sunday so I'm determined to join them in the semi-finals. The strong probability is that both teams will be in Delhi on Wednesday, playing New Zealand and Australia respectively, an unprecedented opportunity for English cricket.
The Saturday night team Eoin Morgan defeated Sri Lanka by 10 runs in a rousing climax. Jos Buttler quickfire 66, allied with some lively off-cricket, gave England the edge despite a wonderfully defiant innings from captain of Sri Lanka, Angelo Mathews, who was limping at the end after cracking an unbeaten 73. In a point of Sri Lanka had dropped to 15 for four in their search for 172 but Mathews countered so effectively that victory was not certain for England until the final ball of the match.
Morgan was understandably happy fuller performance England have managed in the tournament. Until Saturday, have excelled in only one discipline for every game, but here were impressive with bat and ball and in the field.
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"This gives us a great deal of confidence," said the captain. "In our three victories that we had to show an immense amount of character, Chase 230 against South Africans; then, against the Afghanistan we put soon your back against the wall and had to fight hard. Today was completely different in the way that we were ahead of the game by having them four down soon. Then Angel [Mathews] li came back into play. So he asked several questions of us. They were right in the game until the end so over Last of Ben Stokes was crucial as it gets. "
Since then Sri Lanka needed 14 runs to tie the game, so there was still a lot that could go wrong. "But he made against Australia before – Stokesy last year and a couple of time. The character showed today was brilliant, "said a grateful captain.
There have been many highlights over the contributions of Buttler and Stokes: a brilliant innings from Jason Roy, a brilliant diving catch from Joe Root, early wickets to David Willey and some well-timed New Yorkers by Chris Jordan on a day when England's pacemen overshadowed the spinners, who were ruthlessly attacked by Mathews.
"This was a significant improvement on the game in Afghanistan," said Morgan. "It's nice to see us build from strength to strength." If this improvement is sufficient to proceed to the final revealed will on Wednesday. At least England will be familiar with the conditions today, which should be an advantage. The semifinal will be their third consecutive game here.
No doubt Morgan will be on hand to provide some practical suggestions to Charlotte Edwards and his team if necessary.
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