World Cup: Sri Lankan bowlers slice through England’s batting, restrict defending champions to 156

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 26 (ANI): Lahiru Kumara and Angelo Mathews bowled fiery spells to slice through England’s strong batting lineup as Sri Lanka bundled out the defending champions for a paltry 156 in the World Cup match here on Thursday.

Ben Stokes scored the highest for England at 43 off 73 deliveries. Jonny Bairstow contributed 30 while other batters faltered against Sri Lanka’s bowling attack. Lahiru Kumara bagged three wickets for Sri Lanka while veteran Angelo Mathews scalped two wickets conceding just 14 runs.

Opting to bat first, England openers Dawid Malan and Bairstow gave their team a solid start as the duo gathered 44 runs in under six overs. Angelo Mathews drew the first blood as he removed Malan for 28 runs in the seventh over of the game.

Kasun Rajitha gave England a massive blow as he dismissed well-set batter Bairstow for 30. The defending champions kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

England batters tried a more conventional approach but that too was not enough to fend off Sri Lanka bowling.

Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes tried to keep the scoreboard ticking through singles and occasional boundary.

Mathews bagged his second wicket of the match as he scalped Moeen Ali in the 25th over of the game. Stokes slammed a few boundaries to ease pressure from his team. With Stokes leaving in the 31st over, England’s hope of putting up a big total suffered a setback.

Maheesh Theekshana made quick work of the defending champions’ lower order, taking the wicket of Mark Wood to bowl England out for 156.

Brief score: England 156 (Ben Stokes 43, Jonny Bairstow 30; Lahiru Kumara 3-35) vs Sri Lanka.