Cometh the hour, cometh Ben Stokes.
The England all-rounder produced his best knock of the tournament so far to guide his team through the stickiest of run chases and into the T20 World Cup semi-finals. There were just two balls spare when Chris Woakes hit the winning boundary that took England to their target of 142, on a night when fours and sixes were at a strict premium.
Stokes himself, usually such a free hitting ball striker only managed two boundaries in his 42 not out which reflected both the pressure and the difficulty timing the ball on a used pitch. He won’t care though, all that mattered was getting the two points that sends them to Adelaide for a semi-final on Thursday, most likely against India.
With so much at stake for England, it was perhaps no surprise that the closer they got to the finish line, the harder it got. And with wickets falling at the other end, Stokes took on the responsibility, as he so often does, of getting the job done.
At 70-0 after just seven overs of the chase, England might have expected or hoped to get over the line more straightforwardly, but Sri Lanka fought tooth and nail to the very end and almost pulled of a stunning heist of their own that would have delighted the Australians.
Instead, the Aussies are out of their home tournament as reigning champions at the group stage, while England go marching on. Sri Lanka decided to fight fire with fire from the start and for a time it worked to brilliant effect.
Pathun Nissanka hit the second ball of the game over the short leg side boundary on one side off Stokes and didn’t look back. Mark Wood got the same treatment from Kusal Mendis with his first over costing 17 as the Lankan flag was being waved with great gusto all around the SCG.
After just seven overs the Lankans had sped to 65-1 with only Adil Rashid offering any control with two runs from his one over in the powerplay. It was a sign of things to come from the leg spinner, who was still yet to take a wicket in the tournament, but who had been tidy enough.
Here his overs put a choke hold on Sri Lanka who ground to halt and failed to hit a single boundary between the 7th and 12th overs, while also losing two wickets to Sam Curran and Stokes. Nissanka was finally given some support from Bhanuka Rajapaksa with a partnership of 32 that briefly threatened to put the Lankans back on course for a significant total.
And when Dawid Malan pulled up lame with a groin strain on the mid wicket boundary, there was a sense that maybe, just maybe the tide was turning back Sri Lanka’s way. But in fact the Malan injury worked out for England as it brought the safest hands in cricket onto the field and almost immediately Chris Jordan made an impact in catching Nissanka at long on for 67.
It broke Rashid’s tournament duck and also drew him level on 90 with England’s record T20 wicket taker, a certain C Jordan. With 27 balls left there was still time for Sri Lanka to post a competitive score that would give their spinners something to play with, but instead of firing up the afterburners they blew a gasket and scored just 25-5 from the final five overs.
“We came back really strong in the Sri Lankan innings,” said Rashid. “This pitch is a bit slower than the others around Australia so I knew I would have plenty to do, but we bowled exceptionally well as a team.
“I feel ok, I feel the same and I’m developing my skills in nests. I know there haven’t been as many wickets but I’m not really too fussed in that sense as long as I’m out there giving my all for the team.”
With an under par target to chase down, Buttler and Hales could afford to take a look without being reckless and that is what they did for all of one over. Two boundaries from the second over off Hales’ bat set them on their way and they simply got faster and faster, eclipsing Sri Lanka’s powerplay with 70 from their own.
But when Buttler was well caught at deep midwicket for 28, England immediately started to struggle in the face of the Lankan spin threat. Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali all came and went for low scores as England spluttered in adding 39-5 from eight overs.
It made for a nervy finish to the game, but as long as Stokes was there, England fans needn’t have worried.
