Sharjah, Nov 1 (Agency) Jos Buttler became the first male England player to score a century in all three formats of the game as England defeated Sri Lanka by 26 runs to bag their fourth consecutive win. Buttler made unbeaten 101 and powered England to 163 before the bowlers overcame the dew factor to catch Sri Lanka short.
Pathum Nissanka came into the game with 72 against South Africa. In the opening over, Kusal Perera tapped one straight to square leg, called Nissanka for a single only to find his partner well short. Nissanka’s night ended with 1 next to his name while Charith Asalanka fell after a promising 21. At the end of the powerplay, Sri Lanka were 40 for 3 with Adil Rashid bagging two.
England have eight points and are almost through. Even if they lose their final game against South Africa, they have a very healthy net run rate to keep them in safe waters. Both Australia and South Africa can also reach eight points but England seem to have done enough to reach the knockout encounter. Sri Lanka now have lost three and need to win their final match against West Indies to stay in contention. They also need other results to go their way.
Brief scores: England 163/4 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 101*; Wanindu Hasaranga 3-21); Sri Lanka 137 in 19 overs (Wanindu Hasaranga 34; Moeen Ali 2-15).