ICC World Cup 2023, SL vs ENG: Mathews, Kumara shine as England bowled for 156

England needed a return to their aggressive ways but they produced a cagey batting effort to get bowled out for a modest 156 against a confident Sri Lanka in their World Cup match here on ThursdayHaving logged just two points from four games England were expected to show some urgency but the defending champions struggled massively on a pitch that offered spongy bounce after batting by choiceAlso Read ICC World Cup 2023 SL vs ENG Sri Lanka tighten grip as England fall apartBut more than the surface or the enterprising Sri Lankan bowlers the English batsmen battled inner demons save Ben Stokes who made a gritty 43 off 73 balls Opener Dawid Malan who milked 45 runs with Jonny Bairstow could be excused thoughAngelo Mathews an injury replacement for pacer Matheesha Pathirana put him in two minds with a delivery that bounced from the length just enough to take an edge off his bat to Kusal Mendis behind the stumpsHowever Malan during his 25ball 28 showed that the pitch is not a hard one to bat on while essaying some gorgeous drives through the offsideUnfortunately the route was not taken by several subsequent batters and they were also culpable of playing some really poor cricketJoe Root got run out while taking off for a nonexisting single captain Jos Buttler made an expansive drive outside the offstump off Lahiru Kumara to get caught behind and Bairstow never timed the pull off Kasun Rajitha to find Dhananjaya de Silva at midonLiam Livingstone played the wrong line off Kumara to get trapped legbefore Moeen Ali went for a cut off Mathews when there was no width on offer and Kusal Perera snaffled the simple offering at pointThese batsmen were expected to lead Englands batting charge in a mustwin match and they failed to respond to the situationStokes did try on his own He had the assistance of fortune as well when Sadeera Samarawickrama floored a tough chance at point off Kumara when the allrounder was on 12 England were 86 for 5 thenThe lefthander played some archetypal powerpacked shots through either side but the day was not made for a oneman show that Stokes is known to produceHis dismissal caught by substitute Dushan Hemantha at deep of Kumara effectively ended Englands chances of posting a challenging total despite them having an extralong batting lineupAdil Rashids comical run out while backing up too far could be taken as a symbol of Englands drudges with the bat on the dayBut the inept batting display of England should not rob the Lankan bowlers of the just creditKumara 3 for 35 has the tendency to be all over the place but when he hits his lengths correctly the rightarm pacer is a different beast who can also crank up some serious speed to hustle the battersAnd hustled England were indeed on the day They will hope for some more spunk from their bowlers to conjure an unlikely win and remain in the semifinals raceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever