England Secure Place In World T20 Final

England have safely sealed a place in Sunday’s World T20 Final after they soundly thrashed Sri Lanka by seven wickets, chasing a meagre 128 for 6 with 24 balls to spare.

It was a fine toss to lose by England skipper Paul Collingwood and Sangakarra chose to bat first on a pitch that held some moisture and offered a hint of movement under heavy skies. Sidebottom struck early. Then so did Bresnan. And Broad. And then Swann got Sanga to hole out to Pietersen at long off and Sri Lanka never did recover from 47 for four after nine overs.

Kapugedera and Mathews (58, 45b, 3×4, 1×6) then put on 40-odd runs but the English bowlers never allowed them to grow their rate of scoring. Without wickets in hand the Lankans were unable to put a respectable score together after Kapugedegara departed and no-one gave Mathews any support. Other than Bresnan who took 1/41 (4ov.) no English bowler conceded more than a run a ball. Broad’s 2/21 (4 ov.) earned him man of the match.

The English top order had no problem whatsoever in notching up the requisite 129 for victory. Kieswetter made 39 (29b, 5×5, 2×6), Lumb scored 33 (26b, 4×4, 1×6) and the KP smashed an unbeaten 42 (26b, 3×4, 2×6). It was as easy as that.

England will play either Australia or Pakistan in what promises to be a hotly contested final on a faster pitch in Barbados on Sunday.

Sangakarra

“It was a good toss to win, agood wicket to bat on… 150 would have been a tough target but we didn’t bat well.”

“Angelo was fantastic but we didn’t bat smartly today.”

“England bowled those funny slower deliveries very well today. They executed their game plans very well and they have good depth.”

“Jayasuria stuck with the team but unfortunately he didn’t deliver.”

“I’m very proud of the fact that we made it to the semi-final but we need to convert these good big-tournament efforts into title wins.”

Collingwood

“It was a pressure game and the way we are adapting to pitches is superb. We restricted them and we are delighted.”

“There aren’t too many areas we can improve on but the tricky thing will be to keep the same mentality going into the final.”

“We probably put our best performance (against SA) in Barbados but we’ll have to look at who we are playing against before we can make our game plans.”

Broad

“We talk as a whole unit, the batsmen say what they find difficult on this wicket and then we get together and decide on bowling plans. I decided to bowl slowly and know that I wouldn’t be hit long against the wind.”

“We have such great team confidence at the moment, the lads at the top of the order are fearless and the fact I haven’t had to put on any pads yet is a real bonus!”