On Sunday, Sri Lanka played England for their opening match of the Super 8 of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Sri Lanka, the co-hosts of the tournament, showed first-class cricket in the group stages and were the favorites to beat England today as well.
Sri Lanka was the frontrunner to win the match
At Balagolla, England’s batting order collapsed due to the home side’s bowling attack. Dunith Wellalage’s 3-wicket figure and Maheesh Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka’s brace restricted England to 146 runs each in return for 9 wickets in 20 overs.
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With several Sri Lankan batsmen in top form and the target appearing insufficient to protect, many cricket experts and fans believed that the island nation’s cricket team would easily surpass England.
The momentum changed when England went bowling
Once the second innings of the match got underway, things started to develop in a very different way, proving most of the predictions wrong. Pathum Nissanka, who hit a ton against Australia and is among the top scorers of the tournament, was dismissed cheaply.
Kusal Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Pavan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis and the other stars of the Sri Lankan batting combination come and go, without any significant efforts to save the team.
Captain Dasun Shanaka tried his level best to hold one end of the crease but his knock of 30 runs was not enough against England’s 146. As soon as Shanaka went out, all Sri Lanka’s hopes of winning the match vanished within seconds. The island nation folded for just 95 points and England won by 51 points.
Terrible: Angelo Mathews
Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews couldn’t believe what he saw. Mathews, who now works as a commentator and cricket expert at the tournament, described the moment as ‘horrible’. He slaps the batters for not performing sensibly.
“OMG! No words! Pathetic batting by Sri Lanka. After bowling so well, no batsman wanted to bat sensibly and get Sri Lanka home! “Terrible,” said the former cricketer himself.
OMG! No words! Pathetic batting from Sri Lanka. After bowling so well and no batsman wanted to bat sensibly and get Sri Lanka home! Terrible
— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) February 22, 2026
England all-rounder Will Jacks was named player of the match for his contribution with both bat and ball. With the bat he added an important 21 off 14, and with the ball he dismissed Kusal Mendis, Rathnayake and Wellalage to claim the game.
“We played poorly. All the bowlers on our side bowled well; it’s not that they (England) bowled really well. “We played a few rash shots in critical intervals,” Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka’s captain, said after the match.
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