Fernando holds his nerve to seal a thriller
Sri Lanka's slick professionalism in the field, and Dilhara Fernando's composure in the final over, earned them a nail biting win over England in Antigua
Sri Lanka's slick professionalism in the field, and Dilhara Fernando's composure in the final over, earned them a nail biting win over England in Antigua
Well, this has been excellent stuff from Sri Lanka, holding their nerve, bowling well and that's a great match and they deserve the win. Good batting from Nixon and Bopara, sneaking up on the outside and taking England close, but with no cigar. There will be some consolation, though, as the defeat is so narrow, it won't have much of a detrimental effect on their net run rate if it comes down to it.
This is the kind of match the tournament's been crying out for and, after Sri Lanka are involved in another close finish, here's Fernando: "A fantastic game, I think I did well today. I think the boys are playing really well." He explains that Jayawardene told him to bowl in the block hole, no slower balls, and his advice paid off.
Thanks for joining us today, hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have, and that's halfway through the Super Eight stage now. The next World Cup match is this Saturday, when Bangladesh take on South Africa, so do join us then.
RS Bopara b Fernando 52 (85m 53b 4x4 0x6) SR: 98.11
Fernando pulls out of that delivery! It just didn't seem to come out of his hand, at all, he got right through the action. Take two...
The batsmen having a bit of word now, as you would. So tense now
A big thank you to Jayasuriya and Muralitharan
Sri Lanka's two-run win was the third-closest margin of victory in World Cup matches
Andrew Miller singles out the best moments of the day
Match home for the England v Sri Lanka, Super Eights, Antigua
Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene isn't sure how many more tight finishes he can take at the World Cup
| Super Eights | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| AUS | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 2.4 |
| SL | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 1.483 |
| NZ | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 0.253 |
| SA | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0.313 |
| ENG | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -0.394 |
| WI | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | -0.566 |
| BAN | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -1.514 |
| IRE | 7 | 1 | 6 | 2 | -1.73 |
| Group A | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| AUS | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3.433 |
| SA | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2.403 |
| NED | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2.527 |
| SCOT | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3.793 |
| Group B | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| SL | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3.493 |
| BAN | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -1.523 |
| IND | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1.206 |
| BER | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -4.345 |
| Group C | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| NZ | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2.138 |
| ENG | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.418 |
| KENYA | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1.194 |
| CAN | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.389 |
| Group D | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| WI | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0.764 |
| IRE | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -0.092 |
| PAK | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.089 |
| ZIM | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -0.886 |