The England cricket team’s batting performance against Sri Lanka in the Cricket World Cup 2023 was subpar, and the dismissal of Adil Rashid added to their troubles.
During the match held at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, England’s captain, Jos Buttler, won the toss and chose to bat first. Unfortunately, their innings ended at a mere 156 runs, with Ben Stokes being the standout performer, scoring 43. Most of the England batters struggled to hold their wickets, but Adil Rashid’s dismissal stood out as particularly unusual.
Maheesh Theekshana bowled a wide ball down the leg stump to England’s David Willey. Kusal Mendis, the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper, displayed exceptional awareness by noticing that Adil Rashid, the non-striker, had strayed too far from his crease.
Mendis capitalized on this opportunity by making a brilliant throw to hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end, catching Rashid short of his crease.
England had been expected to return to their aggressive style, but they struggled to achieve a modest total against a confident Sri Lanka. With just two points from four games, the defending champions were under pressure to perform.
The pitch offered spongy bounce, and England’s batsmen had difficulty adjusting, with the exception of Ben Stokes, who made a resilient 43 off 73 balls.
Opener Dawid Malan, who contributed 45 runs with Jonny Bairstow, showed promise. However, a delivery from Angelo Mathews, a replacement for injured pacer Matheesha Pathirana, induced an edge off Malan’s bat, caught by Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.
Despite Malan’s relatively good performance, subsequent batters failed to capitalize on the pitch’s potential for batting, displaying poor cricket skills.
