England march into semi-finals as Australia eliminated

England advanced to the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a tense four-wicket win over Sri Lanka, ending the title defence of defending champions Australia. Ben Stokes hit a gutsy unbeaten 42.

England needed to win to advance from Group 1 alongside already-qualified New Zealand, and they did so with two balls to spare in a nail-biting finish.

Sri Lanka appeared to be on track for a big total after reaching 80-2 after 10 overs, but the aggressive Pathum Nissanka was out for 67 and they collapsed to 141-8, with Mark Wood taking 3-26.

England raced to 75 without a loss in response and appeared to be on track for an easy win. However, under pressure from the Sri Lankan spin attack, they collapsed to 111-5, and the game went down to the wire.

The win was insufficient to dethrone New Zealand at the top of the table, with England settling for second place. On Sunday, the fate of Group 1 will be decided.

Australia’s stuttering tournament came to an end with Sri Lanka’s defeat, as their title defence never recovered after losing heavily to New Zealand on the opening day and then having to share the points with England due to rain.