Veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga rolled back the years to produce a scintillating display of fast bowling to help his team upset favourites England by 20 runs, at Headingley, Leeds, on Friday.
The 35-year-old took 4/43 off his 10 overs, including the wicket of opener Jonny Bairstow (0) off the second ball of the England innings.
Though all-rounder Ben Stokes threatened to run away with the game with some lusty hits in a well-made 82*, pacer Nuwan Pradeep dismissed last-man Mark Wood off the last ball of the 47th over to spark off celebrations in the Lankan camp.
Electing to bat, Sri Lanka managed a modest 232/9, riding on an unbeaten 115-ball 85 by Angelo Mathews.
The 1996 champions then returned to dismiss England for 212 in 47 overs to register only their second win in this World Cup.
Malinga was the star for Sri Lanka as he dismissed the top three—Bairstow, James Vince (14) and Joe Root (57)—also accounted for dangerman Jos Buttler (10).
Off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva (3/32) then moped up the tail with a quick three-wicket burst.
After Root’s 89-ball 57, Stokes kept England in the hunt but he ran out of partners.
The win took Sri Lanka to fifth spot with six points from six matches, while England remained in third spot with eight points from six games.
Earlier, Mathews added 71 and 57 runs with Kusal Mendis (46) and Dhananjaya de Silva (29) for the fourth and sixth wickets, respectively, as Sri Lanka recovered from three for 2.
Playing his first World Cup game, Avishka Fernando, too, contributed with a 39-ball 49.
Chasing the total, England could not recover from the twin strike by Malinga and could score only 38 for two in the powerplay.
Root and Eoin Morgan (21) added 47 runs for the third wicket before Isuru Udana (2/41) produced a stunning caught-and-bowled effort to remove the skipper as England slipped to 73 for 3 in 18.4 overs.
Root completed his fifty off 78 balls and soon new man Stokes brought up the team hundred with a boundary off Pradeep.
Malinga then brought Sri Lanka back in the match when he had Root caught behind off a ball drifting down the leg side.
De Silva then had Moeen Ali holed out to long-off, while Chris Woakes’s thin edge was caught by the keeper and another edge sent Adil Rashid back to the hut as England slipped to 178 for 8.
