ICC Champions Trophy 2013: England vs. Sri Lanka

Sangakkara’s century dampened England’s Champions Trophy hopes after Sri Lanka defeated England by 7 wickets at The Oval.

An unbeaten 134 runs by Sangakaara – aided by good innings by Jayawardene, Kulasekera and Dilshan – was enough to see of earlier half-centuries by Cook, Trott and Root.

With the impressive batting performances by both teams, the bowlers suffered with many going for expensive totals.

Ravi Bopara stepped up to the mark with 33* from 13 but alas in vein as England suffered the loss.

Sri Lanka opened up the opportunity to progress if they defeat Australia in the upcoming match.

A great team batting effort by Sri Lanka allowed them to have such a good win despite an England side with good strengths.

Sri Lanka revive their hopes in the tournament, and leave the upcoming games being pivotal.

Excellent batting performance by Sri Lanka that gives them a triumphant victory, and Sangakaara is the influential batsmen with an inspired century.

Stay tuned with TheSportMatrix.com for Champions Trophy Coverage
Image Credits: BBC Sport, GETTY IMAGES

ICC Champions Trophy 2013 – England vs. Australia

England outclassed Australia in a 48-run victory at Edgbaston. With the absence of skipper Michael Clarke, the Aussies were a team depleted and were victim to an onslaught from England. 
 
England won the toss and elected to bat first. The opening duo of Ian Bell and captain Cook scored a partnership of 57 runs before Shane Watson dismissed Cook. Ian Bell was to prove an influential part of their victory laying the foundations for a high score as he fell 9 runs short of a century following a dismissal by James Faulkner. Ravi Bopara came in to stabilize the England innings after wickets started to tumble and scored 46* of 37 balls – an innings that also included England’s only six of the innings. England completed the 50 overs with a score of 269 – 6.

England outclassed Australia and romped to a 48 run win. A very fun game to witness as England fans. #CT13
— The Sport Matrix (@TheSportMatrix) June 8, 2013

Opening for Australia were David Warner and Shane Watson, and Warner fell victim to Stuart Broad – a wicket of which was part of an opening dominating fielding display by England in the first ten overs. The worst part of Australia’s collapse was conceding 4 wickets and only scoring 24 runs to compensate. James Faulkner and George Bailey batted well for their nation scoring 54 and 55 respectively, alas in vain. It was an uneasy day for Mitchell Johnson, who was victim the full force of the chants England’s cricket fans – including members of The Sport Matrix who were present at Edgbaston! Notably, it was a special day for Jimmy Anderson who became England’s leading ODI Wicket taker with 3 -30 in a stellar bowling performance. Australia quickly found themselves falling further and further behind an increasing run rate, and England cruised to a comfortable win.

The match seemed won halfway through Australia’s innings, their pace was simply not good enough. England cruised to a great win which gives them a vital edge in their group and also a psychological advantage come The Ashes next month. 

Thanks for reading this article. Image Credit: BBC Sport, DAWN.com
Stay tuned on TSM for Champions Trophy Coverage

ICC Champions Trophy 2013: Preview Series – England

England are the host team of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Having just completed a one-day series against New Zealand, the Three Lions are set to do battle with Australia at Edgbaston. This article is part of The Sport Matrix’s Champions Trophy preview series where we analyze, predict and look at the combatants’ chances in the tournament.

Star Player: Eoin Morgan
Captain: Alistair Cook
World Cup Place: Quarter-Finals
Final Prediction: 3rd in Group

Squad:
James Anderson
Jonny Bairstow
Ian Bell
Ravi Bopara
Tim Bresnan
Stuart Broad
Jos Buttler
Alastair Cook
Steven Finn
Eoin Morgan
Joe Root
Graeme Swann
James Tredwell
Jonathan Trott
Chris Woakes

England are hosting an ICC tournament for the second time within 4 years after they were the 2009 hosts of the ICC World T20 World Cup. They have just completed and lost a 3-match series to New Zealand 2-1 and will face them again in Group A. They also face off with rivals Australia and TSM’s tournament favourites Sri Lanka in what could be the toughest group of the tournament. They are without Kevin Pietersen who was left out of the squad but they should have enough firepower to do quite well.

Is KP’s omission vital? Can the hosts win on home soil? Find out all this and more during the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 with TSM.