World Cup: Sri Lankan bowlers defend modest target against England to win by 20 runs
Malinga, Mathews keep Sri Lanka's World Cup semifinal hopes alive
Leeds, Jun 21: Angelo Mathews hit a patient fifty before veteran pacer Lasith Malinga returned with a sensational four-wicket haul as Sri Lanka stunned hosts England by 20 runs in a low-scoring thriller to keep their World Cup semifinal hopes alive, here Friday.
Electing to bat, Sri Lanka managed a modest 232 for nine, riding on an unbeaten 115-ball 85 by 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 (4/43) emerged as the star for Sri Lanka as he dismissed the top three -- James Vince (14), Jonny Bairstow (0) and Joe Root (57) and also accounted for Jos Buttler (10).
Off-spinner Dhananjaya de Silva (3/32) then mopped up the tail with a quick three-wicket burst.
After Root's 89-ball fifty, Ben Stokes kept England in the hunt with a 89-ball 82 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' thin edge was caught by the keeper and another edge sent Adil Rashid back to the hut as England slipped to 178 for 8.
Earlier, Sri Lanka lost Dimuth Karunaratne (1) and Kusal Perera (2) in three balls to be reduced to three for 2.
Fernando then blasted six fours and two sixes, sharing some valuable runs with Mendis. But an upper cut gone wrong saw Sri Lanka lose Fernando and slip to 62 for three.
Leg-spinner Rashid struck twice on successive balls, removing Kusal Mendis and new man Jeevan Mendis (0), as Sri Lanka slumped to 133 for five in the 30th over.
Mathews and Dhananjaya then took the team close to the 200-mark.
Once Dhananjaya was removed by Archer in the 44th over, it was a lonely battle for Mathews.
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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
