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Welcome to live coverage of England vs Sri Lanka at the SCG.
Jos Buttler’s men have been forced to chase for a place in the T20 World Cup semi-finals after Sri Lanka’s skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and elected to bat.
Sri Lanka started brilliantly, sitting 52-1 after five overs with Pathum Nissanka on 31, having slugged three sixes.
They began to slow from there, Nissanka reaching his half-century with his side at 89-3 after 12 overs, celebrating by hammering Ben Stokes for six.
Making matter worse for the English, Dawid Malan appeared to tweak his groin while fielding in the 14th over, forcing him off the ground.
Sub fielder Chris Jordan caught Nissanka on a skied hit for 67 off 45 in the 15th over.
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The equation is simple for England: win, and qualify for the semi-finals.
Lose, and England will be knocked out, with their Group 1 rivals Australia to progress instead following their four-run win over Afghanistan on Friday night.
The question is whether England can handle the pressure?
After defeats to Australia and New Zealand, Sri Lanka can’t qualify for the finals but they can still make a statement on the world stage by delivering a knockout punch to Sri Lanka.
“Hopefully the results are in favour of us,” batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa said.
“We have come here to justify our presence, we just want to play good cricket.”
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Some believe the SCG wicket could favour Sri Lanka, with the pitch twice being used throughout the week.
It will have their gun spinners Wanindu Hasaranga and Makheesh Theekshana licking their lips.
But England, too, have some useful spinners with Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone spin options.
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Speaking ahead of Friday night’s fixtures, which also saw New Zealand seal their place in the semi-finals with victory over Ireland, opening batter Alex Hales said England were confident of winning regardless of Net Run-Rates.
“I think (playing last) does play to our advantage. See what happens (Friday) and we can adapt to whatever tomorrow requires,” Hales said.
“We are pretty confident that whatever we need to do, we have the skills and firepower to do it.
“It all come naturally to us, especially with the layout of our squad playing an extra batter.
“The middle order is so strong. Guys who can strike quite easily at 200 strike-rate.”
England XI: Alex Hales, Jos Buttler (c) (wk), Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Chamika Karunaratne, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
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