Watch: Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka launched a 95mph Mark Wood bouncer over deep third’s head for six in a blazing start to their Super 12 Group 1 T20 World Cup game against England in Sydney.
Nissanka has a career strike rate of 114, and has scored at 109 in this World Cup, but he came out all guns blazing against England’s new-ball bowlers. Supported well by his partner Kusal Mendis – who hit Mark Wood’s first ball for six – Nissanka bravely took on the searing pace that crossed the 90 mph barrier five out of six times in the over.
The last ball of Wood’s over was a 95 mph bouncer, but Nissanka coolly stood on his toes to uppercut it over a jumping Liam Livingstone at deep third, past the fence, for a 74-metre strike.
Had fallen down and rolled over in his follow-through in the previous over, Wood had looked in a bit of discomfort earlier. He jogged out of the field as soon as the over ended, possibly for some treatment. The over yielded 17 runs.
They ended up having a fruitful powerplay, the score reading 54-1 after the first six overs. Nissanka reached his half-century off 33 balls, ending on 67 off 45. However, Sri Lanka added only 87 in the last 14 overs to finish on 141-8. Wood took three wickets in the final over, and returned 3-26.
You can follow the live scorecard of the game here.
Watch the Nissanka strike here [from 0:25]:
Bet365 will be Live Streaming all of the T20 World Cup matches direct to your iPhone, iPad or Android device, as well as desktop. This means that every T20 World Cup fixture will be available to bet365 customers wherever they are in the world.
