The team led by Jos Buttler entered the match on Saturday knowing that a win would advance them to the round of 16, while a loss would allow the hosts and defending champions Australia to advance instead.
After Alex Hales (45 off 27) and Jos Buttler (28 off 23) broke the back of the chase with an opening partnership of 75 off 45 balls, England completed their target of 142 with two balls remaining on a dry, used pitch.
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England finished second in Group 1 behind New Zealand on net run rate because to Ben Stokes’ (42 off 36) and Chris Woakes’ (5 off 36) leadership. On Thursday in Adelaide, they will play the group winners of Group 2 in a semi-final.
With 13 runs needed off of 12 balls after Sam Curran was caught at deep fine leg with the penultimate delivery of the 18th over, Woakes, his substitute, went on to hit the game-winning four through the off-side.
Ben Stokes provided the team with the decisive bat hand. While Rohit Sharma’s team will likely face England in the semifinals if they defeat Zimbabwe at the MCG on Sunday, Buttler’s team might possibly face South Africa, Bangladesh, or Pakistan.
Australia required a victory against Sri Lanka to advance; the latter outcome was never in question, but the former appeared doable at times, starting with Sri Lanka’s impressive start to their innings, which included two sixes from Wood that bookended a 17-run third over.
While Rashid’s fellow bowlers helped to contain Sri Lanka, notably Wood as the England fast recovered from his costly first over of the game, Nissanka struggled to get assistance from his teammates as the innings went on.
Wood was involved in three wickets in the final over, including the catches of Bhanuka Rajapaksa (22 off 22), Chamika Karunaratne (0), and Wanindu Hasaranga (9) who was run out with a dive as the batter attempted to steal a bye. Wood had the Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka (3) caught behind in the 18th over.