World Cup 2019: We stuck to our plans and it paid off, says Malinga

Malinga returned with magical figures of 4/43 in 10 overs. He became only the 4th bowler to claim 50 wickets in World Cup

Pacer Lasith Malinga was the star of the show as Sri Lanka fashioned a stunning 20-run win over hosts and tournament favourites England at the 2019 ICC World Cup. In his 10 overs, Malinga took four wickets for 43 runs. England were chasing 233 and it was all-rounder Ben Stokes who kept them going as Sri Lanka chipped away at their lower order. They were 188/9, needing 46 to win off 31 balls when Stokes was dropped at deep midwicket. "We know how good a player he is, we've seen it in T20 cricket and in the IPL," said Malinga in the post-match presentation. “But we kept sticking to our plans, ensured that he played away dots and put pressure on him. It paid off,” he said. Stokes was unbeaten on 82 off 89 as Sri Lanka dismissed England's last man Mark Wood.

The top @Dream11 fantasy performers from #ENGvSL

1️⃣ Lasith Malinga 55.5 pts 2️⃣ Ben Stokes 54.5 3️⃣ Dhananjaya de Silva 54 4️⃣ Angelo Mathews 50 5️⃣ Jofra Archer 43.5 Head to https://t.co/wJVOV3WUqX to take part. #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/pmjznx9qr9 — ICC (@ICC) June 22, 2019

“Our plan was to stick to line and length on this pitch with the slower ones and bouncers. We have the confidence to influence matches and have faith in ourselves,” said Malinga.