Twitter Reactions: England manage to sneak a tie in a thriller at Nottingham

The Nottingham crowd witnessed a humdinger of a contest in the first ODI between England and Sri Lanka. Earlier in the game, it was Eoin Morgan who guessed it right as England elected to bowl first. Chris Jordan and Steve Finn surprisingly missed out on the playing XI.

Sri Lanka were reduced to 56/3 at one stage before Angelo Mathews stepped up. He scored an ecstatic 73 as he led the way for the Sri Lankan batting. Seekkuge Prasanna also scored a quickfire 59 from just 28 balls before the tailenders played their part and made sure SL ended up with a good enough total on the board.

David Willey and Chris Woakes were brilliant but went for runs later on in the death. Adil Rashid was quite economical but failed to pick a wicket. While Liam Plunkett took a couple of wickets, he went for runs. Even Moeen Ali didn’t have a great day on the field either.

On the other hand, England lost a flurry of early wickets as they lost 4 wickets with just 30 runs. They further sank in as the scorecard read 82/6. What followed was Jos Buttler and Woakes making a game out of nowhere for England. Both the batsmen put up an outstanding partnership of 138 runs for the 7th wicket as England closed into a great finish.

How did the match pan out? – Eng v SL 1st ODI Review: Nail biting contest ends in a tie

However, once Buttler got out on 93, England again seemed to go on the backfoot before Woakes took on in the last 3 overs. At the end, it boiled down to 10 off 2 balls. Woakes couldn’t hit the penultimate ball for a boundary but showed great game awareness by running 3. With 7 required off the last ball, Plunkett hit a six to snatch a victory from Sri Lanka as the game tied in an enthralling fashion.

For Sri Lanka, Mathews was the pick of the bowlers with a couple of wickets before he was taken off the field due to an injury. Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal also got two wickets each but it was England who had the last laugh considering how badly they began.

Twitter kept everyone entertained with some splendid tweets throughout the thrilling England v Sri Lanka game. While some felt Sri Lanka were too overdependent on Mathews, some found solace over Prasanna’s knock. Buttler and Woakes were lauded for the brilliant fightback while Sri Lanka’s early celebration was being compared to that of Mushfiqur. Here are some of the Twitter reactions that took place during the course of the game:

Great viewing @englandcricket!! Serious batting from @josbuttler and @chriswoakes and decent strike at the end @Liam628! ???

— James Anderson (@jimmy9) June 21, 2016

https://twitter.com/altcricket/status/745361507446362112

This happens when you start celebrating like Mushfiqur Rahim #ENGvSL #Tied pic.twitter.com/X3O7E0yLwM

— Extraa Innings (@TheYorkerBall) June 21, 2016

Wow! What a game of cricket….@josbuttler @chriswoakes awesome knocks! @Liam628 ?????

— Sam Billings (@sambillings) June 21, 2016

https://twitter.com/thecricketcouch/status/745359429567143936

https://twitter.com/altcricket/status/745359538187014144

Incredible ODI.. Plunkett tonks last ball for a SIX.. It's a tie! Exhilarating match #ENGvSL

— Navneet Mundhra (@navneet_mundhra) June 21, 2016

SL did a Bangladesh there, celebrated when they were running 3. And ended up with tied game.

— Nikhil ? (@CricCrazyNIKS) June 21, 2016

LIAM PLUNKETT!!
Remember the name!! #ENGvSL

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) June 21, 2016

https://twitter.com/altcricket/status/745357630659526658

Adil Rashid, England's No. 11 in this game, has ten centuries at first-class level https://t.co/ZU5hsOSPyP #ENGvSL

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 21, 2016

Shane Warne literally crying on air #ENGvSL

— Nilenth Selvaraja (@Nilenth) June 21, 2016

Time to Mankad the Butler ?

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) June 21, 2016

England still in with a chance? Willey and Plunkett to follow. Could be an interesting finish #ENGvSL

— Pramod Ananth (@pramz) June 21, 2016

One of the innings that demonstrates Buttler's skill & prowess & goes to show why is he so highly rated! Modern day bat. Game on. #ENGvSL

— Vaibhav (@Vaib_1205) June 21, 2016

When your number 8 can bat with such authority, pure batsmen must feel like second class citizens in the team. #EngvSL

— cricBC (@cricBC) June 21, 2016

Glad to see SL dominating, but the influx of ODI players has done nothing to lift the overall standard of haircuts in the squad. #ENGvSL

— Andrew F Fernando (@andrewffernando) June 21, 2016

Without Mathews, Sri Lankan team is like a bunch of headless chickens.

— Naresh (@nrshq) June 21, 2016

And the award for the most pointless run up in the world, goes to Maharoof. He marginally overtakes Chris Jordan #ENGvSL

— Jack Mendel ? (@JackMendel4) June 21, 2016

Important to remember that Seekkuge Prasanna took his helmet off when he got to fifty so England have the moral high ground here

— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) June 21, 2016

David Willey, England's no.9 today, has the least number of first class hundreds in the team – with two! #EngvSL

— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) June 21, 2016

Root's drop gives a moment of truly unforgettable history for this Trent Bridge crowd – Maharoof's 30 the highest by a SL no.9 v Eng in ODIs

— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) June 21, 2016

https://twitter.com/holdingwilley/status/745280718419419136

50 for Seekkuge Prasanna in just 24 balls. 48 of those runs came in boundaries! 6 fours and 4 sixes. #ENGvSL

— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) June 21, 2016