Ben Stokes keeps cool amid collapse as England scrape past Sri Lanka to reach World Cup semis and knock Australia out

So England emerge from Group One of the Super 12s on net run-rate and their semi-final will be in Adelaide on Thursday – most likely against India.

Their win has the delicious added bonus of knocking out hosts and reigning champs Australia from their own tournament.

Stokes has a relatively poor record for England in T20s but there are few better in tight situations in must-win matches.

He was promoted to No3 because Dawid Malan tweaked a groin muscle in the field and don’t forget Stokes’ fielding has been superb and his bowling useful in this tournament – despite his wonky right knee requiring heavy strapping.

Openers Jos Buttler and Alex Hales broke the back of England̢۪s chase and swept to 75-0 after 7.1 overs but, on a used pitch, Sri Lanka̢۪s spinners started causing problems.

England succumbed to 111-5 and then 129-6 with the middle-order self-destructing and Malan unable to bat because of his injury.

England needed five from the final over and Chris Woakes completed the job with a square cut to the boundary.

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Captain Buttler said: “It got a bit close at the end. I’m not a great watcher so I didn’t enjoy it much. We had to find a way to win the game and thankfully we did that.

“It was the kind of situation that Ben Stokes is made for and, while he was at the crease, we had a sense of calm. He can play a lot of roles – he affects the game in all three facets and he’s a proper competitor.

“When we get to the later stages of competitions, you’ll see him grow and grow.”

Sri Lanka chose to bat because they believed the surface would become harder to bat on. And they made an electrifying start with Pathum Nissanka hoisting the second ball of the innings for six.

Then Kusal Mendis deposited Mark Wood̢۪s opening delivery into the stand and Nissanka uppercut the final ball of the Durham speedster̢۪s first over for another maximum.