Explained: How England's victory against Sri Lanka confirmed Australia's exit from T20 World Cup 2022

England defeated Sri Lanka by four wickets in a must-win clash in Sydney on Saturday (November 05) to confirm their spot in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2022. England were tasked to chase a moderate target of 142 runs but made hard work of it before chasing down the target with two balls to spare.

Their victory also sealed Australia's fate in the tournament as the defending champions were knocked out on the basis of net run rate. Despite having the same number of points as table-toppers New Zealand and second-placed England, Australia failed to make the cut for the knockout stages.

How the defending champions were knocked out

Australia needed to win by a huge margin against Afghanistan in their final Super 12 clash on Friday tosafeguard their spot in the semi-finals. However, the defending champions could only manage to pull off a close 4-run victory which dented their hopes of making it to the knockout stages as their net run rate of-0.173 was lower than England's +0.547.

The equation was a simple one for England as they locked horns with Sri Lanka in the do-or-die clash on Saturday. They needed to win to make it to the next round and a defeat would have ended their campaign in the tournament this year.

England's four-wicket victory against the Asia Cup champions saw them earn crucial two points while their net run rate remained positive at+0.473 to secure them a berth in the semi-finals ahead of Australia.

The top three of New Zealand, England, and Australia all managed seven points each in five matches but the hosts had to pay the price as they had the poorest net run rate. New Zealand and England will now meet the top two teams from Group 2 in the semi-finals of the competition.