T20 World Cup Points Table: How England denied defending champions Australia a spot in the semifinals

England produced a strong outing in their final group match of the season to beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

England produced a remarkable performance on Saturday to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, crushing Australia's hopes of defending their title in the tournament. Hosts Australia required Sri Lanka to beat the English side to ensure a qualification in the semis of the T20 World Cup, but Jos Buttler's men displayed an all-round performance – first restricting the Sri Lankan side to 141/8 and then chasing the target down with 2 balls remaining – to end the Aussie campaign.

Jos Buttler and Sam Curran celebrate a wicket against Sri Lanka; Glenn Maxwell during the match against Afghanistan (AP)

Australia had defeated Afghanistan by four runs in a close match to keep their semi-final chances alive in the T20 World Cup. The side finished with seven points in four matches (2 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie); however, Australia finished with a Net Run Rate of -0.173 courtesy of a devastating 89-run defeat to New Zealand in their opening match of the tournament. And the big loss to the Kiwis eventually hurt Australia, as they failed to improve their NRR throughout the campaign.

It didn't help Aaron Finch's men that their game against England was washed out, and Afghanistan dragged the run-chase against Australia to the final over – eventually falling short by 4 runs – to ensure Australia don't have a big NRR boost.

England, meanwhile, had faced a shock defeat to Ireland but registered convincing wins over Afghanistan and New Zealand; by the time they took the field against Sri Lanka, all they required was a win as their NRR was already in positive (+0.547).

Here's the final points table:

Group 1 points table (ICC)

Mark Wood shined with the ball as he registered impressive figures of 3/26 in three overs, while Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, and Adil Rashid all picked a wicket each. Sri Lanka opener Pathum Nissanka scored an impressive 67 off 45 deliveries but continued to run out of partners at the other end; the next highest score in the innings was 22 from Bhanuka Rajapaksa.

England made an electrifying start in the run-chase, with Alex Hales racing away to 47 off just 30 balls. The side had added 75 runs in 7.1 deliveries before captain Jos Buttler departed on 28. England did lose three quick wickets and Sri Lankan bowlers did well to force the match to the final over, but England, riding on Ben Stokes' calm unbeaten knock of 42, booked a place in the semis.