England opener Alex Hales produced a brilliant performance in the side's final group match against Sri Lanka on Saturday. Chasing a 142-run target, Hales scored a brisk 47 off just 30 deliveries to give England an electrifying start in the run-chase. His dismissal did trigger a batting collapse for the side but England eventually recovered – thanks to a calm unbeaten 42-run knock by Ben Stokes – to advance to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
Jos Buttler's side finished second in the Group 1 table to advance to the semis; their opponents will be confirmed on Sunday when all sides of Group 2 play in their respective last matches of the Super 12.
Following the match, Alex Hales gave an interview for Sky Cricket, which turned a little awkward as former England captain Eoin Morgan was also part of the broadcasting team, and was standing next to Hales. For context, Hales had failed a drug test twice ahead of the 2019 World Cup and was withdrawn from the squad after being slammed a 21-day suspension. Under Morgan's captaincy, Hales was exiled ever since and following the former captain's retirement from the game earlier this year, Hales was given another chance in the English squad after Jonny Bairstow's unfortunate injury weeks before the World Cup.
Hales joined the English team for its seven-match T20I tour to Pakistan and produced strong performances, and has continued his good outings in the ongoing World Cup.
{{/usCountry}}Hales joined the English team for its seven-match T20I tour to Pakistan and produced strong performances, and has continued his good outings in the ongoing World Cup.
{{/usCountry}}Here's the entire video of the interview:
Twitter had a field day as they reacted to the interview:
Earlier, New Zealand were the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup on Friday. They finished at the top of Group 2 and will meet the runners-up in the other group. While South Africa take on Netherlands in the first match of the Group 2 on Sunday, Pakistan will meet Bangladesh while India take on Zimbabwe in the other two matches.