GEORGE DOBELL IN SYDNEY: Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood, Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid heaped praise upon Stokes after his controlled 42 (36) saw England into the T20 World Cup semi-finals
The confidence Ben Stokes will take from his match-winning performance in Sydney will help him going into the closing stages of the World Cup, according to Chris Silverwood.
Silverwood, who not so long ago was England's coach, is now head coach of Sri Lanka. And he suggested Stokes may have been the difference between the sides as England secured a narrow victory to book a semi-final spot in Adelaide on Thursday.
Stokes, whose place in the T20I side was starting to come under just a little scrutiny, made an unbeaten 42 to help England sneak home with two balls of the match remaining. It was his highest T20I score in 18 months and helped calm England's nerves against a good spin attack on a used wicket and under significant pressure.
"Ben has been the talisman over the last few years and getting the team over the line will do him a lot of good," Silverwood said. "It's all about peaking at the right time, so watch this space. You can never rule him out.
"You have to say Ben had it under control. Maybe if we'd nicked him off and got one more wicket it might have made things very interesting."
Stokes scored 42 runs off 36 balls to anchor England's chase [Mark Kolbe/Getty Images]
Jos Butter, the England captain, was equally effusive in praise of Stokes, but admitted the run-chase was "more nervy" than he would have liked.
"There was no questioning of Ben within the group," Buttler told the BBC. "The nature of T20 cricket means you won't always come off with the bat. But he's a proper match winner and he showed that in a different way today. Getting to this stage of the competition is where you just see him grow and grow.
"The run-chase was a lot more nervy than it needed to be. I take responsibility myself because we were in a good position and we let them back in with wickets. These pitches are not easy to start on and small partnerships can be valuable. I looked at myself and should have been out there having done the hard work.
"But we found a way to get the job done. Ben Stokes was there and he's a guy who can win you a game with bat, ball and in the field."
Adil Rashid was named player of the match for his tight bowling, but admitted he was surprised Stokes didn't win the award.
"Ben got us over the line," he said. "He's obviously a match-winner. He wins matches for England, whether it's Test matches or T20s and ODIs as well.
"We were nervous. We'd like to win more easily than that but that's T20 cricket. We kept our composure at the end, Stokesy showed his class again and got us over the line."