After a tentative start to their innings, which included the returning Alex Hales being dismissed for a duck, Buttler came to the crease and demonstrated his array of shots as he smashed eight fours and two sixes.

The wicket-keeper was ably backed up by under-fire skipper Eoin Morgan, who rotated the strike well for his 22, while opener Jason Roy also impressed with 47 in England’s total of 171-4.

England’s bowlers were dominant in the opening stages of Sri Lanka’s reply, reducing the defending champions to 15-4 until Angelo Matthews entered proceedings.

The Sri Lankan captain hit England’s attack to all areas of the ground on his way to an unbeaten 73, which came off just 54 balls and featured five huge sixes.

At one point, the Asian side looked to be heading towards what had earlier seemed an improbable victory but England held their nerve, with Chris Jordan taking two vital wickets in the penultimate over before Ben Stokes closed out a tense win with a series of perfectly executed deliveries in the 20th.

Morgan’s side are set to go up against New Zealand at the same ground on Wednesday (March 30), providing Afghanistan do not record a shock win over the West Indies tomorrow.

In the other men’s match to take place today, New Zealand ensured they finished Group 2 with a 100 per cent record as they thrashed already-eliminated Bangladesh by 75 runs at Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Kane Williamson top scored for the Black Caps with 42 as his side posted 145-8 from their 20 overs, which came despite Bangladesh bowler Mustafizur Rahman recording impressive figures of 5-22.

Bangladesh never looked likely to successfully chase it down as they scored their lowest-ever T20 total after being bowled out for just 70.

In the women’s competition, defending champions and Australia and New Zealand both booked their place in the semi-finals with important victories.

Australia were set just 92 to win by Ireland in New Delhi and reached the required target in the 14th over, but they needed a helping hand from Group A counterparts New Zealand to progress to the last four.

The Black Caps were in ruthless form in their clash with South Africa at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore as they dismissed their opponents for just 99.

They then comfortably amassed the required runs to ensure they followed the men in finishing with four wins from four group matches.

Four contests are due to take place across the two tournaments tomorrow as Afghanistan face the West Indies in the men’s event at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, before India meet Australia in a semi-final play-off at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Chandigarh.

The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium will play host to India women against the West Indies and England will meet Pakistan at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.