Man-of-the-Match Ravi Bopara en route to his 52 on Wednesday

St John’s: Ravi Bopara’s selection had been questioned before Wednesday’s World Cup Super Eight clash with Sri Lanka but the England player silenced his doubters with a knock that so nearly clinched victory.

The 21-year-old hit 52 before being bowled off the last ball of the innings trying to hit three to give England an unlikely win.

England lost by an agonising two runs and despite the late drama, Bopara said he felt calm in the middle. “I don’t get too emotional about the situation,” he told a news conference. “I just went out there and tried to play normally.”

Bopara, whose father was born in India before moving to London in the late 1960s, rued his knock did not prove enough in the end.

“I’m disappointed even though I got the Man of the Match award. KP (Kevin Pietersen), Nicko (Paul Nixon) batted well and overall, it was a good game of cricket. The crowd also enjoyed it. But I’m gutted we didn’t get over the line,” he said.

Bopara, who has only amassed five one-day caps, was a surprise pick in England’s World Cup squad as an exciting allrounder.

However, he did not bowl in Friday’s win over Ireland and there were calls for him to be dropped to allow established batsman Andrew Strauss to take his place.

Bopara’s innings though has shown he can be a battler down the order late on, a point reaffirmed by his gamble to go for the win at the end instead of settling for a tie with a clip through a gap for two.

“If you go for a tie you could end up losing, if you go for a win you could end up tying so I was going for the win,” he said.

Bopara also displayed maturity by refusing to criticise Dilhara Fernando for stopping his run up on the last ball, as if to put the England man off. “I’m not sure what he was trying to do. I can’t stop him from stopping. I didn’t think too much of it,” he added.

England captain Michael Vaughan, however, said that despite the defeat his team could be proud of its effort. “The team is pretty quiet in the dressing room at the moment but we can be proud of ourselves. We were outstanding with the ball at the start and then Paul and Ravi gave us a chance of reaching the target,” said Vaughan.

“We can take a lot of positives from the game. Not many people thought we could play that well in these conditions,” he said. “We will have to play in a similar way to make sure we get the two points against Australia.”