Ben Stokes hit a gutsy unbeaten 42 as England made the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a tense four wicket win over Sri Lanka, ending the hopes of defending champions Australia whose title defence is now over.

England needed to win to make the last four from Group 1 alongside already-qualified New Zealand, and they achieved the feat with two balls to spare. If they had lost, Australia would have gone through.

Earlier, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and chose to bat against England in a do-or-die Twenty20 World Cup clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

A win for England will propel them into the semi-finals from Group 1 alongside already-qualified New Zealand -- at the expense of hosts and defending champions Australia.

But a loss will end their tournament, with Australia instead progressing.

Sri Lanka, who cannot go through even with a victory, recalled Chamika Karunaratne in place of Pramod Madushan in their only change. England named an unchanged side.

England: Jos Buttler (capt), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Dasun Shanaka (capt), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara

Umpires: Paul Reiffel (ENG), Paul Wilson (AUS)

TV umpire: Nitin Menon (IND)

Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)