Nicholas Pooran led West Indies' pursuit of 339 but Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews delivered at the death to lead Sri Lanka to a thrilling win.
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WI 315/9 in 50 overs: Angelo Mathews concedes just three runs, Sri Lanka wins by 23 runs.
WI 312/9 in 49 overs: One run and a wicket off the final Lasith Malinga over. 27 runs to get off the final over, which will be bowled by Angelo Mathews.
WI 311/8 in 48 overs: Angelo Mathews comes into the attack and removes Nicholas Pooran first ball! It's a full, wide delivery that Pooran tries to cut past point, gets a faint outside edge through to Kusal Perera. Three runs off the over. Lasith Malinga's into the attack for his final over.
WI 308/7 in 47 overs: Nicholas Pooran dispatches a slower length delivery over midwicket for four. Some good running between the wickets, a couple of wides and poor fielding fetch the West Indies five more runs in the over. 31 more runs required.
WI 299/7 in 46 overs: Misjudgment from Thisara Perera at long-off and he drops Nicholas Pooran's lofted hit, which goes over his head, bounces once and hits the boundary hoardings. Sheldon Cottrell keeps out an inswinger from Lasith Malinga, who bowls a wide delivery but finishes off the over with a dot.
WI 292/7 in 45 overs: DRAMA! Fabian Allen flicks one a ball on leg-stump to short fine leg and refuses to take off for a single, but Nicholas Pooran has taken off and is at the striker's end and then signals Allen to run. He obliges but the throw is at the right end and at the right pace and Udana whips off the bails. Pooran then gets to his maiden ODI century and then thumps Udana for a six behind square on the legside. Plenty of nerves in both the camps here.
WI 282/6 in 44 overs: Fabian Allen gets to his maiden ODI half-century. It picks up a slower delivery from Kasun Rajitha early and with a clean swing of the bat, then picks up a single to get to his fifty.
WI 271/6 in 43 overs: A couple of fours in the over, one through the gap between backward point and short third man and another past Kasun Rajitha at short fine leg. Isuru Udana is disappointed with the effort from Rajitha, who could have nearly caught the air-borne ball.
WI 262/6 in 42 overs: A good comeback over from Kasun Rajitha, who nearly had Nicholas Pooran caught and bowled. A slower ball bowled on length deceives the left-hander, who's into the shot early and pops the ball in the air. It just goes over the bowler and the umpire. Fabian Allen pulls a shot ball for four to make it a seven-run over for the West Indies.
WI 255/6 in 41 overs: Three dot balls in the over, but it still goes for 11 runs. Nicholas Pooran pulls a short ball angling into leg-stump for a six over deep midwicket. He then gets an underedge through Kusal Perera's legs for a four before driving to long-off for a single and retain the strike. A bowling change at the other end, as well: Kasun Rajitha replaces Lasith Malinga.
WI 244/6 in 40 overs: Another expensive over from Lasith Malinga, goes for 10. Fabian Allen began the over with a drive past mid-off for four, laying the foundation for a big over. Allen and Nicholas Pooran manage the rest of the over well by putting the ball into gaps and running hard between the wickets for a double. Bowling change: Dhananjaya de Silva's into the attack.
WI 234/6 in 39 overs: Fabian Allen is looking ominous from Sri Lanka's perspective. Isuru Udana goes full and allows Allen to free his arms, and he does it emphatically, thrashing the left-armer past mid-off for four. On the last ball, he middles a low full-toss to cow corner, where some good prevents the ball from going for four. Lasith Malinga continues, on for his eighth over.
WI 225/6 in 38 overs: A couple of balls on the pads from Lasith Malinga and Fabian Allen hits the loose balls for fours. Malinga struggling with his accuracy in his second spell and so far, Pooran and Allen have cashed in on anything loose. Isuru Udana continues.
WI 212/6 in 37 overs: Nicholas Pooran spoils what had been a good over from Isuru Udana with a four off the final ball. Given width outside off-stump, Pooran slashes, gets a thick outside edge and ball flies fine for four. The first five balls had produced only two singles. Pooran has moved on to 80.
WI 206/6 in 36 overs: Seven runs off Lasith Malinga's comeback over, which ends with two dot balls. Nicholas Pooran lofts the first ball over mid-off for three, which is followed by a two and couple singles. Isuru Udana continues from the other end.
WI 199/6 in 34.3 overs: Oh my! What a way to get out. Carlos Brathwaite was backing up too far and Nicholas Pooran's straight drive just managed to touch the bowler, Isuru Udana's, finger and crashed onto the stumps. Brathwaite was way too far and could only watch the ball crash onto the stumps. Fabian Allen joins Pooran.
WI 194/5 in 34 overs: 15 runs off Kasun Rajitha's over as Pooran smacks a four and a six in the over. He gets the boundary in the deep midwicket area and then tonks one over deep squareleg for six. Pooran is accelerating and is on fire!
WI 178/5 in 32.1 overs: 50 for Nicholas Pooran. The knock has come in 57 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. He smashes a six over the deep midwicket area, off Dimuth Karunaratne, to get to the landmark.
WI 172/5 in 32 overs: Vandersay and Rajitha are bowling in tandem and the West Indies batsmen are finding the runs, the odd-boundary too. The last five overs have given West Indies 35 runs and they are still 167 runs away from the target. The partnership between Pooran and Brathwaite is now 27 off 23 balls.
WI 159/5 in 30 overs: Nicholas Pooran is the settled batsman and should anchor this chase now. Carlos Brathwaite, on the other end, is capable of playing the big shots and with the required run rate breaching the nine run mark, it is time for West Indies to go all out.
WI 145/5 in 28.2 overs: A tame dismissal. Jason Holder tries to go over mid-on but doesn't succeed. Holder is caught by Jeevan Mendis (substitute) off Jeffrey Vandersay for a run-a-ball 26.
WI 143/4 in 28 overs: Nicholas Pooran (30 off 41) and Jason Holder (26 off 25) have added 59 off 61 balls as West Indies slowly tries to get out of the slump.
WI 126/4 in 25 overs: At the halfway stage, West Indies has just managed 126. The partnership is now into the 40s and it is still 213 runs adrift of the target.
WI 116/4 in 23 overs: Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder have added 32 off 31 balls as West Indies have got 22 runs in the last three overs. It needs 223 more runs at almost 8.5 runs an over.
WI 94/4 in 20 overs: West Indies needs 245 runs in 180 balls at 8.17 runs per over. Nicholas Pooran and Jason Holder have a huge task on hand. They have just been associated for 10 runs in 13 balls and they need to do much much more than just rotating the strike and building a partnership.
WI 84/4 in 17.5 overs: Shimron Hetmyer has to depart, run out for 29. It was carelessness from Hetmyer. He just casually tapped the ball to short third man and set off immediately. But Nicholas Pooran had other ideas, rightly so. And when he was sent back, Hetmyer could only watch Dhananjaya de Silva take a direct hit and there was no way he was getting back to his crease in time. Jason Holder joins Pooran.
WI 82/3 in 17 overs: Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran have a job on hand. West Indies needs 257 runs in 33 overs, a huge ask. It needs to score at 7.7 an over now, the rate which would steadily keep climbing every over.
WI 71/3 in 15.2 overs: Chris Gayle smacks Kasun Rajitha for a six and then is out the next ball. Gayle goes for a hook, the ball on good length area didn't warrant the shot, but only manages a top edge. Jefferey Vandersay at short third man takes a good catch, going forward. Chris Gayle is out for 35 (48 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes).
WI 61/2 in 13.2 overs: First six for Chris Gayle after 39 balls he has faced. Kasun Rajitha bowls it a little slow, a little short of length and Gayle swings it over the deep mid wicket fence.
WI 50/2 in 12 overs: Would you believe it? It has taken more than 11 overs for Chris Gayle to find a boundary. He sends one over wide mid-off for four. The Sri Lankan bowling unit has been extremely disciplined.
WI 37/2 in 10 overs: End of the first power play and it has been Sri Lanka all the way. Chris Gayle has been quiet with just 13 off 27 against his name and Shimron Hetmyer is giving the 'Universe Boss' company on 10 off 17. The duo have added 15 off 30 balls and West Indies needs 302 more runs from 240 balls.
WI 30/2 in 7 overs: Two chances offered off Lasith Malinga. First was a half chance, off Gayle, which Lahiru Thirimanne cannot hold on to and the other dropped by Kusal Mendis, this time off Shimron Hetmyer. He went for the cut and only managed an edge and Mendis grassed a regulation attempt.
WI 22/2 in 5 overs: Malinga strikes again. Shai Hope gets one off his bat but only on to his stumps. West Indies is rocked early in this humongous chase. Hope just manages 5 and West Indies in trouble.
WI 20/1 in 4 overs: Dhananjaya de Silva bowls a tidy over. Just three off it.
WI 12/1 in 2.2 overs: Lasith Malinga strikes. The Sri Lankan speedster bowls it short and as Ambris tries to hook him over, he just manages a feather touch and Kusal Perera catches on to it. The bowler and the fielders all go up and the umpire is interested too! West Indies rocked early.
WI 11/0 in 2 overs: Just one excellent ball from de Silva but the others are safely negotiated as West Indies gets off to a decent start.
Spin straightaway from Dimuth Karunaratne as he introduces Dhananjaya de Silva.
WI 6/0 in 1 over: Lasith Malinga bowls a mix of good deliveries and mixes it up well with slower ones. But the last ball of the over finds the fence off Ambris' bat as he exploits a tad width ball by creaming it between the cover and point region.
Lasith Malinga with the new ball. Chris Gayle takes strike.
The players walk out after a lunch break. Dimuth Karunaratne calls his teammates into a huddle. They are a happy bunch and are in all smiles. As they make way to the middle, Sunil Ambris and Chris Gayle walk out too.
339 is the number for West Indies. And all eyes will be on the 'Universe Boss' in a while as his team attempts the highest ever run-chase in a World Cup. We'll be back with the chase in less than 30 minutes now.
Avishka Fernando's maiden ODI century propels Sri Lanka to a humongous 338/6 in its 50 overs. An excellent batting effort and commendable for the middle order to capitalise on the start Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera provided.
SL 338/6 in 50 overs: 11 runs off the final over from Sheldon Cottrell as Sri Lanka manages 338.
SL 327/6 in 49 overs: Isuru Udana tries to go big and holes down at long-off. A great penultimate over from Oshane Thomas, he just gives 6 runs and takes a wicket.
SL 321/5 in 48 overs: We are down to 12 balls in the first innings and Sri Lanka looks set for a humongous score.
SL 314/5 in 47.2 overs: Avishka Fernando departs after scoring his maiden ODI 100. He has to go big and tries to go big but finds the elevation but not the distance off a slower delivery from Sheldon Cottrell. He sends it to long-on where Fabian Allen takes a regulation catch, running in. He is out for 104 (103 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes). Isuru Udana joins Lahiru Thirimanne.
SL 309/4 in 46.4 overs: Maiden ODI 100 for Avishka Fernando. He is thrilled to bits and so is the dressing room. They all jump up in unison and in joy. He scores a brace off Carlos Braithwaite and gets to the landmark. The knock has come in 100 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes.
SL 300/4 in 45.3 overs: As Avishka Fernando moves closer to his maiden century, he thumps Oshane Thomas for four to bring up the 50 run partnership (39 balls) between him and Lahiru Thirimanne.
SL 294/4 in 45 overs: 47 off 36 balls is the partnership between Thirimanne and Fernando. The latter moves into the 90s. Thirimanne meanwhile is looking good. He just thumped Carlos Brathwaite for two boundaries -- one straight down and one over mid-off for consecutive boundaries.
SL 277/
5 4 in
43.3 overs 43.2 overs:
Oh no! A huge no-ball. Lahiru Thirimanne just guides this to the midwicket fielder but he survives!
SL 275/4 in 43 overs: Fernando and Fernando have added 28 runs off just 23 balls as the duo look set to properl Sri Lanka to a mammoth score. The last five overs, meanwhile, has yielded 40 runs.
West Indies is a little behind the over rate and Jason Holder needs to tighten up things a bit.
SL 253/4 in 40 overs: Avishka Fernando and Lahiru Thirimanne in the middle and Sri Lanka is in a good spot.
SL 247/4 in 39.1 overs: Jason Holder gets a big wicket. Angelo Mathews can be dangerous at the death and Holder is over the moon. Mathews was charging down and Holder executes a yorker to perfection and hits the base of middle stump. The 58-run partnership in 44 balls is broken.
SL 224/3 in 37 overs: 10 runs of Shannon Gabriel's over. He is clearly having a bad day in office. He has leaked 46 runs in his 5 overs, so far. Angelo Mathews and Avishka Fernando have added 35 runs off 32 balls as Sri Lanka is motoring along.
SL 209/3 in 35 overs: Sri Lanka is in a great position to get in excess of 320-330. Angelo Mathews is in giving Avishka Fernando, who has helped himself to 61 (66 balls, 6 fours, 1 six), company. 15 overs remain and Sri Lanka would be targetting a huge score.
SL 196/3 in 33 overs: Jason Holder misses a run-out chance and it would have been curtains for Avishka Fernando. But he does well the next ball to bring up his maiden World Cup 50. A superb shot over the midwicket fence for four to bring up the landmark.
SL 189/3 in 31.5 overs: Fabien Allen pulls off a stunner. Kusal Mendis throws away a promising start as he chips one back to the bowler. He departs for 39 (41 balls) and the spinner breaks a threatening partnership.
SL 164/2 in 28 overs: Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando are looking good to put on another good partnership for Sri Lanka. The duo have added 60 runs so far and are working their way with good shots.
SL 146/2 in 25 overs: At the halfway stage, Sri Lanka is just motoring along at a rate of just under six runs an over, looking good for a score in excess of 300.
SL 141/2 in 23 overs: Jason Holder gets his main bowler, Sheldon Cottrell, into the attack and Avishka Fernando welcomes the bowler with a huge six over deep midwicket. It was a short ball and Fernando pulled it with all his might and the ball sailed over the ropes. The bowler comes back well and doesn't leak much after that.
SL 133/2 in 22 overs: Mendis and Fernando are building up. Medis treats a short ball with disdain while Fernando sends one over the mid-off region for four as West Indies bowlers are lacking intent.
SL 113/2 in 20 overs: Kusal Mendis and Avishka Fernando have a job on hand -- to make sure the openers' hard work isn't going a waste. The duo have added just nine runs so far as Sri Lanka looks to start from stratch. Also, the West Indies bowlers have their tails up -- two new batsmen.
SL 104/2 in 18.2 overs: The only way Kusal Perera looked getting out was though a runout. He was asking for the second run, a risky one, a non-existent one for sure, and was sent back by Fernando but he couldn't make it. Sheldon Cottrell's throw to Carlos Brathwaite was on target and yes, he celebrates with the trademark salute!! Meanwhile, the Riverside Ground applauds Kusal Perera as he walks out scoring 64 off 51 balls (8 fours).
SL 100/1 in 17.3 overs: Jason Holder could have got his team the second wicket. Nicholas Pooran drops a sitter, a sitter at this level for sure, and Kusal Perera gets a life. How costly is this miss going to be for West Indies? Perera pulls and Pooran gets into a good position, running towards his left, but he manages to grass it.
SL 94/1 in 15.4 overs: Jason Holder wants two in the over. He reviews a close call, after the umpire calls it no out. No bat as the UltraEdge confirms it but the Ball Tracking says, the ball will miss the leg stump. West Indies loses its review.
SL 93/1 in 15.2 oves: The skipper -- Jason Holder removes his opposite number. Dimuth Karunaratne gets an edge and Shai Hope makes no mistake. He is out of 32 (48 balls). Avishka Fernando joins Kusal Perera.
SL 79/0 in 13.2 overs: Kusal Perera taps Jason Holder for a single and gets to his 50. The knock has come in just 38 balls with 7 fours. This is Kusal Perera's third 50 in the ongoing World Cup. Can he convert this into a big one?
SL 63/0 in 11 overs: 14 runs off the Shannon Gabriel over as Kusal Perera smacks him for three boundaries on the trot. 3-0-28-0 for Gabriel and he has to get back to the drawing board immediately to reduce Jason Holder's headache.
SL 50/0 in 10.2 overs: The openers have added 50 in 61 balls with Dimuth Karunaratne on 20 and Kusal Perera on 27. Sri Lanka is off to a good start. Meanwhile, Jason Holder is off the field and has the physio attending to his left leg, just outside the ropes.
SL 47/0 in 9 overs: A blooming opening partnership for Sri Lanka and it has come in good time too. The erring West Indies bowlers aren't doing much to stem the run flow and the Lankan batsmen are enjoying it, why not!
SL 39/0 in 7 overs: It is a crime to bowl on the pads when the fine leg is up. And Shannon Gabriel has realised it. He strays on the leg side and it is four! He does that twice and it is the same result!
SL 28/0 in 5 overs: Perera starts the over with a tremendous start, targetting the mid-off region but Sheldon Cottrell has come done well to keep the run flow under check.
SL 17/0 in 3 overs: Dimuth Karunaratne gets going too! Two half-volleys from Cottrell and Karunaratne shows his class. First beats the short fine leg fielder and then creams the next in the deep midwicket region for four. A good and steady start by Sri Lanka.
SL 8/0 in 2 overs: Kusal Perera opens up. He slams a short length ball to the cover region for four in the fourth ball of the over.
Oshane Thomas steaming in from the other end.
SL 2/0 in 1 over: Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera make a slow start. Just 2 runs of Cottrell's first over.
Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera will open for Sri Lanka. And it is as usual, Sheldon Cottrell with the new ball for West Indies. We are all set. Play!
Both the teams aren't in the semifinal race and would be playing for pride. But first, the National Anthems.
Playing XIs
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (cap), Kusal Perera (wk), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha and Lasith Malinga.
West Indies : Chris Gayle, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (cap), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas and Shannon Gabriel.
Team news: West Indies has made one change. Shannon Gabriel replaces an unwell Kemar Roach. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, has made three changes.
Toss update: West Indies won the toss and opts to bowl first.
Jason Holder: We're fielding fuirset. A fresh wicket. It should be responsive first up with the ball. We still got pride to playt for, and we need to play a perfect game. Bowlers have done well so far, and hopfully they can respond and the batsmen can chase it down. Roach is unwell, and Gabriel will play.
Dimuth Karunaratne: We would have liked to bowl. In the last match, it did respond with the new ball. We wanted to take early advantage with the new ball and take a couple of wickets early in the morning. We need the middle- and the top-rder to fire in this match. We have to focus on the World Cup for now. Three changes for now.
Playing XI:
West Indies: Chris Gayle, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope(w), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder(c), Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Rajitha, Lasith Malinga.
The Preview
Sri Lanka out of Cricket World Cup after England beats India
Sri Lanka cannot reach the World Cup semifinals after England's win over India left them unable to finish in the top four.
England moved up to fourth and onto 10 points with a 31-run victory over India at Edgbaston on Sunday – a first loss of the competition for Virat Kohli's men.
Sri Lanka could match the hosts' tally by triumphing in their last two games against West Indies and India but would remain below them due to an inferior number of wins, which is the first tie-breaker used to separate teams.
World Cup 2019: Jayawardene urges Sri Lanka to retain belief
South Africa, West Indies and Afghanistan had already been eliminated, with leaders Australia the only team assured of a semifinal berth.
England's defeat of India was also bad news for Pakistan, who slipped to fifth and only have Bangladesh still to play.
Sarfraz Ahmed's side have nine points and wrap up their campaign at Lord's on Friday.
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Karunaratne: ‘It’s our bowlers who mainly performed well’
Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne understands that the road to World Cup semifinals look quite difficult. But he is still hopeful of winning its two remaining games and make it to the last-four.
Ahead of the fixture against the West Indies, Karunaratne spoke to reporters on the road ahead and what went wrong for the team in the tournament.
On what has gone wrong so far…
We are not a side who should be in this position. We have the talent and skill to compete with anyone. We have only performed in certain games. It’s our bowlers who mainly performed well. Our batting hasn’t fired altogether yet. Sometimes the top order gets runs, but other times, the middle order takes the game forward. We haven’t put it together yet.
On not getting big totals...
We know that we weren’t able to make a score in excess of 250. That’s the biggest factor in our performance. If two or three batsmen get set, then we can definitely get to 250. It gets a lot tougher when you’re losing wickets. It’s very difficult when you only make 200-220 and then, tell the bowlers to take wickets. We need to take responsibility as a batting unit and make a big score.
On changes after the World Cup…
We haven’t talked about what happens after the World Cup. We need to finish well here. We still have a chance to get to the semifinals. That depends on what the other teams do, but we need to control our games. We had a chance to win the game against South Africa and win the rest and get easily into the semis. But now we have to wait for other results.
On Kasun Rajitha’s chances of making it to the playing XI...
There’s a chance he could play. Suranga Lakmal bowled well, but he was unable to get a wicket. That does happen sometimes. No matter how well bowlers bowl, sometimes they don’t get wickets. But we need to see what we can get out of the skills Rajitha has.
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Tournament so Far
Sri Lanka suffered a 10-wicket thrashing at the hands of New Zealand in their first game of the tournament and have lost three times, but claimed a surprise win over England after seeing off Afghanistan.
The Windies' crushing seven-wicket win over Pakistan proved to be a false dawn and a heavy defeat to India in Manchester was their fifth of the World Cup, knocking them out.
What They Said
Sri Lanka captain Karunaratne: "I think the batting is the main problem. We couldn't get a hundred. If you want to compete with the good sides, you have definitely got to have a good batting line-up and you have to put runs on the board, so I think in this World Cup, the major issue is the batting line-up."
West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer: "Yes, we are out of the World Cup, but there is still a lot of cricket to play after the World Cup. It's important for us to, you know, find the winning ways and find the winning formula going forward, so it is important for us to play this game as hard as possible."
Facts
- Sri Lanka have won five of their last six ODI clashes against West Indies, including a nail-biting one-run victory in their last meeting in November 2016.
- Sheldon Cottrell will be the only player featuring in this fixture to have taken 10 or more wickets in the competition and the paceman will be facing Sri Lanka for the first time.
- West Indies have lost their last five ODIs. The last time they lost more was an eight-game streak in their final eight matches in 2017.
The match will be streamed Live on Hotstar
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