In their final encounter of the World Cup’s preliminary stage, India defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets. Rohit Sharma blasted a World Cup-record fifth century, while KL Rahul got his first.
Dimuth Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s captain, won the toss and chose to bat first. As India’s first wicket was taken by Jasprit Bumrah, Sri Lanka lost an early wicket. Sri Lanka then lost four early wickets before Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne put on a century stand. Before being removed for 113 runs by Jasprit Bumrah, Mathews scored his first century of the World Cup.
India cricket team trounced Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in today’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 (CWC) match at The Headingley in Leeds, as KL Rahul (111 off 118 balls) and Rohit Sharma (103 off 94 balls) struck superb centuries. Earlier, Angelo Mathews, who led Sri Lanka to a solid 264 for 7 following a top-order collapse, proved to be a thorn in India’s flesh with a brave century after a top-order failure.
Read More: Yuvraj Singh – India’s hero in both World Cup triumphs.
With his back to the wall, the former Sri Lanka skipper (113 off 128 balls) played a near-perfect knock to offer his team a chance to fight back after a grim first hour Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a forgettable day (1/73 in 10 overs). Jasprit Bumrah (3/37 in 10 overs) was fast, accurate, and mainly unplayable. Mathews, who has now made all three of his ODI hundreds against India (Mohali and Ranchi earlier in the tournament), struck 10 fours and two sixes in his final innings.
With Lahiru’s 53 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 29 runs, Sri Lanka scored 264-7 in 50 overs.
In response, Indian opener Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got the tournament off to a flying start, putting up the greatest opening partnership of the tournament. India chased down the mark in 43.3 overs, with both Rohit and Rahul scoring centuries. Virat Kohli, India’s captain, stayed undefeated on 34 runs.
For his 103 off 94 balls, Rohit Sharma was named man of the match. In the first innings, Jasprit Bumrah claimed three wickets.
When Lahiru Thirimanne (53 off 68 balls) joined Mathews, the score was quickly raised to 55 for 4.
The pair put on a 124-run fifth-wicket stand to get the team out of trouble. He then put on a 74-run sixth-wicket stand with Dhananjaya de Silva (29 off 36 balls) to help Sri Lanka reach 250 runs.
The 32-year-old Mathews’ innings were a joy to see, as it demonstrated how to rebuild an innings following a top-order collapse.
Ravindra Jadeja (1/40 in 10 overs) was treated with deference, as he only chanced his arms twice for two maximums.
After being dropped against Bangladesh, Kuldeep Yadav (1/58 off 10 overs) did not show much progress, bowling too full, which Thirimanne and Mathews found simple to manage.
Read More: New Bentley Bentayga Speed Space Edition has been unveiled.
Thirimanne tried to hit the left-arm wrist spinner against the spin as Kuldeep was towards the finish of his spell.
Kusal Perera (18) struck three boundaries before Dhoni sent him back by pouncing another one-off Bumrah.
As Kusal Mendis came down the track and missed the flight, Jadeja, who was playing his maiden game of the competition, reaped the benefits of Dhoni’s fast reactions.
The in-form Avishka Fernando (20), who looked potential throughout his brief stay, was then dismissed by Pandya, who has had a decent tournament as a bowler.
India played with two seamers after Mohammed Shami was rested. While Mathews and Thirimanne chose Bhuvneshwar for a particular treatment, it was Bumrah who gave his team the early advantage with two dismissals.
Dimuth Karunaratne (10) was removed by Bumrah with an angled delivery that was fuller than the Sri Lankan skipper expected. He attempted a cut shot but could only get it to Dhoni behind the stumps “inputs from www.business-standard.com”.
