Lanka claim ‘narrow’ victory over Windies

02/07/2019

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Sri Lanka bowler Lasith Malinga bowls against West Indies batsman Sunil Ambris during the Cricket World Cup match between Sri Lanka and the West Indies at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, England on July 1. (AP)

Shankar ruled out of WC with fractured toe

DURHAM, England, July 1, (RTRS): Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 23 runs in the Cricket World Cup on Monday as Nicholas Pooran’s counter-attacking knock of 118 went in vain for the Caribbean side.

Chasing 339 to win, West Indies lost Sunil Ambris and Shai Hope to Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga’s fierce spell with the new ball.

Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer added 49 but wickets fell at regular intervals to leave the Windies on the brink of another defeat at 145-5.

After failing to build on solid starts for the majority of the tournament, Pooran went on to make his maiden ODI hundred.

The 23-year-old left-hander combined with tailender Fabian Allen in an 83-run stand before Allen was run out for 51.

Pooran continued to find boundaries to set up a tense finale before he was caught behind off experienced all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who was bowling in an ODI for the first time since December 2017.

Malinga returned to trap Oshane Thomas lbw for his third wicket as West Indies finished on 315-9.

Earlier, West Indies struggled to make an impact with the new ball after winning the toss and the Sri Lankan top order batted well to post a mammoth 338-6.

Avishka Fernando smashed his first ODI century (104) and opener Kusal Perera hit eight boundaries in his 51-ball 64 as Sri Lanka finished with their highest total of the tournament.

Both Sri Lanka and West Indies were out of contention for semifinal spots.

Although Sri Lanka could beat India in their final group match to potentially join England on 10 points, they would miss out on qualification having won four games to England’s five.

Meanwhile India all-rounder Vijay Shankar has been ruled out of the rest of the Cricket World Cup with a toe injury, the team said on Monday.

The ICC has approved right-handed batsman Mayank Agarwal as a replacement for Shankar following a request by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

“Vijay Shankar sustained a non displaced fracture of the left big toe, which will require a minimum of three weeks to heal,” the team said in a statement.

“The injury rules him out of the ongoing World Cup.”

Originally picked to bat at number four, Shankar has made scores of 15 not out, 29 and 14 in his three matches in the World Cup.

The injury kept him out of the team’s first loss in the tournament against England on Sunday.

Rishabh Pant batted at number four in that match, having joined the team as replacement for injured opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Agarwal made his test debut against Australia in December but has not played for India in limited-overs cricket.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza does not share his India counterpart Virat Kohli’s concerns about the short boundary on one side at Edgbaston where the neighbours will clash in a World Cup group match on Tuesday.

Kohli was critical of the ground dimensions after England ended India’s unbeaten campaign on a pitch which had a 59-metre boundary on one side.

“If batsmen are able to reverse sweep you for six on a 59-metre boundary there is not much you can do as a spinner,” Kohli said, defending his slow bowlers after they lost by 31 runs.

The same pitch will be used for a match which Bangladesh must win to keep their semifinal hopes alive, while a victory for Kohli’s men will secure them a place in the last four.

“It will be the same wicket and same ground for both teams,” Mashrafe told reporters on Monday.

“We haven’t played any match on it. Yes, one side is pretty smaller, so batsmen will normally target that area, but I think both teams will get the same benefit here.”

India managed just one six in their innings, compared to England’s 13, which included Ben Stokes’ reverse-sweep off Yuzvendra Chahal that cleared the shorter boundary.

India’s wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal bled 160 runs for just one wicket in their combined 20 overs, partly handicapped after the Indian quicks failed to get early breakthroughs.

Mashrafe said his batsmen would be cautious against the Indian spinners despite the short boundary temptation.

“I think their spinners have done a good job if you look at their stats in the last two-three years. We can’t expect to do what England did and get success.

“We need to stick to our plan and play the way we have been playing. Our batting has been very good throughout the tournament … we need to play according to our plan.”

India’s loss against England has complicated Bangladesh’s semifinal passage, leaving them with the unenviable task of beating India and Pakistan, both former champions, in their final group matches to make the last four.

Mashrafe said he never favoured being at the mercy of results involving other teams anyway.

“We’ve come this far by virtue of our seven points – from three wins and a washed out match. We won because we played well in those matches,” he said.

“To win tomorrow, we will have to play well again. In a tournament like this, it’s pointless to rely on how other teams fare.

“Of course a loss tomorrow would mean end of our campaign, and things could have been different had India beaten England.

“I’m seeing it as a good challenge. If we can beat India tomorrow. You need tougher challenges to improve as a team.”

Scoreboard

LONDON, July 1, (Agencies): Scoreboard at close of play of match 39 between Sri Lanka and West Indies on Monday at Chester-le-Street, England. Sri Lanka win by 23 runs.

SRI LANKA

Karunaratne c Hope b Holder 32

Perera Run Out Cottrell 64

Fernando c Allen b Cottrell 104

Mendis c&b Allen 39

A. Mathews b Holder 26

L. Thirimanne (not out) 45

I. Udana c Holder b Thomas 3

D. de Silva (not out) 6

Extras: 4b 5lb 5nb 0pen 5w 19

Total (50.0 overs, 6 wickets) 338

Fall of Wickets: 1-93 Karunaratne, 2-104 Perera, 3-189 Mendis, 4-247 Mathews, 5-314 Fernando, 6-327 Tillakaratna

Did Not Bat: Vandersay, Rajitha, Malinga

Bowling: Sheldon Cottrell 10-0-69-1-6.90; Oshane Thomas 10-1-58-1-5.80; Shannon Gabriel 5-0-46-0-9.20; Jason Holder 10-0-59-2-5.90; Carlos Brathwaite 7-0-53-0-7.57; Fabian Allen 8 0 44 1 5.50

WEST INDIES

C. Gayle c Vandersay b Rajitha 35

S. Ambris c Perera b Malinga 5

S. Hope b Malinga 5

S. Hetmyer Run Out de Silva 29

N. Pooran c Perera b Mathews 118

J. Holder c (Sub) b Vandersay 26

C. Brathwaite Run Out Udana 8

F. Allen run out Rajitha 51

S. Cottrell (not out) 7

O. Thomas lbw Malinga 1

S. Gabriel (not out) 3

Extras: 3b 2lb 2nb 0pen 20w 27

Total: (50.0 overs, 9 wickets) 315

Fall of Wickets: 1-12 Ambris, 2-22 Hope, 3-71 Gayle, 4-84 Hetmyer, 5-145 Holder, 6-199 Brathwaite, 7-282 Allen, 8-308 Pooran, 9-311 Thomas

Bowling: Lasith Malinga 10-0-55-3-5.50; Dhananjaya de Silva 10-0-49-0-4.90; Isuru Udana 10-0-67-0-6.70; Kasun Rajitha 10-0-76-1-7.60; Jeffrey Vandersay 7-0-50-1-7.14; Dimuth Karunaratne 1-0-7-0-7.00; Angelo Mathews 2-0-6-1-3.00

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford, Paul Reiffel; Video: Sundaram Ravi; Match Referee: David Boon

P W L NR T NRR Pts

Australia-x 8 7 1 0 0 +1.000 14

India 7 5 1 1 0 +0.854 11

New Zealand 8 5 2 1 0 +0.572 11

England 8 5 3 0 0 +1.000 10

Pakistan 8 4 3 1 0 -0.792 9

Sri Lanka 8 3 3 2 0 -0.934 8

Bangladesh 7 3 3 1 0 -0.133 7

South Africa 8 2 5 1 0 -0.080 5

West Indies 8 1 6 1 0 -0.335 3

Afghanistan 8 0 8 0 0 -1.418 0