India vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul hit century each as India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets
India vs Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul slammed brilliant centuries as India won their last World Cup league fixture defeating Sri Lanka by seven wickets at Leeds. Chasing 265, Sharma and Rahul gave India a flying start and demolished the Sri Lankan attack scoring runs all over the ground. Sharma slammed his fifth century of the ongoing World Cup before falling to Kasun Rajitha as Sri Lanka got the first breakthrough after 189-run opening stand, highest in this tournament, in the 31st over. Rahul then scored his maiden World Cup ton as India secured an easy victory.
India finished the league round with 15 points as they won seven matches and lost one while the game against New Zealand was washed out due to rain. India’s final standing and their semifinals opponent will depend on the result of the Australia-South Africa clash.
Earlier, Angelo Mathews rescued his side from a top-order collapse and slammed a powerful century as Sri Lanka posted 264/7. After electing to bat, Sri Lanka were reduced to 55/4 by the Indian bowlers. But Mathews (113) and Lahiru Thirimanne’s (53) solid fifth-wicket stand kept India at bay and powered Sri Lanka to a challenging total. For India, Jasprit Bumrah finished with 3/37.
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Sri Lanka
264/7 (50.0)India
265/3 (43.3)India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets
India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets with 39 balls to spare. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma's centuries help India chase down the total with ease. If Australia lose to South Africa, India will remain the table toppers at the end of league stages and will face New Zealand in semi-finals. If Australia beat South Africa, India will play England in the semi-finals.
Lasith Malinga seemed to get a little emotional bowling his last over. Mumbai Indians teammate Hardik Pandya hugged him to make him feel better. Sadly, his last World Cup delivery ends in a boundary. IND - 263/3 in 43 overs
Rishabh Pant plays across the line and misses the ball. Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne takes the review for the sake of it but it works in their favour as ball tracking showed that Isuru Udana's slower ball was hitting the wickets. Pant departs for 4. IND - 254/3 in 42 overs
Lasith Malinga gets his 56th World Cup wicket in his final match in the tournament. Malinga goes past Pakistan's Wasim Akram who has 55 wickets in World Cup. KL Rahul departs for 111. IND - 244/2 in 41 overs
Finally, KL Rahul gets to the much-deserved three figures mark. It's his first century in World Cup. He reaches the milestone in 109 deliveries. India should look to wrap it up quickly now. IND - 230/1 in 39 overs
This is turning out to be a one-sided affair. KL Rahul is heading towards his maiden World Cup century. Rahul has got starts in the tournament but has not been able to achieve the three figures so far. IND - 203/1 in 33 overs
Rohit Sharma throws his wicket away, gives an easy catch to mid off fielder Angelo Mathews. Rohit gets out for 103. Also, the 189-run partnership between Rohit-Rahul is India's highest opening partnership in World Cups. IND - 189/1 in 30.1 overs
Rohit Sharma hits his fifth century in the World Cup from 92 deliveries. Rohit breaks Kumar Sangakkara's record of most centuries in a World Cup edition. Rohit has also equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of most World Cup centuries (6). IND - 183/0 in 29 overs
KL Rahul scores his third half-century in World Cup 2019, his second on the trot. He reaches his fifty in 67 deliveries and follows it up with a maximum and a four. Can Rahul go on and convert it into his maiden World Cup century? IND - 137/0 in 23 overs
Rohit Sharma becomes the leading run-scorer of World Cup 2019. Rohit overtakes Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan to climb to the top of the list. Also, he became the second Indian batsman to score 600 or more runs in a single World Cup edition. Meanwhile, the Indian openers share yet another 100-run partnership. IND - 114/0 in 21 overs
Rohit Sharma gets to his half-century with a six off Dhananjaya de Silva's delivery. He reached his fifty in 48 deliveries. On the third delivery of the over he struck another maximum, this time it was even bigger. He has played an effortless inning so far. A record-breaking century on cards? IND - 97/0 in 17 overs
India are off to a good start chasing a target of 265. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have found the gaps and negated the threat of the new ball. IND - 51/0 in 7 overs
Rohit Sharma looks in fine touch against the Sri Lankan bowlers. He is finding the gas with precision. He has scored six boundaries in the innings already. IND - 48/0 in 6 overs
Rohit Sharma is playing Lasith Malinga with ease. Rohit two consecutive boundaries off his Mumbai Indians teammate's bowling. IND - 39/0 in 5 overs
After conceding just two singles from the first over, Malinga goes for plenty in the next over. KL Rahul hits two boundaries whereas Rohit hits one in the third over of the innings. India off to an excellent start. IND - 27/0 in 3 overs
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma hit one boundary each from Kasun Rajitha's over. This is a good start for India chasing a total of 265. Rahul is looking positive early on in the innings. IND - 14/0 in 2 overs
Lasith Malinga opens the bowling for Sri Lanka. Just two runs from the first over. Typical start from Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
After being reduced to 55/4, Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne did well to help Sri Lanka post a fighting total of 264/7 in the first innings. Only once a team has chased down a total in excess of 250. Will India chase down the total easily or they will face a tough challenge from Sri Lankan bowlers?
Hardik Pandya charges from long on and takes a diving catch to dismiss Thisara Perera. The Sri Lankan all-rounder has not been impressive in this World Cup. He departs for 2. SL - 260/7 in 49.2 overs
It was only Jasprit Bumrah who could do the damage. Angelo Mathews was hitting the bowlers well but Bumrah caused a few problems for him in the death overs. Mathews departs for 113 from 128 deliveries. SL - 253/6 in 48.2 overs
Angelo Mathews gets to his century with a boundary. His first century in the tournament comes in 115 deliveries. Mathews finishes the World Cup campaign with a bang. Sri Lanka were in deep trouble having lost four wickets for 55 in 12th over but Mathews rescued his team and helping them post a fighting total in the dead rubber. SL - 227/5 in 44 overs
Kuldeep Yadav finally breaks the 124-run stand between Mathews and Thirimanne as the latter departs after scoring a half-century. Just when Thirimanne decided to go big, he mistimes his shot and the ball balloons up in the sky. In the end, its a simple catch for Jadeja at backward point as Thirimanne returns after scoring 53 off 68 balls.
Lahiru Thirimanne also completes his half-century and adds 114 runs with Mathews for the fifth wicket. He brings up his fifty in style as he sweeps the ball for a boundary.
Angelo Mathews comes to Sri Lanka's rescue as he completes his 39th ODI fifty. It was a short of length delivery by Pandya and Mathews pushes it for a single. However, he needs to keep going right till the end and help his side post a respectable total.
Mathews and Thirimanne stitch a good partnership in the middle to rescue Sri Lanka out of danger. The pair have so far added 72 in 110 balls as Sri Lanka reach 134/4 at the end of 31 overs.
Ian Gould will bring down curtains on his umpiring career after officiating for the last time during India’s clash with Sri Lanka at the ongoing World Cup at Headingley in Leeds today. Gould finishes his career having umpired in 74 Tests, while India vs Sri Lanka match is his 140th ODI. [READ MORE]
With Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne building a crucial partnership for Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli brings his main man Jasprit Bumrah into the attack. Can he strike or will the pair resist his pace?
Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne add 45 runs in 74 balls to help Sri Lanka reach the 100-run mark. Can the duo take their team to a respectable total?
Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne try to bring the Sri Lankan innings back on track as the pair added 32 runs in 56 balls. While Mathews is playing on 22 off 37 balls, his partner Thirimanne is on 11 from 24 deliveries.
After pushing Sri Lanka on backfoot, the Indian bowlers will look to wrap up the innings quickly. Who'll be India's standout bowler today?
Angelo Mathews pushes the ball towards covers and tries to sneak a quick single. However, the decision backfires as Lahiru Thirimanne survives a run-out scare. Kohli quickly gets to the ball and throws it to Dhoni who whips the bails off but Thirimanne's dive saves him.
Hardik Pandya strikes as Avishka Fernando is caught behind on 20. Sri Lanka are in deep trouble as they lose their fourth wicket. It was a slower delivery and Fernando went early into his shot. The ball brushes his gloves and Dhoni completes a terrific diving catch to send the batsman back to the pavilion.
Ravindra Jadeja gets a wicket in his first over as MS Dhoni stumps Kusal Mendis on 3. Trouble for Sri Lanka as wickets keep tumbling at regular intervals. There was some flight in the ball, lurking the batsman to step out of the crease. However, the batsman fails to make a contact and in the end it was easy pickings for Dhoni.
Bumrah picks up his second wicket as Kusal Perera walks back to the pavilion on 18. Sri Lanka have lost both their openers. A perfect length delivery coming towards Perera and he tries to defend it. However, the ball takes an inside edge and once again MS Dhoni is back in action as he completes a smart catch.
A good length delivery by Bumrah and it hits Avishka Fernando on his pads. Bumrah goes for the appeal and Avishka Fernando is given out LBW. The batsman is not satisfied and he immediately takes the review. TV replay shows that the ball struck him on the back-thigh and is also missing the leg stump. Excellent review by the Sri Lankan batsman
A slight mix-up between Kuldeep and Hardik inside the circle and the former drops an easy catch. Kusal Perera should consider himself lucky. It was a good length delivery and the batsman tried to loft it over the bowler's head. However, he mistimes it and the ball balloons up in the air but the Indian fielders make a mess of it.
Jasprit Bumrah strikes as Sri Lankan skipper Karunaratne is caught behind on 10. The ball was pitched short and was angling away from the left-hander. Karunaratne went for the shot but was late on the cut and he gets a thickish outside edge, which goes straight into Dhoni's gloves. Bumrah now has 100 ODI wickets under his name.
After a maiden over Sri Lanka make amends in the very next over bowled by Bhuvneshwar. Twelve runs come off it as Sri Lanka reach 17/0 at the end of third over.
Excellent start by Jasprit Bumrah as Karunaratne fails to fetch a single run in his first over. The bowler has been the spine behind India's success at the ongoing World Cup.
Kusal Perera starts with a solid cover drive. It was a slightly pitched up delivery and he connects it with the middle of the bat as the ball races to the boundary over. End of first over, Sri Lanka are 5/0.
The pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera are out in the middle to start the Sri Lankan innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will start the proceedings for India.
It's a good feeling (to be back), didn't feel the niggle in the last match, that's a good start after injury. The first thing is to win and go into the semi finals with a winning momentum. As an individual, it's important to do well and go into the semis with confidence. The intensity is always there in any match of the World Cup, all the teams in this tournament are very good, any one can surprise us at any time, we need to be always at our best. Pace off the ball was important in the last match, since it was a used wicket. It's a good option on used wickets, else, we need different variations. We get inputs from the bowlers who bowl with the old ball since we bowl a lot with the new ball. It's important to bowl a few balls and then get to know about the conditions. He's (Malinga) a great of the game, if you look at his record, his variations, his committment to the game, I haven't played a lot against him, but whenever I did, I used to learn from him, especially his yorkers.
Sri Lanka have a better head-to-head record against the Men in Blue in the World Cup as the island nation have won 4 out of the eight matches that have been played so far. While India has won three, one of the clash got washed out.
Virat Kohli: We would have batted first as well, used pitch, will get slower as the match progresses. The team is doing well, we are striking a good balance at the right time. Two changes for us, one forced. Chahal has been rested and so is Shami. Kuldeep and Jadeja are in.
Dimuth Karunaratne: We will bat first. It was an obvious plan, it's a used wicket and will get slower and slower. We didn't capitalize in the first few games, but we then started to correct those mistakes and started to do well. One change, Thisara Perera replaces Vandersay
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne(c), Kusal Perera(w), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lasith Malinga
Sri Lanka win toss, elect to bat first
MS Dhoni has been heavily criticised for his lack of intent and will take the opportunity against Sri Lanka to break the shackles in the death overs. However, the former India skipper will be up against another veteran Lasith Malinga, who will be firing in at the block-hole or bowl his variations of slower deliveries.
Hello and welcome to the LIVE COVERAGE of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Despite being in a safe spot, the Indian unit will look to solve their middle-order crisis when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture in Leeds on Saturday. A win against Sri Lanka on Saturday will take India to the pole position on the points table, provided Australia lose their final game against South Africa.