World Cup 2019: West Indies v Sri Lanka Match Report
World Cup 2019, West Indies vs Sri Lanka: Nicholas Pooran’s excellent century goes in vain as Angelo Mathews pulls out Sri Lanka from Lion’s cage.
MATCH 39: WEST INDIES VS SRI LANKA SCORECARD
Sri Lanka: 338-6 in 50 overs | Won by 23 runs
Avishka Fernando: 104(103) | Kusal Perera: 64(51) | Jason Holder: 2-59
West Indies: 315-9 in 50 overs
Nicholas Pooran: 118(103) | Fabian Allen: 51(32) | Lasith Malinga: 3-55
Player of the Match: Avishka Fernando
MATCH SUMMARY:
World Cup 2019, West Indies vs Sri Lanka: A fantastic century from the young, Avishka Fernando overpowers another fantastic century by the young, Nicholas Pooran as Sri Lanka defeat West Indies by 23 runs.
With zero expectations from the dead rubber, both teams play their best cricket of this World Cup as they delivered a thriller to remember.
Batting first, Sri Lanka once again had a fantastic start as the openers added 93 for the first wicket in 15.2 overs.
Surprisingly, the Sri-Lankan middle-order, which has given a mediocre performance this World Cup finally rose from the ashes as the third and fourth wicket partnership added 84 runs and 58 runs respectively.
Avishka Fernando, meanwhile, played a superb knock as he became the youngest Sri Lankan to score a century in the World Cups.
Courtesy to his fabulous century, Sri Lanka managed to post 338-6 in 50 overs, their highest score in England.
THE CHASE
Chasing a mammoth 339, West Indies needed a fantastic start, which they lacked throughout the tournament. But, West Indies being West Indies had a poor start once again as they were reduced to 22-2 in 6 overs.
Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, and Jason Holder then played decent cameos, but just couldn’t carry on as West Indies managed were stumbling at 199-6 in 34.3 overs.
The turning point of the match came in the 35th over, when Fabian Allen joined Nicholas Pooran at the crease.
The duo played attacking cricket as they added an 83 runs partnership in just 58 balls. In the process, Fabian Allen recorded his half-century in just 31 balls.
After Allen’s wicket, Nicholas Pooran gave West Indies some hope as his 118(103) took the game deeper leaving West Indies just 31 to get from last 4 overs.
But, West Indies were probably destined to lose as Angelo Mathews, who bowled his first over of the tournament got Pooran’s wicket out of nowhere; thus tilting the game completely in Sri Lanka’s favor.
In the end, Sri Lanka won the match by 23 runs as Lasith Malinga bowled an awesome spell of 3-55 in 10 overs.
KEY MOMENTS?
- Kusal Perera’s shocking run-out in the 19th over.
- Fabian Allen’s ‘brain fade’ run-out that changed the momentum of the chase.
- Angelo Mathews’s first ball of the tournament, that produced the wicket of the dangerous, Nicholas Pooran.
NEXT MATCH:
MATCH 40: INDIA VS BANGLADESH
Place: Birmingham
Date: July 2, 2019
Time: 3 pm IST
After witnessing their first defeat, Team India would be wanting to get back to winning ways. Meanwhile, Bangladesh would be looking to stay alive in the tournament.
ALSO READ: World Cup 2019: Semi-final qualification scenarios for all the teams
Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics.
Cricket to him is like what ‘Football is to Lionel Messi’, ‘Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar’, ‘Dancing is to Michael Jackson’, and what ‘Acting is to Clint Eastwood’.
Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.
