Sri Lanka beat West Indies
ICC Men’s World Cup Cricket 2019 at Emirates Riverside, Chester-le-Street
Sri Lanka Vs West Indies
Sri Lanka 338-6 (50 ov) D Karumnaratne 32 off 48, 4 fours, K Perera 64 off 51, 8 fours, Avishka Fernando 104 off Kusal Mendis 39 off 41, Thirimanne 45 off 33, 4 four, Cottrell 1-69, Thomas 1-58, Holder 2-59, Allen 1-44.
West Indies 315-9 (50 0v) Gayle 35 off 48,1 four, 2 sixes, Pooran 118 off 103, 11 four, four six, Allen 51 off 32, 7 fours, 1 six, Malinga 3-55, Rajitja 1-76, Vandersay 1-50, Mathews 1-6
West Indies won the toss and decided to field.
Sri Lanka won by 23 runs
Although both teams know that they could not qualify for semi-finals, Sri Lanka set 339 for West Indies to a record run chase after a maiden century from Avishka Fernando.
Windies were 84-4 in the 18th over, but Nicholas Pooran played some magnificent shots in his 118 ably supported by Fabian Allen 51 but fell short 23 runs.
They needed 31 from the last three overs, Pooran was caught behind as West Indies closed on 315-9, Lasith Malinga claiming 3-55.
West Indies who lost by five runs to New Zealand after centurion Brathwaite attempted to win the match a sic and was caught on boundary had another narrow defeat against Sri Lanka.
Malinga struck twice in his opening three overs, it was the brilliance of Pooran from Trinidad looked set to rescue the mercurial Windies, who had pop star Rihanna from Barnbados cheering them from the stands.
Sri Lankan captain Dimuth Karunaratne “ To win any match is great feeling . It gives us lots of confidence . All of the players are doing really well. That is what I was expecting as a captain. Angelo put his hands up and said “Ok I will bowl two overs.” He has that confidence . He did the job. I don’t think he is going to bowl much more, but if it is a crucial time he might bowl a couple of overs”.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder:” We started slowly out of the blocks, we gave up a lot of runs in the field and that really hurts you. We were sloppy. We have to be better. This entire tournament we have let key moments slip. I felt 338 was about par, it was free-scoring. It was a matter of us getting in and playing some shots . Pooran had an outstanding knock. He give himself a chance and went deep. The run-outs were crucial. We were one or two partnerships away.”