MUMBAI – Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami produced lethal bowling spell guiding India to bag a high-margin victory of 302 runs over Sri Lanka in World Cup encounter in Mumbai on Thursday.
The Lankans were bowled out for 55 in pursuit of 358.
The Indian seamers ripped through the Lankan apart in the powerplay with Jasprit Bumrah dismissing opener Pathum Nissanka on his first delivery for golden duck.
Later, Mohammad Siraj removed three other batters from the top order in a remarkable early flurry of wickets.
Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne and Sadeera Samarawickrama all departed without scoring, with the two openers both falling to the first balls they faced.
Things went from bad to worse for Sri Lanka when Mohammed Shami took five wickets, devastating the middle and tail orders. Jadeja picked the final wicket to restrict the Lankans to 55.
Earlier, a strong partnership from Shubman Gill and Virat Kohlit helped India to post a challenging target of 358 runs for Sri Lanka.
Kohli and Gill stitched a mammoth 189-run stand for the second wicket after the Team Blue suffered an early blow when Dilshan Madushanka accounted for Rohit Sharma for four runs.
However, the wily Madushanka returned to pick their wickets before they could reach their centuries. However, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul ensured that India posted a giant target. India lost Rahul in the 40th over for 21 followed by Surya Kumar Yadav, who was dimissed for 12.
Madushanka completed the five-wicket haul when Shreyas Iyer was caught on the off side for 82 on his delivery. Ravindra Jadeja from tail order also played a fiery knock of 38 runs to boost the total in final overs.
A struggling Sri Lanka won toss and opted to bowl first against mighty India in 33rd match of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Pre-match coverage
India can lock in their spot in the knockout stages with victory over a Sri Lanka outfit needing to upset the hosts to keep their own hopes of progress alive at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
India are flying high as the only undefeated side after six comprehensive triumphs and are sitting pretty in top spot on the standings and on the brink of locking in their place in the knockout stage.
A seventh consecutive victory will ensure India are part of the pointy end of the tournament and allow them to fine-tune their line-up while also eyeing a first-place finish.
Sri Lanka were tipped to be one of the surprise packets of the tournament after powering into the final of the recent Asia Cup on home soil, though the crushing loss to India in that decider will surely remain in the back of their minds.
The 1996 champions were bundled out for only 50 when batting first in that match as Mohammed Siraj took 6/21, while India raced to the target in only 6.1 overs and with all 10 wickets in hand.
India also won their earlier clash at the same event, as well as all three ODIs when the two sides met in January this year, though the Sri Lanka XI is set to have a different look for this encounter.
Sri Lanka were hit hard by injuries before the tournament started, and it has only been made worse since it began with skipper Dasun Shanaka, Lahiru Kumara and Matheesha Pathirana all ruled out, but the remaining squad will have to find a way to cause an upset if they are to keep their hopes alive.
For India, pacer Jasprit Bumrah has arguably been the pick of the fast bowlers at the tournament so far with 13 wickets from India’s opening six matches.
The right-arm quick has claimed at least one scalp in each of those outings, with 3/32 against titleholders England in their last start including Dawid Malan and Joe Root in consecutive deliveries that put India back on track while defending a modest total.
Bumrah has also contained the opposition batters with an economy rate of 3.91 that has only been bettered by spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3.75), and another teammate in Ravichandran Ashwin (3.4) in his one match so far.
While Mohammed Shami has impressed since coming into the side for India’s past two matches, Bumrah remains the leader of the pace attack playing a crucial role in the host’s surge toward a semi-final.
On the other hand, Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka has been in fine form with the bat to give Sri Lanka firm foundations even while their fragile squad has been hit hard by injuries to key players.
Nissanka was on a streak of four consecutive fifties at the tournament and might have equalled the record with one more half-century if not for a faint edge when on 46 against Afghanistan.
The consistent 25-year-old now has 289 runs from six innings at the tournament and will likely need to turn another strong start into a ton if Sri Lanka are to cause an upset and give their semi-final hopes a huge boost.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav
Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne