ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 ongoing games results & news diary 5th edition
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka got off to a flying start as captain Dimuth Karunaratne made 97 and Kusal Perera 52 before he was clean bowled by the effervescent Starc.
However from thereon in it was more or less downhill all the way for The Lions. Thirimanne was caught behind by Aussie wicketkeeper Alex Carey for 16 off the bowling of Behrendorff and Kusal Mendis stuck around for 30 as his batting partners tumbled like ninepins. Mathews, Siriwardana and Thisara Perera; all of them gone for a grand total of 19. Only Dhananjaya battled on 16 not out but he too ran short of resources at the other end as another three wickets fell for just 9 runs.
It was Starc’s 4 for 55 and 3 for 47 from Kane Richardson that ripped Sri Lanka’s middle order out to leave them 247 all out in 45.5 overs as Australia took the spoils to win by 87 runs.
A fourth win from five games moved Australia temporarily a point clear of New Zealand at the top of the table. Sri Lanka’s second defeat in five games, with their previous two fixtures abandoned to rain without a ball being bowled, leaves them struggling for a semi-final place.
Saturday 15th June Game 2
South Africa reignited their World Cup ambitions, after three earlier losses and one abandoned match, with a nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan in Cardiff, Wales.
Double rain delays cut the match to 48 overs and the Proteas had a winless Afghanistan on the ropes more or less from the outset, then proceeded to squeeze them to a final total of 125 all out in just 34.1 of those overs.
Imran Tahir pounced twice in his first over to remove second-top scorer Noor Ali Zadran for 32 and then caught and bowled Afghan for a duck, followed by the wickets of Gulbadin for 5 and top scorer Rashid Khan on 35. Tahir ended up with 4 for 29, as Afghanistan lost five wickets for eight in 29 balls.
South Africa’s innings was pretty much a formality as Quinton de Kock hit a crisp 68 in 72 balls, while his opening partner Hashim Amla unbeaten on a steady 41and Phehlukwayo (17) saw the Proteas home, but perhaps given the rain, not home and dry. South Africa 131 for 1 in 28.4 overs won by 9 wickets (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method).
Sunday 16th June
India extended their run of victories over rivals Pakistan in yet another rain-affected World Cup match, although it proved a strangely muted conclusion to such an eagerly anticipated contest at Old Trafford.
Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed might have been excused a surreptitiously confident smile as he won the toss beneath grey Manchester clouds, able to put India in to bat under apparently ideal seam bowling conditions.
However having been given a golden chance Pakistan’s seamers were, with the exception of Amir, downright profligate. Rohit pulled short balls high into the stands, while deliveries on a length were glanced, pushed and patted around the field.
Meanwhile Rohit’s opening partner, KL Rahul, standing in for Shikhar Dhawan, was decidedly staid by comparison. As wildly cheering supporters watched Rohit, ready to hit anything that moved, slamming an unfortunate Hassan Ali flamboyantly through the off side, Rahul exhibited little if any fluency.
It was evident that the pair, together for the first time, were not gelling. Rohit was lucky not to be run out after a moment of halfway down the pitch confusion, only saved by an equally muddled Fakhar Zaman at mid-wicket hurling the ball to the wrong end. That said Rahul’s 57 in 78 balls, before being caught off the bowling of Wahab Riaz, was a decent contribution to the Men in Blue’s total.
It was a packed and expectant crowd, and Rohit did not disappoint, taking leg-spinner Shadab Khan to the cleaners with 17 runs from the first over to reach his fastest one-day half-century in buccaneering style. Rohit was simply unstoppable until the 39th over when he was caught by Wahab for a magnificent 140 which included 94 in boundaries, with captain Virat Kohli as the support act eventually caught behind on 77 by Sarfaraz off the bowling of Mohammad Amir.
Amir took 3 for 47, but India posted an impressive total of 336 for 5 in 50 overs.
Pakistan valiantly took up their run chase of 337 in front of a bouncing crowd but crumbled to 166 for 6 before a rain delay interrupted proceedings. Imam ul-Haq out lbw to Shankar for 7, Fakhar and Babar put on a lively 62 and 48 respectively but were both out by the halfway stage of the innings to the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav. Then the wickets of Hafeez were gone in the same over for a joint contribution of nine, and Sarfaraz was stomping back to the dressing room before the heavens opened out for 12.
The downpour saw The Men in Green’s target recalculated to a further 136 runs required from 30 balls – a nigh on impossible ask when play resumed 55 minutes later. Nevertheless, Imad Wazim batting at seven ended up not out on an impressive 46 and Shadab Khan unbeaten on 20. Pakistan final score 212 for 6 lose to India by 89 runs (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method).
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What was billed as the standout incendiary game of this World Cup, did indeed enjoy a sell-out crowd, and attracted over 700,000 additional ticket seekers plus a one billion strong TV audience, but ended with a whimper; Pakistan faced with a hopeless task playing in front of a half-empty stadium.
Monday 17th June
Shakib Al Hasan’s epic 124 not out gave Bangladesh the platform to complete the second highest run chase in World Cup history that resulted in a commanding seven-wicket win over West Indies at Taunton.
West Indies posted a relatively robust total of 321 for 8 in their 50 overs. A solid Windies innings founded upon a resolute 96 from Shai Hope, a sizzling boundary-rich 70 from Evin Lewis’ along with Shimron Hetmyer’s maximum-damage 50 in 26 balls; rounded off by a useful 52 runs from the combined efforts of captain Jason Holder and Darren Bravo.
Bangladesh with a target of 322 to clinch the game started with genuine momentum, but then lost two quick wickets to leave the match finely balanced at 133 for 3 off 19 overs. Then Shakib began to demolish a West Indies’ pace attack seemingly stuck in second gear, romping to his second successive century of the tournament off 83 balls; his partnership with Liton Das growing to 189 in the meantime. For the most part, Das had played a calm measured innings until he decided to cut loose without warning and launched Shannon Gabriel into the stands for six off three consecutive deliveries.
World Cup debutant, Das, ended with a superb, unbeaten fizzing 94 struck off 69 balls; fittingly it was he who took The Tigers over the line via a silky four with 51 balls still in the bag. Bangladesh 322 for 3 in 41.3 overs won by 7 wickets and up to fifth in the table.
Tuesday 18th of June
England captain Eoin Morgan produced a stunning display of boundary hitting to break the record for the number of sixes landed in a one-day international to take his side to a 150-run World Cup win over Afghanistan.
The Old Trafford crowd were delirious in Manchester as the England skipper smashed 17 sixes within his score of 148 from 71 balls, yes that is an outrageous 102 runs worth. His audacious and highly entertaining effort eclipsing the previous best of 16, held jointly between Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Rohit Sharma. Plus the icing on the cake as the tournament hosts’ accumulation of 25 sixes in the match also set a new record for any team in an ODI innings.
Jonny Bairstow hit 90 and Joe Root 88 as England amassed 397 for 6 in the innings, their highest total ever in a World Cup match, overtaking the 386 for 6 they heaped on Bangladesh only 10 days earlier.
Sadly there was never any threat of Afghanistan coming remotely close to mounting a competitive run-chase. They ended their fifty overs on 247 for 8 to lose by 150 runs. This was Afghanistan’s fifth loss in the tournament while England topped the group table overnight.
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