Rohit Sharma hit his fifth century of the World Cup as India eased past Sri Lanka by seven wickets in their final group game at Headingley on Saturday.
Sri Lanka scored 264 for seven in their 50 overs, with Angelo Mathews hitting 113.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. But Sharma, who made 103, and KL Rahul rarely looked troubled during the chase, putting on 189 for the first wicket as India reached their target with more than six overs to spare. (AFP, Leeds)
India inching towards big victory
India openers -- KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma -- are making a challenging 265-run chase against Sri Lanka at Headingly in Leeds look easy.
The duo have strung together an ongoing 160-run opening stand between them. While Sharma has reached 89 off just 81 balls, featuring 12 boundaries and two sixes, his partner Rahul has scored a 76-ball 69. India are inching closer to huge victory in their last group stage game of the World Cup.
Mathews ton helps Sri Lanka post challenging 264 for seven
Sri Lanka posted a challenging 264 for seven, courtesy of a brilliant century from all-rounder Angelo Mathews against India at Headingly in Leeds today.
After electing to bat, Sr Lanka lost four quick wickets and were left reeling on 55 for four in the 12th over. It was then Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne, who strung together a 124-run fifth-wicket stand to steady the ship. Although Thirimanne was dismissed after scoring 53 off 68 balls in the 38th over, Mathews went on to script another 74-run sixth-wicket partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva before finally being dismissed after a valiant 113 off 128 balls. Sri Lanka then went on to put on a challenging 264 for seven as de Silva remained unbeaten on 29.
India sent to bowl against Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first against India at Leeds.
Kohli said he would have batted first too. "The team is really striking a good balance, it's about performing at the big times." said the Indian skipper.
The match between India and Sri Lanka will have no effect on the top four as Australia, England, New Zealand and India have already qualified. However, there is still a lot to play for as Sri Lanka would look to end their campaign in high. India having already qualified would look to try out new combinations before their semi-final match.
India lost only one match in the tournament to England and won the rest seven whereas Sri Lanka got only three wins, against Afghanistan, England and West Indies. Their win against England did open the race for all teams to qualify for the top three, but in the end, the expected four qualified as New Zealand was the last to seal their as a result of higher net run rate.
Playing XIs:
India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera (wk), 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Thisara Perera.
More to follow……
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