Match report
So, another World Cup match ends early and with its result almost never in doubt. That said, sometimes you have to sit back and admire cricketing excellence – and Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami produced that in spades today. As did Sri Lanka’s excellent seam bowler Dilshan Madushanka to be fair, with a fine spell of Test match-style potency; I do hope we get to see him in England next summer.
Anyway, that’s us done for today. See you’se all tomorrow for Netherlands v Afghanistan, a match that, four weeks ago, might have been pegged as a nailed-on dead rubber but is in fact now full of relevance and intrigue. Looking forward to it. Thanks for reading and for all your emails amid the wicket-tumbling carnage, of which there was so much I never had enough time to play the short(ish) Pink Floyd track John Starbuck sent me. Never mind. It’s been a pleasure. Bye.
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Some words from the captains:
Kusal Mendis, who must want to run away screaming, fronts up to Mike Atherton. “I’m very disappointed with the performance and myself; l also thought the guys bowled really well at points,” he says. As for that questionable toss decision, Mendis adds: “I can’t say whether I’d have done it differently, I thought [the pitch] would play a little slow and be hard to play early on. Madusuhanka bowled really well in the first hour and middle overs but sometimes the game is difficult and you miss some chances – maybe [the game] is changed by these. They were hard chances. Their guys then bowled really well in the first six overs, give them credit today for their fast-bowling unit.” He insists he remains confident for what remains of an almost-certainly doomed campaign. “We have another two games – bangladesh and New Zealand – and we’ll come in strong for them.”
A very happy Rohit Sharma follows him. “I’m very happy,” he chirps. “To know we’ve officially qualified now shows a good effort from the entire squad – this was the goal for us first of all in all how we approached these seven games. We’ve been quite clinical, everyone put in the effort, we wanted individuals to stand up and they have.Reflecting on the impressive showings today of players who hadn’t done much previously, he says: “Shreyas {Iyer] is a very strong lad strong in his mind and went out today and did what he’s known for – taking on the bowlers and the challenge in front of him. Siraj can swing the ball, he’s got a lot of skills when operating with the new ball. It shows the quality of the seamers to put in a performance against England and here like that. I hope they continue to do it that way.”
Next comes the biggie, and a potential final dress-rehearsal: “South Africa are playing some good cricket and so are we – so it’s going to be a great spectacle for the people of Kolkata.”
Mohammed Shami is player of the match. From a crowded field, the five-wicket hero is picked as today’s top dog. He was magnificent, though Siraj and Bumrah – for that first over alone – were also good shouts. Shami praises the support of both his fellow bowlers and a buoyant crowd.
“As an England man through and through,” confesses Jeremy Boyce, “it is comforting to see that someone is going to get a worse shellacking than the one NZ gave us in the opening match. All the same, it is sad to see this kind of thing, like watching France beat Namibia 72 - 0. Where’s the fun?”
There’s a bit more fun than the rugby example you state, I think. Sri Lanka have some good, competitive cricketers – Madushanka’s bowling demonstrated that – and just from a cricket purist’s perspective, watching Kohli, Gill and Iyer bat and Bumrah, Shami and Siraj bowl today has been a delight and a privilege. Though India’s dominance of cricket, on and off the pitch, might be an issue examined more critically and in greater depth in other moments.
Wicket! Madushanka c Iyer b Jadeja 5, Sri Lanka all out 55. India win by 302 runs
19.4 overs: Sri Lanka 55 (Theeksana 12*), target 358. Spin at both ends now, as Jadeja replaces record-breaker Shami, and he’s creamed through the covers straight away by Madushanka – classy batting from Sri Lanka’s best bowler. But that’s all we’re gonna get from him, as he slogs up in the air and is taken easily at mid-off by Jadeja to end the match. India are mathematically through to a semi-final place that has seemed theirs from the very start. Seven out of seven.
19th over: Sri Lanka 51-9 (Theeksana 12, Madushanka 1), target 358. Kuldeep has two slips in – proper Test match field – as Theeksana gives Sri Lanka the desultory consulation of reaching 50 with a push to mid-off. Madushanka is kept honest with some probing bowling but manages a drive for one to get off the mark.
Wicket! Rajitha c Gill b Shami 14
18th over: Sri Lanka 49-9 (Theeksana 11), target 358. Rajitha is batting well, leaning back and creaming a cover drive off Shami for four. Batting conditions are getting easier at a time when Sri Lanka’s best batters have long missed their chance of benefiting from them. Rajitha flicks another two on the legside but the fun ends there, as a tired slashed edge is gobbled up by second slip to give Shami a five-wicket haul and India’s World Cup record tally.
Some FanBantz:
Barmy Army watching #INDvSL be like😭
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) November 2, 2023
Meme credit: @fergus_costello #CWC23 #BharatArmy pic.twitter.com/sJE7d357ej
17th over: Sri Lanka 43-8 (Theeksana 11, Rajitha 8), target 358. Was just wondering whether Rohit would let his spinners turn their arms over, and on comes Kuldeep in place of Siraj – who’ll be held back for the death overs now. Rajitha squirts a single to backward point off one that turns away encouragingly and Theekshana is then beaten by a quicker ball. What a bowling attack this is.
16th over: Sri Lanka 42-8 (Theeksana 11, Rajitha 7), target 358. Shami, now India’s joint record wicket-taker in World Cups, continues in search of a five-fer. Rajitha nudges a single off his hips before Theeksana sends an elegant straight drive past the bowler for four – lovely shot. And it means Sri Lanka have now avoided the ignominy of suffering the heaviest-ever ODI defeat in this match. Small footsteps
15th over: Sri Lanka 37-8 (Theeksana 7, Rajitha 6), target 358. A confident cut by Rajitha off Siraj behind square for one takes Sri Lanka above the World Cup lowest-ever. It’s the only run of the over but this is the most comfortable and confident-looking partnership of Sri Lanka’s innings.
14th over: Sri Lanka 36-8 (Theeksana 7, Rajitha 5), target 358. Sri Lanka need to get to 41 to avoid suffering the biggest-ever losing margin in ODIs here. That cause is jolted badly when Shami scatters Matthews’ stumps. But Rajitha boosts Sri Lanka’s chances of avoiding ignominy with a decent cover drive for four first ball before being cut in half by a back-of-a-length inswinger. They run a bye after Rahul fumbles. Another couple of singles and Sri Lanka are motoring, now level with the lowest-ever World Cup score.
Wicket! Matthews b Shami 12, Sri Lanka 29 for 8
First-change bowler Shami has four! He castles Matthews ruthlessly – and we won’t be detained much longer.
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13th over: Sri Lanka 29-7 (Matthews 12, Theeksana 6), target 358. Ben Barnards helpfully writes in to tell us that the record low ODI score is 35, from Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in 2004, and by USA against Nepal in 2020. So all to play for here. Matthews pushes a single against Siraj but Theeksana can’t work him away initially, awkwardly playing out two dots before producing the shot of Sri Lanka’s innings with a firm square drive for four. He follows that up with a similar one for two more.
Sri Lanka won’t want to be reminded that the record winning margin in an ODI is held by India, against them, only this year.
12th over: Sri Lanka 22-7 (Matthews 11,Theeksana 0), target 358. We have a pause in play as Unicef ambassador Sachin Tendulkar invites the crowd to “turn the whole stadium blue” as part of the “One Day 4 Children” for children’s rights. And the Wankhede is duly lit up with luminous blue wristbands – a gesture of altruism in a world gone bad, particularly for its young.
Anyway Shami continues and continues to ask questions, as Matthews inside-edges uncertainly to square leg for a single. A wide takes Extras into double figures – but Shami suspects a tickle, reviews for a caught behind, and his suspicions are vindicated. Chameera is another out for a duck. The new man, Theekshana, is greeted with yet another lovely outswinger. Shami has three for one.
“Hi Tom. Time for you to reschedule all your canceled plans for the evening,” says V Krishnamoorthy, paying me the compliment of assuming I have any sort of social life to rearrange. What with the Michael Bevan thing from Rob, now this, my fragile ego has had quite the boost today.
Wicket! Chameera c Rahul b Shami 0
When you’re hot you’re hot. Shami angles one down the legside. The umpire calls it wide. Shami calls it out, via a legside tickle. The review confirms Shami’s version of events – wicket No 7 falls.
11th over: Sri Lanka 21-6 (Matthews 10, Chameera 0), target 358. Siraj isn’t being kept out of this – he’s on at the other end now. Matthews flicks to deep midwicket to move to the brink of double-figures and he then brings up his 10, courtesy of a rare misfield. They then pick up a boundary – but this, too, is a fine delivery, a searing scrambled-seam inswinger that cuts Chameera in half and beats the keeper for four byes – 7 (seven) from the over! The fightback’s on.
10th over: Sri Lanka 14-6 (Matthews 7, Chameera 0), target 358. Shami is invited to join the fun and the attack, and how! He strikes third ball. Then Hemantha, in the side today for Dananjaya, lasts one ball, edging lazily behind to put Shami on a hat-trick. Three slips are in for the new man, Chameera, who plays out a back-of-a-length ball to survive his first ball. He does similar to survive his second. Just the double-wicket maiden to start Shami off.
This is the first time in this World Cup that five wickets have fallen in the first 10 overs.
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Wicket! Hemantha c Rahul b Shami 0
Another tempter outside off, the batter takes the bait and edges behind to the keeper. Shami is on a hat-trick
Wicket! Asalanka c Jadeja b Shami 1, Sri Lanka 14-5
Asalanka finally plays an attacking shot, and belts it straight to Jadeja at backward point.
9th over: Sri Lanka 14-4 (Asalanka 1, Matthews 7), target 358. Ball makes contact with bat! Admittedly it’s an edged squirt to deep backward square that was nowhere near where Matthews intended it to go, but it brings him a single. Asalanka has to remain defensive against this standard of bowling though before finally getting off the mark – off his 21st ball! – with a push to mid-on.
NS Nigam emails in with an example of why our own Rob might be worth tapping up for the lottery numbers, with a reminder of what he said late in India’s innings: “A single off Madushanka make this Shreyas Iyer’s highest score of the World Cup. All India need now is a Mohammed Siraj five-for and they’ll have everyone in form.”
8th over: Sri Lanka 12-4 (Asalanka 0, Matthews 6), target 358. This is like the opening hour of a Test match, with batters reluctant to hit out at anything against a rampant attack – and they’re struggling to get bat on ball anyway. Siraj sends down a bouncer at Asalanka and follows up with a spot of verbals with Matthews at the non-striker’s end. Rohit must be tempted to let this pair bowl out their full 10 each here. Another maiden.
7th over: Sri Lanka 12-4 (Asalanka 0, Matthews 4), target 358. The crowd are doing a “5-4-3-2-1” countdown as Bumrah comes in to bowl. Matthews works him away nicely for two before the bowler errs with a rare wide. Nowt wrong with the rest of the over though, including another outswinger that Matthews nibbles uncertainly at and misses.
“I think India vs SA at Kolkata is shaping to be the final before the final. Unless SA choke against Australia in their SF?” says Arul Kanhere. “Who is to say Pakistan can’t pull off a blinder by knocking India out. That will be some upset.” That strikes me as extraordinarily unlikely, and therefore not beyond Pakistan. And history suggests that one of India or SA are headed for a semi-final choke.
6th over: Sri Lanka 9-4 (Asalanka 0, Matthews 4), target 358. There’s everything a fast-bowling connoiseur wants to see here – movement, pace, variety, accuracy, as Siraj has Matthews hopping back to backward-defensive out the first ball of the over. The third is a wide, mind, down legside – too much ••••ing variety. Another extra ensues when Matthews is hit on the pad – Siraj ambitiously appeals but it’s clearly wide of leg-stump and they run the leg-bye. Siraj wraps up another fine over with an unplayable outswinger that Asalanka plays at and misses.
Of the 33 games at this tournament (including today), only nine have been won by the team that won the toss. Coins, who needs ‘em, in the cashless society we are in-part becoming?
5th over: Sri Lanka 7-4 (Asalanka 0, Matthews 4), target 358. Bumrah serves up another maiden, with his probing length and line, and movement off the seam and in the warm evening air. Asalanka can only play out six dots and be grateful for them. I think Sri Lanka are a tad behind the rate here.
4th over: Sri Lanka 7-4 (Asalanka 0, Matthews 4), target 358. The mayhem continues as Siraj picks up his third with a beauty to bowl the Sri Lanka captain. This is as good and penetrative new-ball seam bowling as you will ever see with a white cricket ball. The man we’re contractually obliged to preface with “wily old campaigner”, Angelo Mathews, is now in – and what a lot of wilyness Sri Lanka need. He plays out four threatening dots before a nicely timed clip through midwicket BRINGS A FOUR. Siraj’s figures are 2-1-3-4 – and he’s someone who’s by no means a guaranteed starter in this team.
Has anyone got a quick WinViz update on Sri Lanka’s chances?
Wicket! Mendis b Siraj 1, Sri Lanka 3-4!
This is getting ridiculous. Siraj castles Mendis without an absolute beauty, not dissimilar to the one Madushanka got Rohit with earlier, banged in, nipping away, knocking back off stump.
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3rd over: Sri Lanka 3-3 (Mendis 1, Asalanka 0), target 358.Bumrah’s threat is constant, and he almost induces Mendis to play on with a quicker delivery. Then he pins him on the pads, his appeal is turned down, a cocksure India review. It’s slanted in at him and is going down leg. But it was one of those that looked worth a shout in real time. Then Mendis finally gets off the mark with a flick towards fine leg.
Hard to think about anything else amid this hubbub but Jeremy Boyce has some more thoughts about the State Of Things:
“Thinking about your point about the non-levelling up of international cricket, let’s look back at the 2003 OD World Cup. 14 teams were present, as opposed to the 10 this time, so it’s obviously harder for the tier 2 teams to make a mark if they’re not actually playing. The big change has been the emergence of Afghanistan, replacing Zimbabwe at the top table. But hats off to the Cloggies/Dutch, who are there this time as part of the top table, whereas they were only part of the 4 ‘extras’ in 2003.
Cricket is in a similar situation to rugby, there are plenty of decent teams knocking at the door, but the big teams don’t want to let them in, the schedules are already too crowded. But the best way for smaller nation teams to progress is more regular games v the top table mob, not just the odd match here and there, and a WC every four years....look at the analysis and comments about England not having a settled team, that they all used to know each other inside out and therefore the wheels turned more efficiently, but not this time. This suggests it is not so much about a superstar in every team, more that it’s a proper ‘team’ game with everybody understanding and fulfilling their role.”
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2nd over: Sri Lanka 2-3 (Mendis 0, Asalanka 0), target 358. How many times in ODIs have both opening batters been out first ball? Well it’s happened jere as Karunaratne is pinned lbw. He’s almost on a hat-trick too, as Samarawickrama is given out first ball, wafting outside off and the on-field umpire giving it out. But the review showed no contact with the bat. But Siraj is not to be denied, and gets his man fourth-ball instead.
Wicket! Samaawickrama c Iyer b Siraj 0, Sri Lanka 2-3
Carnage! Samarawickrama, having survived a review first bnall, goes fourth ball, hacking to the extra slip.
Wicket! Karunaratne lbw b Siraj 0, Sri Lanka 2-2
Is another opener out first ball? He is. Siraj brings one in to the left-handed Karunaratne, hits him on the right pad. The batter reviews but it’s to no avail – this, too, is rapping middle.
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1st over: Sri Lanka 2-1 (Karunaratne 0, Mendis 0). We are privileged to be living in Jasprit Bumrah’s time. Pandemonium as Bumrah snares Nissanka with the first ball of the innings – it’s a brilliant away-nipper that is slanted in and holds its line. Then he greets the new man, the captain Mendis, with a wide-ish one down the legside that’s brilliantly taken by Rahul behind the stumps. The next one is similar before another absolute jaffa is seamed past his outside edge. Then Bumrah nearly strikes again as his slower ball prompts Mendis to offer a caught and bowled chance that just pops over the bowler’s head. Just a brilliant opening over.
“358 is not a daunting score to chase,” scoffs V Krishanmoorthy. “It starts looking like one when you see the human catapult aka Bumrah runs in.......” In other words, it is a daunting score. None more daunting.
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Wicket! Nissanka lbw b Bumrah 0
Is Nissanka out first ball here? He is! Nissanka is struck on the right knee roll, the finger goes up straight away, and review confirms it was hitting the top of middle. A sensational start from a sensational bowler and one of Sri Lanka’s too-few form men is gone.
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The players are on their way back out …
Stat-gasm dept: Here’s a thing: In the first 12 World Cups, from 1975-2019, there were seven instances of a captain from a Test-playing nation fielding first and conceding 350+. Today is the seventh time it has happened in this tournament alone.
Just wondering how this dovetails with the fact that this has been the most day/night-heavy World Cup I can recall. Very few games have been played entirely in daylight.\
Here’s another top stat courtesy of India’s most devout:
Highest ODI total by India without a 💯
— The Bharat Army (@thebharatarmy) November 2, 2023
3️⃣5️⃣7️⃣/8️⃣ vs SL - Mumbai, 2023*
3️⃣5️⃣1️⃣/5️⃣ vs WI - Tauroba, 2023#INDvSL #CWC23
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Talking of 1995-2005, Sky is showing a Sachin Tendulkar retrospective, albeit reminding us too of how horribly India choked in the 2003 final. Sachin’s innings against Pakistan in that tournament was quite the thing of majesty.
Cheers, as ever, Rob, and thanks for the compliment (though could do with an Andy Bichel figure at the other end, which is where you, the OBO faithful, come in). But riffing on a figure from the turn of the millennium enables me to crank out my old pub-bore theory that 1995-2005 was the golden age of international cricket. Every team had an all-time great during this period, standards rose and the gap between sides narrowed.
Perhaps no one embodied this more than Sri Lanka, who are one of a number of sides who’ve underperformed in this World Cup (see also Pakistan, Bangladesh and of course England). Perhaps this is all just a reflection of the uncertain status of 50-over cricket at the moment. Anyway, it looks as if India are swaggering towards a seventh straight win and Sri Lanka need to show some consistent batting than they did bowling (some of which was excellent but not plentiful enough to exert pressure).
Still, their only two wins have come when chasing and perhaps they’ll click. So stick around, send thoughts, random stuff about music, whatever (though you’ll get no Pink Floyd blether from me, a pop-crazed youngster who balks at songs longer than five minutes max, unless it’s Rappers’ Delight or something).
That’s all from me. Tom Davies, the Michael Bevan of the Guardian sports desk, is ready to talk you through Sri Lanka’s historic runchase/predictable collapse. You can email him here.
Thanks for your company. See you for New Zealand v Pakistan on Saturday: 4.30am UK time, don’t be late.
Talking of which, here’s Shreyas Iyer’s verdict
It was a pretty good pitch to bat on. Our openers and Virat steadied the ship so that we could come out and really express ourselves. That [second-wicket] partnership was of paramount importance. We got a message that the ball was holding a bit, especially the slower ones, so we had to look for that delivery rather than premeditating shots.
That’s another tale of what might have beem for Sri Lanka. Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli punished them for early dropped catches, and the fielding was scruffy throughout. The bowling held up pretty well in the face of a ferocious assault, with Dilshan Madushanka hoodwinking five of India’s celebrated top six.
India will be happy with that total on an occasionally awkward pitch, and even happier that the two batters most in need of runs got them. Shubman Gill stroked a run-a-ball 92 before Shreyas Iyer spanked six sixes in a 56-ball 82.
Sri Lanka need 358 to win
50th over: India 357-8 (Jadeja run out 35) Ravindra Jadeja is run out off the final ball of the innings. Rajitha has had a tough day but he used his variations beautifully to keep India to just five from the last over.
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WICKET! India 355-7 (Shami run out 2)
Mohammed Shami tries to get Jadeja on strike and is run out by the keeper. Three balls remaining.
49th over: India 352-6 (Jadeja 31, Shami 2) Jadeja hurries India past 350, smoking Chameera over long-on for six. He is (very) quietly having an excellent tournament with the bat: average 79, strike rate 101. He’s the No7 for all occasions, from nervy runchases to festivals of death-hitting.
48th over: India 339-6 (Jadeja 19, Shami 1) Madushanka ends with peculiar figures of 10-0-80-5. It’s the most expensive five-for in World Cup history, and the second most expensive overall. But this is no Patterson Thompson tribute: he bowled superbly, with intensity, skill and intelligence. Without him India would probably have made 400.
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WICKET! India 333-6 (Shreyas Iyer c Theekshana b Madushanka 82)
Shreyas Iyer could yet make a century here. He picks Madushanka’s slower short ball and mullers it into the crowd at midwicket. Another mighty straight six makes it consecutive sixes and takes him into the eighties with 16 balls still remaining.
Madushanka is doing the death bowler’s hokey cokey: over the wicket, then around, then back over. But it pays off in the end. A very wide slower ball is sliced miles in the air by Shreyas Iyer, and Theekshana steadies himself in the covers to take the catch.
Shreyas goes for a confidence-boosting 82 from 56 balls, with six sixes, and the outstanding Madushanka has a five-for. He looks like the real deal.
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47th over: India 320-5 (Iyer 70, Jadeja 14) Iyer reacts beautifully to glide a full toss from Chameera between backward point and short third man for four.
Sri Lanka’s poor fielding performance continues with a needless overthrow. A selection of ones and twos make it 11 from the over. India’s running has been very good all day; Jadeja is going at a run a ball yet he hasn’t hit a boundary.
46th over: India 309-5 (Iyer 61, Jadeja 12) A boundaryless over from Rajitha. That’s all Sri Lanka can ask for at this stage, I guess. But it feels like India already have more than enough.
45th over: India 304-5 (Iyer 59, Jadeja 10) A quicker yorker from Theekshana goes through Mendis’s legs for four byes. Shreyas waves his bat to suggest he got a touch, but the umpire is not for turning. Replays aren’t conclusive, though my hunch is he did nick it.
Theekshana ends a hard afternoon’s work with figures of 10-0-67-0.
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44th over: India 295-5 (Iyer 56, Jadeja 8) A single off Madushanka make this Shreyas Iyer’s highest score of the World Cup. All India need now is a Mohammed Siraj five-for and they’ll have everyone in form.
43rd over: India 288-5 (Iyer 53, Jadeja 5) Shreyas slices Theekshana past slip for four to reach an important fifty – for him more than the team. Given his relatively modest form this has been an impressively dominant innings: 36 balls, two fours and four sixes, including the biggest six of the tournament.
42nd over: India 279-5 (Iyer 46, Jadeja 3) Madushanka is so impressive with both the new ball and old. He got a bit carried away this morning after castling Rohit Sharma with a jaffa, but his last two spells have been exemplary. Overall he has figures of 8-0-54-4.
WICKET! Sri Lanka 276-5 (Suryakumar c Mendis b Madushanka 12)
Dilshan Madushanka is now the World Cup’s leading wicket-taker with 17. Suryakumar was cramped for room by a bouncer from round the wicket that brushed the glove on its way through to Mendis. Paul Reiffel said not out but Mendis was so confident that he reviewed and celebrated at the same time. There was a slight spike on UltraEdge as the ball passed the glove, so Suryakumar goes for a nine-ball 12.
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41st over: India 274-4 (Iyer 45, Suryakumar 11) That’s 72 unforced errors four sixes for Shreyas Iyer. This is another biggie, 89 metres back over Theekshana’s head. He’s closing in on his highest score of the tournament, the unbeaten 53 against Pakistan.
40th over: India 264-4 (Iyer 38, Suryakumar 8) Suryakumar drives the next ball whence it came for four, because he can. He’s the last person you want to bowl to with 10 overs remaining on a hot day and the score already past 250.
Suryakumar is not out! Nothing on UltraEdge, as you were.
39.5 overs: India 260-4 (Iyer 38, Suryakumar 4) Sri Lanka review for caught behind when Suryakumar has a waft at Chameera. He seems quite relaxed about it all. We’ll soon find out whether he nicked it.
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WICKET! India 256-4 (Rahul c Hemantha b Chameera 21)
Gottim! That’s a deserved wicket for Chameera, who has had no luck today. KL Rahul checked a drive straight to extra cover and walked off shaking his head. Kohli was out in similar fashion, which suggests a pitch that isn’t entirely trustworthy.
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39th over: India 255-3 (Iyer 37, Rahul 21) I don’t know whether the match situation has liberated Shreyas, because he has played aggressively for most of the tournament, but maybe it has relaxed him. He tries a scoop off Theekshana, though he doesn’t time it and gets two runs rather than four. Another decent over from Theekshana – seven from it, but no boundaries.
38th over: India 247-3 (Iyer 32, Rahul 19) Shreyas edges Chameera just wide of the diving Mendis for four. A single brings up the fifty partnership in 38 balls – and that was after a slow start.
37th over: India 240-3 (Iyer 27, Rahul 17) Theekshana restores a bit of order with five successive dot balls to Shreyas Iyer.
36th over: India 239-3 (Iyer 27, Rahul 16) Shreyas and KL Rahul took a couple of overs to get used to the pitch, and now they’re going ballistic. After Rahul clips Rajitha for four, Shreyas pummels the biggest six of the tournament: 106 metres, straight over long-on. Wow. India have hit 36 off the last three overs.
The performances of Dilshan Madushanka and Rachin Ravindra in this tournament have got me thinking of memorable World Cup debuts from relatively unknown players. What’s your favourite? The first person who comes to mind is a batsman whose tournament average was just 22.50 – but look what Inzamam-ul-Haq did in the semi-finals and final. That innings against New Zealand was eye-widening in its nerveless brilliance.
35th over: India 225-3 (Iyer 20, Rahul 10) A firm sweep from Rahul is superbly stopped by the diving Chameera at short fine leg. That saved three runs.
Well, in theory it saved three runs. Trouble is, the single brought Shreyas Iyer on strike and he belaboured the next ball back over Hematha’s head for a 95-metre six. I think the ball has been lost.
34th over: India 214-3 (Iyer 12, Rahul 7) Madushanka is taken out of the attack, a strange and defensive move given he had taken two wickets in the last seven balls.
His replacement, Rajitha, gives India a jumpstart with a poor over that costs 13. KL Rahul cuts for four and then Shreyas Iyer drives magnificently over mid-off for six.
33rd over: India 201-3 (Iyer 4, Rahul 2) Shreyas pushes a single off Hemantha to bring up the 200. There are a few signs that the pitch is getting tired, and it certainly doesn’t look easy to go hard straight away against the old ball.
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32nd over: India 199-3 (Iyer 3, Rahul 1) Whatever state they are in, Sri Lanka will always produce original bowlers who quicken the pulse and capture the imagination. Dilshan Madushanka’s list of wickets at this World Cup includes Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Babar Azam, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Bas de Leede, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli. For a 23-year-old in a struggling team, that’s almost hall-of-fame stuff.
WICKET! India 196-3 (Kohli c Nissanka b Madushanka 88)
Virat Kohli will have to save his record-equalling century for the knockout stages: Dilshan Madushanka has done him with a lovely slower ball from round the wicket. Kohli, on 88, pushed tenatively and looped a simple catch to extra cover.
This is an outsanding middle-overs spell from Madushanka, who is now the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 16. He looks a serious prospect.
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31st over: India 195-2 (Kohli 88, Iyer 1) Sachin Tendulkar made 49 ODI hundreds in 452 innings. This is Kohli’s 276th. Different times, I know, but that’s a remarkable statistic.
He has slowed down slightly, with just six runs from the last 14 balls, and with Shreyas Iyer new to the crease there are just two runs from Hemantha’s over.
30th over: India 193-2 (Kohli 87, Iyer 0) That was the last ball of the over.
WICKET! India 193-2 (Gill c Mendis b Madushanka 92)
Shubman Gill falls eight runs short of his first World Cup hundred. He was duped by a slower bouncer from Madushanka and feathered it through to Mendis. Gill was trying to uppercut it over the keeper but there just wasn’t enough pace on the ball. It’s the end of a charming innings: 92 from 92 balls with 11 fours and two sixes.
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29th over: India 185-1 (Gill 86, Kohli 86) Gill charges the new bowler Hemantha and beasts another six, straight into the sightscreen. This is the Shubman Gill we were promised in the World Cup brochure. He gets four more with the aid of a grubby misfield at point. Sri Lanka look done, and they’ve got another 21 overs of this to endure.
28th over: India 172-1 (Gill 75, Kohli 84) This result won’t mathematically eliminate Sri Lanka, though like England they would need snookers and a sighting of Halley’s comet to reach the last four. England can still qualify, which is beyond absurd.
Just as I was about to type that the boundaries have dried up a touch, Gill muscles a short ball from Chameera into the crowd at midwicket. That’s the first six of the match to go with 21 mostly pristine fours.
27th over: India 164-1 (Gill 68, Kohli 83) Kohli is closing in on his 49th ODI hundred, which would equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record. Imagine if No50 comes in a successful World Cup final runchase. He’s written plenty of scripts in the past 15 years but that would top the lot.
“With Kohli and Gill in imperious form,” writes Krishnamoorthy V, “you can stop this OBO and start playing Comfortably Numb – a track that describes Sri Lanka’s state of mind right now.”
The live version, right?
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26th over: India 162-1 (Gill 67, Kohli 82) Chameera strays onto the pads of Kohli and is flicked majestically past mid-on for four. The fielding wasn’t great but it was such a classy stroke. I can’t remember the last time a quality attack bowled so many deliveries on leg stump as Sri Lanka today.
Nissanka denies Kohli another boundary with a terrific sprawling stop at deep extra cover – but then his throw is fumbled by the bowler and India take an overthrow. Like England in this heat a couple of weeks ago, Sri Lanka look ready to unravel.
25th over: India 151-1 (Gill 65, Kohli 73) Theekshana is usually so positive and purposeful with the ball. Today he looks flat, almost subservient, and two very poor deliveries are cut for four by Kohli and Gill. India are heading for a huge total.
24th over: India 140-1 (Gill 60, Kohli 67) Dushmantha Chameera returns to the attack. He bowled beautifully with the new ball but then injured his shoulder while trying to catch Virat Kohli.
The shoulder seems okay and he concedes four singles. It feels like every over is being milked for four or five singles at the moment.
At the end of the over there’s an unscheduled drinks break. It looks really hot out there, so much so that Kohli is batting in a cap at every opportunity.
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23rd over: India 136-1 (Gill 58, Kohli 65) Theekshana replaces Hemantha, whose four overs were milked for 24. This is a relatively quiet spell, with only three boundaries in the last seven overs, and Theekshana gets away with conceding four singles.
22nd over: India 132-1 (Gill 56, Kohli 63) Kohli is giving a masterclass in how to play in the V. He times another on-drive for four, this time off Rajitha, which moves him into the serene sixties. He is playing phenomenally well, although the heat does seem to be affecting him.
21st over: India 126-1 (Gill 55, Kohli 58) Sri Lanka have caught only 61 per cent of their chances at this tournament, which is easily the lowest, and those early drops today have proved costly. I wouldn’t be too harsh on Chameera, who put down a tough return chance offered by Kohli and injured himself in the process, but Gill should have been taken by Asalanka.
Hemantha is milked for six runs. The commentators think this pitch isn’t quite the belter they first thought, which would make sense as it was used a couple of weeks ago. Either way, India are well ahead of the game. An innings like this should make them more comfortable batting first if they win the toss against South Africa.
20th over: India 120-1 (Gill 53, Kohli 54) A better over from Rajitha, with a much tighter line and length and a couple of good slower balls. Just one run from it.
19th over: India 119-1 (Gill 53, Kohli 53) Gill crashes Hemantha down the ground for four to reach a half-century that has been both elegant and punishing: 55 balls, eight fours, no sixes yet. He needed runs today.
At this rate India are going to go into the semi-finals with their entire XI in form; they’re almost the antonym of England.
18th over: India 113-1 (Gill 48, Kohli 52) It’s an extremely hot day in Mumbai and even Kohli looks a bit frazzled. Not that you’d know it from his batting.
This is getting ugly for Sri Lanka. Gill slaps Rajitha’s first ball over backward point for four, then mistimes a lofted shot that lands safely in the outfield. He’s two away from his second fifty of the World Cup.
17th over: India 106-1 (Gill 41, Kohli 52) A no-ball from Hemantha gives Kohli a free hit. He cuffs it for two to bring up a lordly half-century, made at exactly a run a ball. Apart from his golden period from around 2016-18, I’m not sure Kohli has ever batted better than he is right now. His average for the tournament has just ticked up to 100.
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16th over: India 100-1 (Gill 39, Kohli 48) Too full from Madushanka, and Kohli plays a classic off-drive for four. Later in the over Gill runs down the track to flat-bat a thrilling boundary through extra cover. “I’ve done a few games in this tournament,” says Ricky Ponting, “and I reckon that’s the hardest shot I’ve seen live.”
India would love Gill and/or Shreyas Iyer to get a big one today. Of India’s best XI, they and Mohammed Siraj are the only players who haven’t made a major contribution so far.
“Yet more talk of Pink Floyd already,” weeps Kim Thonger, “but did you know that Roy Harper was the lead vocalist on Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar”, a track on Wish You Were Here. And Roy also wrote and sang the very wonderful When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease. There, a PROPER cricket connection.”
What about his run-out of Graham Gooch in 1987 though, eh? Eh? Amiwrong?
(Sorry.)
15th over: India 88-1 (Gill 35, Kohli 41) Dushan Hemantha, recalled today, replace Theekshana. His third ball is a delightful legbreak that beats Kohli’s defensive push and just misses the off stump. Seeing turn like that is simultaneously promising and ominous for Sri Lanka. Three from the over.
“I hope Sri Lanka realise they only have 40 overs to chase their target,” says Krishnamoorthy V. “Bumrah’s 10 overs don’t count.”
Are you saying Shami’s do?
14th over: India 85-1 (Gill 34, Kohli 39) Madushanka returns to the attack. His second ball is an attempted yorker that hits Gill on the pad, but it pitched outside leg stump and Sri Lanka’s discussion of a review is a brief one. I’d love to see a pitch map because it feels like Sri Lanka have bowled a surfeit of deliveries on or outside leg stump.
Ricky Ponting, who might be the best analytical commentator around, thinks the pitch is slightly slower than expected. That would make this an even better start for India, who are scoring at more than a run a ball. Time for drinks.
13th over: India 82-1 (Gill 33, Kohli 37) No word yet on the fitness of Madushanka and Chameera. Theekshana continues. Although he has bowled well at times, especially against England, overall he’s had a disappointing tournament: three wickets at 82 with an economy rate of 5.19.
Yet another leg-stump freebie is accepted by Gill, who then forces a lovely shot towards deep extra cover. The fielder does very well to save two runs with a sprawling stop. In fact it’s Madushanka, so he is back on.
12th over: India 72-1 (Gill 26, Kohli 36) There’s a long way to go, Guardian News and Media is not legally responsible for blah blah blah, but there’s a fair chance the winner of India’s match with South Africa on Sunday – and what a mouthwatering prospect that is – will avoid Australia in the semi-finals.
The alternative (New Zealand, Pakistan or Afghanistan) is surely preferable on current form, even allowing for India’s unhappy memories of 2019.
11th over: India 68-1 (Gill 24, Kohli 34) Time for the mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana. This is only his second ODI against India, so don’t talk to me about match-ups.
Kohli states his intent by lashing the first delivery to wide long off for four. It beggars belief, when you see him in this form, that he went almost three years without a century in international cricket.
10th over: India 60-1 (Gill 22, Kohli 28) Kohli’s average in this tournament (95.25) is almost as high as highest score (103*), which tells you how hard he has been to dismiss.
Mathews almost gets him with a seductive wide outswinger that beats the outside edge. That’s a good over, just three singles from it.
𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘! 😲
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) November 2, 2023
Rohit Sharma is CLEANED UP by Madushanka TWO BALLS IN! ❌
WHAT A START! 🇱🇰 pic.twitter.com/KienAW3kQK
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9th over: India 57-1 (Gill 21, Kohli 26) Rajitha drifts onto the pads of Gill, who politely accepts the offer of four runs. Sri Lanka have bowled far too many deliveries on leg stump. A thumping cut stroke from Gill makes it seven boundaries in the last 19 balls – and brings up an increasingly breezy fifty partnership.
8th over: India 47-1 (Gill 15, Kohli 26) Angelo Mathews comes on for Chameera and is cut sweetly past backward point for four by Gill. After a good start, it already feels like this is getting away from Sri Lanka. Those dropped catches already feel costly, particularly Asalanka’s to reprieve Gill.
7th over: India 42-1 (Gill 10, Kohli 26) The tall right-arm seamer Kasun Rajitha is on for Madushanka, who bowled a mixed spell of 3-0-25-1. Maybe his brilliant dismissal of Rohit got too many juices flowing.
Kohli looks in ominous touch here. He plays a gorgeous off-drive for four, then touches a poor delivery to the fine-leg boundary.
6th over: India 33-1 (Gill 9, Kohli 18) Chameera continues for now. I’m not sure he’s right, though, and Kohli waves an overpitched delivery past mid-on for four more. Before the injury Chameera was landing it on a postage stamp.
5.3 overs: India 29-1 (Gill 9, Kohli 14) Another dropped catch! Kohli got a leading edge back towards the bowler, but this time it carried. Chameera stuck out a telescopic left arm, juggled the ball two or three times but couldn’t hold on. It would have been a great catch.
Chameera landed awkwardly on his right shoulder, which he injured recently, and he is feeling it between deliveries. Madushanka also left the field at the end of the previous over. Sri Lanka have had rotten luck with injuries.
Kohli is beaten by a nipbacker, then skims a cover drive for four. The physio comes on to treat Chameera, who doesn’t look comfortable at all.
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5th over: India 25-1 (Gill 9, Kohli 10) Gill hammers a half-tracker from Madushanka for four to get off the mark from his ninth delivery. The next ball is pretty good, shaping back towards off stump, but Gill somehow makes enough room to ping a marvellous cut shot for four more.
Oh my, now Gill has been dropped! He pushed a wide delivery towards cover, where Asalanka fumbled a two-handed catch as he leapt to his left. It wasn’t an easy chance but most international cover fielders would have taken it.
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4th over: India 14-1 (Gill 0, Kohli 9) Chameera has made an outstanding start – two overs, two maidens – and is causing Kohli plenty of problems. A leading edge drops short of Chameera, diving forward in his follow through; then Kohli gets away with successive inside-edges. The first hit the back leg and bounced fractionally short of the diving Kusal Mendis behind the stumps.
3rd over: India 14-1 (Gill 0, Kohli 9) India are aiming to become the sixth team to win the men’s World Cup without losing a game, after West Indies (1975 and 1979), Sri Lanka (1996) and Australia (2003 and 2007).
Back in the here and now, Kohli gets his second boundary with a bread-and-butter flick through midwicket. The wicket aside, Madushanka has been a bit too straight as he strives for the perfect inswinger.
2nd over: India 8-1 (Gill 0, Kohli 4) The pacy Dushmantha Chameera, who only joined the squad this week as a replacement for the injured Lahiru Kumara, shares the new ball. He starts well, hitting a length from the first ball, and cuts Gill in half with a nipbacker that bounces over middle stump. A maiden.
“Given the atrocious way David Willey was treated, and while digesting the news that the 2034 Fifa World Cup will be in Saudi Arabia, at least I do not have to watch Virat Kohli chasing his hundred as India target a win,” writes Krishnamoorthy V. “Did Pink Floyd pass your threshold of acceptance?”
I haven’t had chance to listen to them yet. I feel like it’s the kind of task for which you need to block out a few hours: out of office on, phone in a lockbox, industrial blackout eye mask, the works.
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1st over: India 8-1 (Gill 0, Kohli 4) Virat Kohli almost falls first ball! He flicked an inswinger round the corner and just short of the man who has been placed for the catch at short fine leg.
Another inswinger, this time a bit too straight, is flicked safely for four by Kohli to complete an eventful first over.
The replay of Rohit’s dismissal makes it look even better – Madushanka had the nerve to bowl an off-cutter second ball and the ability to execute it perfectly.
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WICKET! India 4-1 (Rohit b Madushanka 4)
Pick that out! Rohit has fallen to the second ball of the match, cleaned up spectacularly by Madushanka. Having flicked the first ball for four, Rohit played down the wrong line at a beautiful off-cutter that sent the off stump flying.
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Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill stroll into the middle. The left-arm swing bowler Dilshan Madushanka, who has had a fine World Cup, will open the bowling.
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Match-up alert!
Back in the day, Sachin Tendulkar had an unlikely nemesis: Hansie Cronje, whose medium-pace dobbers caused him all sorts of bother.
Rohit Sharma also has an improbable adversary. The man who has dismissed him most in ODI cricket – more than all the world’s great quick bowlers and mystery spinners – is our old friend Angelo Mathews, so keep an eye out for that today.
It’s fascinating, and more than a little bizarre, that so many great batters have one dobber they just cannot cope with: Eknath Solkar and Geoff Boycott, Brian Lara and Chris Harris, Everyone and Darren Stevens. Somebody should write a book on it. Okay, a longform feature. A sidebar?
Here’s the list of bowlers who have dismissed Rohit the most in ODIs.
7 Angelo Mathews
5 Morne Morkel, Tim Southee
4 Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Nuwan Kulasekera, Kagiso Rabada, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Adam Zampa
Ricky Ponting says he “cannot believe” Sri Lanka have bowled first. He’s inspecting the pitch with Michael Atherton on the global TV coverage. It’s the same one that was used when South Africa scored 48 million against England a fortnight ago; some used pitches can be slow and awkward but this has a lovely sheen. Punter and Athers reckon it’s a belter.
Team news
India are unchanged, and why not. Sri Lanka make one change: the legspinning allrounder Dushan Hemantha replaces the offspinning allrounder Dhananjaya de Silva.
India Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.
Sri Lanka Nissanka, Karunaratne, Mendis (c/wk), Samarawickrama, Asalanka, Mathews, Hemantha, Chameera, Theekshana, Rajitha, Madushanka.
Sri Lanka win the toss and bowl
If nothing else it makes sense to deny Virat Kohli a runchase. Rohit Sharma says he would have batted first anyway.
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Preamble
Morning. It’s never a great sign when, in a sporting world that treats a mundane press conference like a JFK moment, a preview of an upcoming match focusses almost entirely on the past. In football it’s been happening with Arsenal v Manchester United for over a decade, and there’s a similar mood ahead of the today’s game between India and Sri Lanka.
The build-up has centred on another meeting in Mumbai 12 years ago – the World Cup final that India won so euphorically. In a sense that’s understandable, but it also reflects the fact that nobody has much to say about this game. India win, the end.
That’s by far the likeliest scenario, although the whole point of a seismic shock is that, unlike poor old Bobby Bacala, you don’t see it coming. India know that from the 1983 final.
Let’s accentuate the positive. Sri Lanka are a talented, likeable side who ran India close in the recent Asia Cup. Okay, they ran them close in the Super Four stage, when they lost a low-scoring game by 41 runs. The final was marginally less jeopardous. Sri Lanka were skittled for 50 and lost by 10 wickets with 43.1 overs to spare. And they had home advantage that day.
Before we proceed to the toss and team news, a bit of housekeeping. Apparently India still haven’t clinched a semi-final place, which is headache-inducingly strange, but they will if they win today.
Sri Lanka will be out, realistically if not mathematically, should they lose. But if they somehow beat India – and somebody is going to, one of these years – they will join an increasingly desperate scrap for the last two semi-final places.
The match begins at 8.30am GMT, 2pm in Mumbai.
