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India 357 for 8 (Gill 92, Kohli 88, Shreyas 82, Madushanka 5-80) beat Sri Lanka 55 (Shami 5-18, Siraj 3-16) by 302 runs
India’s fast-bowling trio was so sensational with the new ball that the scores of Sri Lanka’s top five read like a line of binary code: 0, 0, 1, 0, 1. When Shami also had Nos. 7 and 8 for ducks with the score on 29, Sri Lanka were in serious danger of folding for the lowest total in ODI cricket. They were eventually bundled out in 19.4 overs as India completed the fourth-biggest win in the format, and Shami’s 5 for 18 made him India’s highest wicket-taker in World Cups. It was the third time that India had dismissed Sri Lanka for less than 100 in ODIs in 2023, and their second 300-plus-run victory against them this year.
The very first ball from Bumrah was a portent for the carnage that was to follow. He went wide of the crease, got a full ball to angle in and then swing away late to thump the back pad. Siraj also struck with his first ball, pinning Dimuth Karunaratne lbw. Four balls later, with a reinforced cordon, Siraj had the in-form Sadeera Samarawickrama caught at third slip.
But it was the dismissal of captain Kusal Mendis that stood out. Coaches often instruct bowlers to hit that bail-trimming length – too short to drive nor short enough to pull or cut. Siraj not only hit that bail-trimming length to beat Mendis’ outside edge, he also broke the bails. At 3 for 4, with just one of those runs off the bat, Sri Lanka’s batting line-up was also broken.
Angelo Mathews and the lower order tried to fix it, but all they could do was to drag Sri Lanka to 55 – five runs more than what they had managed in the Asia Cup final at the Premadasa in September earlier this year.
The performance of India’s fast bowlers overshadowed that of their batters and Dilshan Madushanka’s maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket.
Madushanka had hushed the Wankhede with his second ball – a Mustafizur Rahman-esque cutter that sent Rohit Sharma’s off stump cartwheeling. Four of Madushanka’s five wickets were down to his ability to roll his fingers across the ball. But the rest of Sri Lanka’s attack continued to leak runs, as has been the case throughout this tournament.
Virat Kohli threatened to join Sachin Tendulkar at the top of this list with 49 ODI hundreds at a venue where a statue of Tendulkar was unveiled on the eve of this game. The Wankhede waited expectantly, but Madushanka had other ideas, dismissing Kohli 12 short of the landmark. Sri Lanka could have cut Kohli’s innings short on 10 had Dushmantha Chameera hung on to a return catch in the sixth over.
Shubman Gill was also reprieved in the powerplay when Charith Asalanka dropped him on 8 at cover-point. Gill then combined with Kohli to punish Sri Lanka with a 189-run partnership on a hot afternoon.
Kohli got cracking with his trademark cover-drives while Gill often stepped out of his crease to manufacture scoring opportunities. Then, when Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers shortened their lengths to Gill, he put them away with his rasping short-arm pulls. Legspin-bowling allrounder Dushan Hemantha, who is essentially a like-for-like replacement for the injured Wanindu Hasaranga, couldn’t stem the flow of runs either.
When Kohli and Gill matched each other shot for shot and moved close to three figures, India’s fans were probably entertaining thoughts of double-hundreds from both batters. But Madushanka returned to the attack and didn’t even let the batters reach triple figures. The left-arm seamer then showed that he’s no one-trick pony. He bounced Suryakumar Yadav out with an on-pace bouncer.
Shreyas Iyer then hit full throttle, but he, too, fell agonisingly short of a hundred. He latched on to anything that was remotely full and sent it disappearing from his sight. When Kasun Rajitha pitched one in the slot outside off, Iyer launched it over long-on for a 106-metre six – the biggest in the tournament so far. Iyer brought up his half-century off 36 balls and later lined up even Sri Lanka’s best bowlers on the day – Madushanka and Chameera. Iyer took Madushanka for 18 off nine balls before holing out.
Iyer’s assault was central to India racking up 93 off their last ten overs. Ravindra Jadeja also did his bit with the bat in those slog overs, but he was barely needed with the ball on a night that belonged to India’s quicks.
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