West Indies’ run chase fell flat once Nicholas Pooran was bowled out for 118 by Angelo Mathews
Tanya Aldred’s match report is here.
Related: Avishka Fernando hits high notes and Sri Lanka hold nerve against West Indies
That’s it for me. Thanks for your company, as always. Through the OBO, I think we have successfully solved the sub fielder issue. An afternoon well spent, I say. And a job well done by Sri Lanka, who really did hold their nerve through a thrilling final stanza. Check out the updated standings below. Six teams remain in contention, with India vs Bangladesh at Birmingham, coming up tomorrow, a massive game in the context of that final four. We’ll be back with you then. Goodnight!
Related: Cricket World Cup 2019: latest standings
Ashivka Fernando, player of the match, speaks (via Kumar Sangakkara as translator!) When he went in he was very happy he did what was required. He feels very happy this hundred was in a winning effort. He feels very happy that he got this opportunity and very happy he has made use of it. He’s going to focus on talking it forward to do all he can for his country and team.
It all turned on a single moment, didn’t it? Just at the moment West Indies looked well on their way, Fabian Allen said no to Nicholas Pooran’s call for one and that was that. His 30-ball half-century, alongside Pooran’s magnificent maiden ODI ton, took them to the brink of a genius chase but it wasn’t to be. Speaking of genius, Mathews coming on for his first bowl in the better part of two years, getting rid of Pooran (118) with the the first ball of the 48th, was a decision that Karunaratne can dine out on for many a decade. We’ll hear from the player of the match shortly.
50th over: West Indies 315-9 (Cottrell 7, Gabriel 3) Mathews sends down the 50th over, going for three singles. Sri Lanka salute in a fantastic, high-scoring game.
49th over: West Indies 312-9 (Cottrell 6, Gabriel 1) Dots everywhere until the final ball, Gabriel somehow hacking the middle stump yorker to long on. That’s Malinga’s day done, taking 3/55 from his ten. He did it early and did it late. 27 needed from the last over, for what it is worth. Sri Lanka have held their nerve.
That’s out! No inside edge and three reds on review - pitching, contact and hitting all just in line with leg stump. A classic Malinga dismissal. One more for the win.
HAS MALINGA TRAPPED THOMAS LBW? The shout is turned down but Karunaratne has sent it straight upstairs. Stand by. Looked out to me.
48th over: West Indies 311-8 (Cottrell 6, Thomas 1) Dear me, what a masterstroke from Karunaratne, and perfectly executed by Mathews. After the wicket of the majestic Pooran, he gave up just three singles! Indeed, the ninth wicket could have been his as well if Udana pulled off a diving catch at long on from Cottrell’s swinging blade. West Indies need 28 from 12 balls.
ANGELO!!!!! First ball! Pooran has a lash at a ball well outside the off-stump, tickled through to the wicketkeeper. HIS FIRST BALL IN 19 MONTHS! It should be enough to win Sri Lanka this World Cup fixture. Brilliant from Captain Karunaratne!
Angelo Mathews to bowl the 48th! He hasn’t sent down an over in ODIs since December 2017!
47th over: West Indies 308-7 (Pooran 118, Cottrell 4)BRILLIANT from Pooran! Cottrell gives the century-maker the strike from the first ball, who gets back to play a perfect pull shot, threading the needle between the two deep midwickets. Udana has done plenty right in this tournament at the death but he has to relocate the yorkers and accurate slower bouncers that are so potent. He sends one of the latter down at Cottrell later in the over, the No9 then getting two from an overthrow earned when a ping was taken at the non-strikers’ end. The final ball needs to be rebowled at him, another wide! Smart cricket then to finish, happy to defend the sixth ball to give Pooran the strike for the 48th. 31 from 18 needed!
46th over: West Indies 299-7 (Pooran 113, Cottrell 1) Malinga is back and neeeeearly gets Pooran first ball of the over! The left-hander doesn’t quite get all of a slap over long-off, Thisara Perera making a meal of it after running in so hard from the rope... too far, as it turned out. What a missed opportunity. But Malinga keeps his cool, nailing a couple of unwhackable yorkers. Between times there is a wide but, crucially, Pooran can’t get a single from the final ball. 40 off 24 needed.
45th over: West Indies 292-7 (Pooran 108, Cottrell 0) The job is far from done for Pooran and he knows it, hammering Udana’s short ball into the stands for SIX MORE! Ten off it keeps them with the rate, the equation now 47 from 30. Yes, he lost Allen during that over but Corrtell just needs to give Pooran the strike.
With one around the corner from the ball after the mix-up, he’s through for his first ton in the top flight in 92 balls. He’s turned a lot of heads in this World Cup. As far as the West Indies are concerned, with this young left hander the future is now.
OH NO!!! Allen glanced Udana to short fine leg and there looked to be a single on offer; Pooran certainly thought so, taking off and calling him through. But Allen didn’t run! By the time he was forced to, the throw was over the bails at the non-strikers’ end. A brilliant innings ends, the second dreadful run out of this chase.
44th over: West Indies 282-6 (Pooran 99, Allen 51) Outstanding from Allen! He brings up his half-century with one to cover after SMASHING RAJITHA BACK OVER HIS HEAD FOR SIX! Doing as they needed through the rest, helped by a ball adjudged outside of the tramtracks, they get 11 off it now leaving 57 from 36!
The Women’s Ashes begins tomorrow. I’m looking forward to getting down to Leicester in the morning for that. The first of three ODIs in the multi-format series.
Related: England v Australia eclipses World Cup at pinnacle of women’s cricket
43rd over: West Indies 271-6 (Pooran 97, Allen 43) The camera is permanently trained on Rhianna in the crowd, who is loving this over with Allen executing a delicate and delightful late cut that splits short third and backward point. You get four for that. You also get four when short fine leg lets the ball go through his legs, Rajitha the culprit on the edge of the circle. Nine from the over; the required rate 9.71. Or at this stage, better expressed by saying that they need 68 from 42 balls.
42nd over: West Indies 262-6 (Pooran 96, Allen 35) Rajitha replaces Malinga, the slinger keeping two up his sleeve for the very end. The change had the desired effect - or at least it looked that way until the penultimate delivery, Allen again timing the pants off a short ball over midwicket. It was touch and go whether it went the full journey, the TV umpire siding with the fielding side. Seven off it, which is a good outcome for Sri Lanka but they really do need a wicket now. “To me,” says Ian Bishop, “Fabian Allan is a batsmen who bowls,”
Meanwhile. “A pair of pliers, eh?” writes Damian Clarke, linking to this iconic scene in reference to how Jason Roy might be kept from fielding next time. Okay.
41st over: West Indies 255-6 (Pooran 94, Allen 30) Karunaratne held Dhananjaya back for one final over and it isn’t going as planned, Pooran launching a long hop with the wind over the sponge for SIX! That’s his third big one. Three dot balls follow then a bottom edge that goes through the legs of the ‘keeper Perera for four more! Dhananjaya finishes with 0/49, his tenth going for 11. 84 from 54 needed.
40th over: West Indies 244-6 (Pooran 83, Allen 30) Forget what I said about Malinga when he came back into the attack, Allen is having a grand old time facing the old man of this Sri Lankan side. From the first ball of his eighth over the No8 is once again steady enough to stand still and smash through the gap to the extra cover boundary. With six further runs in 1s and 2s, they get to the of this stanza of the chase with two set players at the crease with 95 to get from ten overs. Suddenly, this feels very doable. Allen has made it to 30 from just 20 balls.
39th over: West Indies 234-6 (Pooran 81, Allen 22) Nine more over Udana here, which keeps the required rate just the right side of ten as far as the chasers are concerned. Allen’s third four was his best yet, waiting deep in the crease for the slower ball to arrive, flat-batting it through the gap at cover. From the final ball it should have been another, getting the full toss away through square leg, but Thirimanne made a brilliant diving stop on the rope to save one run. It might be worth thinking about getting near a TV in half an hour or so.
38th over: West Indies 225-6 (Pooran 80, Allen 14) Fabian Allen taking down Malinga? Okay, I’ll have a bit of that. Getting down to a ball on the stumps, he flicks him into the square leg umpire into the gap for four early on. A fine shot. Later on, it is stand and deliver stuff through midwicket for another! I was cynical about West Indies’ lower-order prospects given the way they folded against India but with these two there is still hope for something of a grandstand finish.
“Chances of the Windies playing an iconic thriller is directly proportional to the presence of Ian Bishop in the commentary box,” suggests OB Jato. Let’s hope.
37th over: West Indies 213-6 (Pooran 80, Allen 4) Udana continues with the better part of ten runs an over to play with and keeps Allen down the business end more often than not. But getting an opportunity from the final ball Poortan finds a way to the rope, albeit via an outside edge to the vacant third man. It’ll do at this stage.
More like Pooran out of partners... #SLvWI
36th over: West Indies 207-6 (Pooran 75, Allen 3) Malinga has half of his five overs left, which increases yet futher the degree of difficulty on Pooran and co. Of course, he was too good earlier for Ambris and Hope. Pooran is lucky to survive the first ball of the new spell, trying to lift him straight but miscuing high to where long-off would have running in from there been one. The real quiz is when Fabien Allen is on strike but he’s through to the next round, keeping out a couple of accurate yorkers to finish.
“Amusing as it as to recall the events of the summer of 2005,” begins Chris Howell, “I can’t help feeling that references to Ricky Ponting being run out by Gary Pratt should note that he was on the field because Simon Jones’ Test career had been ended by injury. I think he managed a handful of domestic T20s, but it was a sad end for someone who had become an excellent bowler.”
35th over: West Indies 200-6 (Pooran 71, Allen 0) Pooran, still on strike of course, collects one behind square to being up the West Indies’ 200. They need 139 off 90, which is a huge task even before considering that the No5 is now with the bowlers.
Just at the moment West Indies fans had the right to get excited, Brathwaite is out in the most unfortunate way. Pooran, after glancing Udana for four, smashed the left-hander back at him but he got his middle finger on the straight drive in his follow through, reflecting onto the non-striker stumps with Brathwaite stranded.
34th over: West Indies 194-5 (Pooran 66, Brathwaite 7) GAME ON? Probably not yet but Nick Pooran is going beautifully, don’t worry about that. Since flicking the switch about six overs ago, he’s done enough to maintain the required rate of nine an over, helped by 15 off this one. Rajitha is the offending bowler, slapped over midwicket by the classy left hander when too full then launching an off-cutter over the boundary in the same direction, into the crowd FOR SIX.
33rd over: West Indies 179-5 (Pooran 53, Brathwaite 6) Nearly another run out, but we’ll come to that in a moment. Karunaratne at last replaced Vandersay... with his own mediums/filth. When lobbing down a full toss at Pooran, he quite rightly put it into the stands to bring up his half-century in 57 balls. He’s been tip top. But from the final ball Brathwaite should have been run out - the second man to cut and run to backward point. This time the thow wasn’t on song, so he surives.
“For their final number,” John Starbuck says of any cricket bat guitar competition, “the bat-guitarists should have to play either Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’ or Love Sculpture’s ‘Sabredance’.”
32nd over: West Indies 172-5 (Pooran 46, Brathwaite 6) Rajitha has done plenty right, for mine. He’s not helped by Perera, who gives up a couple of byes when misreading his slower ball after Pooran did the same, but only two singles comes from the bat. That is drinks with 167 further runs needed in 18 overs.
“Hello Adam.” Hi Aditi. “Second you on The Beths love. I think I had Happy Unhappy on loop for an hour at least. That NZ-Pak OBO evening was magical.”
31st over: West Indies 168-5 (Pooran 45, Brathwaite 5) I’m all about Nick Pooran stroking his way to a ton in a losing effort here. Realistically, he needs Brathwaite to bat with him for 15 overs and that probably won’t happen. So the next best option is this. Another four comes for the left-hander here, via a half-tracker gifted to him by the hapless Vandersay. Remarkably, he’s now bowled seven overs.
“Thanks, David Lombard (17th over),” writes Smylers. “That answer’s my 6-year-old’s question of why the ICC’s Kids Handbook of the tournament uses ‘Windies’ throughout. Relatedly, anybody know why teams’ kit launches have to be so close to the first match? It seems odd that an official publication can’t show the kits. It’s particularly noticeable in photos of England players, wearing the wrong colour.”
30th over: West Indies 159-5 (Pooran 38, Brathwaite 5) Rajitha is back, leaving one for Dhananjaya later on. He’s not giving much away early in the over until overstepping. Urgh! The free hit doesn’t go anywhere but Brathwaite strikes a perfetly timed straight drive to finish. Shot. They needed exactly nine an over.
29th over: West Indies 152-5 (Pooran 37, Brathwaite 1) Perhaps sensing that if he wants to make a significant contribution on the scorecard he will have to get real busy and fast, Pooran nails another boundary later in the successful Vandersay over, smashing it past the bowler. This has been a ropey old spell, it must be said.
Another shoddy dismissal from Holder. The West Indies skipper has racked up a few of those in this World Cup. He’s gutted as he walks off and understandably so, picking out mid-on like it is catching practice. He half-hit it and paid the price. And yes, channeling the OBO, it was the sub-fielder who took the catch.
28th over: West Indies 143-4 (Pooran 30, Holder 26) Three fours in three overs for Pooran, cutting Dhananjaya with class behind point into a gap that barely exists. Into the 30s he goes. Could this be the day he converts one of these handy starts?
27th over: West Indies 137-4 (Pooran 25, Holder 25) Pooran was everyone’s favourite new player in this competition before Avishka Fernando replaced him. He’s going very nicely now, though, pulling Vandersay away for another four.
“Along the same lines as the Umpires performance determining who makes it the knockout stages, what about the performance of the Bat-Guitarists?” asks Nick Toovey, astutely. “Who makes the cut? Shall we stage The Six-Factor before the semi-finals, with the cricket bat guitarists playing to an AI Machine. The guitarists with the most amount of songs recognised from the reverb-heavy Tannoy gets the coveted gig. And in the style of Match Of The Day presenters for the World Cup Final, I want to see them dressed up uncomfortably in a Suit and Tie for the big occasion, maybe with a top-hat like Slash.”
I wrote an appreciation of a true one-off in a world of coaches and data @collinsadam. We'll miss him when he's gone https://t.co/GXoJfM8JTY
26th over: West Indies 132-4 (Pooran 21, Holder 24) For the second time in three overs, the third umpire is asked to check off Perera has whipped the bails off in time but Pooran has kept his toe down on this occasion. Sanga on TV gives a technical explanation of why he didn’t get down with his gloves in time. I won’t try and repeat it but I will note that the former Sri Lankan great is one of the best additions to the TV commentary box in recent times. He’s very clever. Before his bat was beaten, Pooran struck a fine on-drive down the ground for four.
25th over: West Indies 126-4 (Pooran 16, Holder 23) Vandersay isn’t posing any real problems, even delivery of this is fourth over scored off. Sri Lanka are getting through their overs and have plenty to defend but these two look relatively set.
24th over: West Indies 119-4 (Pooran 13, Holder 19) Just three singles from Dhananjaya’s seven over. He has figures of 0/26. They now need 8.5 an over.
23rd over: West Indies 116-4 (Pooran 10, Holder 19) IS HOLDER STUMPED? He is not. Clever ‘keeping from Perera to wait for the captain’s foot to possibly lift off the turf ofter Vandersay beat the bat, but he kept his toe down. A better over from the legspinner, who has settled from his early nerves by the looks. Oh, ignore me - there is a full toss. Holder tucks in, placing it to the cover point rope.
“Afternoon.” Hi Matthew Potter. “Just wanted to say a huge YES to the Sports Team love, great band. That’s all.” I do enjoy the sharing of OBO music. Last week, when we were talking about Kiwk bands, I was sent The Beths and I haven’t turned them off since. And helpfully, they are touring England during the Ashes.
22nd over: West Indies 111-4 (Pooran 9, Holder 15) Dhananjaya is back, to make it spin from both ends. His is of the more probing variety but now Holder has his eye in, he clips well through midwicket past the man inside the circle for four. Very nice timing from the skipper. The required rate is now above eight an over.
21st over: West Indies 105-4 (Pooran 8, Holder 10) Uh oh! Vandersay, who bowled four half-trackers last time around, begins with another that Holder has enough time to almost drive past the man at the short fine leg for four. The leggie fights back with some deliveries that are right on the mark, but Holder adds another boundary with a miscued drive past point. Sangakkara is talking him up through the over on TV and he slowly improves through the course of it.
20th over: West Indies 94-4 (Pooran 7, Holder 5) Shot. Rajitha is in the game, once again beating the captain’s bat, but Holder gets up one up on him with a lovely drive on the up through the gap at extra cover for four. A most attractive player.
“Oh, I do like the specialist fielder idea,” writes Ethan Forbes, who got us on this topic to begin. “Although for maximum bizarreness it needs to be implemented like the designated hitter in major league baseball, where half of the teams play by one set of substitution rules and the others have their own. When teams with different rules meet the home team’s rules are in effect. This is why I love cricket, and sport in general. Simple ideas get convoluted so quickly. It’s like politics, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. And the notion that fielding is somehow not as important as batting and bowling? There’s another thing to borrow from the lesser bat and ball sport. Any grizzled old ball coach will tell you, between spurts of tobacco juice, that ‘games are won by pitching and defense.’”
19th over: West Indies 88-4 (Pooran 6, Holder 1) Jeffrey Vandersay, starts with two
nervous shockers.The first ball from the leggie is a long way outside off and the second in that direction nearly lands off the pitch and is rightly called as a wide. He gets better, Pooran playing the flighted deliveries with respect; Holder happy to pick out the square leg sweeper. It’s an unforgiving craft. A small victory to finish though, the new man winning Holder’s inside edge.
18th over: West Indies 84-4 (Pooran 4, Holder 0) “Oooh, that’s close” says Clarke on the TV from the final ball of the Rajitha over to the new man Jason Holder, but the inswinging yorker is going well down leg. No review needed there.
Oh dear, there’s no run there!! Hetmyer pushed off the front foot to backward point and started jogging to the other end before Pooran - quite rightly - sent him back. It was all too late. Dhananyaja had plenty of time to size up the stumps after making the fine stop, hitting middle. Run out by five metres. What a mess.
17th over: West Indies 82-3 (Hetmyer 28, Pooran 3) Four singles, all square of the wicket along the carpet to the fielders. Time to build a sturdy base.
“As well as liking Rhianna,” emails Jose Kavalina, “do you think Clarkey might also be a fan of Sister “Sledge”? Not champagne humour, I know, but it’s a slow Monday afternoon.” Good enough for me. Nicely bowled.
16th over: West Indies 78-3 (Hetmyer 26, Pooran 1) The future of West Indies cricket in the middle now. How important a big, matchwinning World Cup partnership would be do to help advance their progress through international ranks. Hetmyer begins their union here with a boundary, albeit off the inside edge from a ball he was looking to drive. The end of a successful over from Rajitha.
“Back to subs,” starts Geoff Wignall. “How about a pool of subs from which the opposing captain gets to choose when a sub is required?” That could also be fun.
Six and out! Rajitha, after getting plonked over the long-on rope by Gayle, gets him next ball! It’s a super catch from Vandersay, having the run hard and dive forward to reach the big top edge, Gayle miscuing when trying to make it back to back big ones.
15th over: West Indies 65-2 (Gayle 29, Hetmyer 21) Rhianna is flashed up on the TV screen watching in the stands. “What an artist,” gushes Michael Clarke, noting that she’s pals with plenty of the West Indies players. Was in the same class at school as Carlos Brathwaite, from memory. “I feel the need to get my umbrella,” adds Ian Bishop. Clarke is very impressed with this response. Three off the Udana over.
14th over: West Indies 62-2 (Gayle 27, Hetmyer 20) Gayle follows up his first boundary in the previous over with his first SIX this time around! Rajitha misdirected his slower off-cutter to make it so, the huge opener able to wait on it in the crease and lift it over the midwicket rope with complete ease.
@collinsadam Could we just drop the pretense and go for a rules change allowing the team to have a substitute for fielding? This would also extend Chris Gayle playing career...although I'm not sure if that's a positive or negative for the idea.
13th over: West Indies 54-2 (Gayle 20, Hetmyer 19) FIVE BALL OVER KLAXON! Not for the first time in this World Cup (the other, that I saw, during South Africa and Pakistan) we’ve seen the fielders run off only to be called back for a belated sixth delivery. I suspect Bruce Oxenford has miscounted due to the wide Udana sent down first up. I wonder what the scrutiny is like on officials when they make an error like that? I’m not suggesting it is a huge deal, but I wonder whether that is the sort of small moment that could determine if an umpire gets a semi-final?
12th over: West Indies 50-2 (Gayle 19, Hetmyer 17) At last, a boundary for Gayle. Rajitha is on for Dhananjaya with his right arm seam and Gayle is quickly into him, up and over the top of cover for four. The West Indies 50 is raised later in the over, Hetmyer picking out the sweeper at point off the back foot.
“Further to your 7th over wish,” emails Brian Withington. “Does Ricky Ponting’s reaction to being run out by gun fielding sub Gary Pratt in the titanic 2005 Ashes series qualify as a case in point, he enquired mischievously?” Two Gary Pratt references in the space of an hour! We’ve started well today. I wonder what he’s up to? Surely we’re due a where are they now feature about the great super sub?
11th over: West Indies 44-2 (Gayle 14, Hetmyer 16) Udana, who has impressed during this tournament (especially with his death bowling) replaces Malinga (2/29 from his five). The new man is too wide to Hetmyer though, who finally makes the sort of contact he’s been hoping for, slapping away past point for four.
“A quick suggestion,” emails Gareth Taylor. “To save the Jason Roy bruised arm fiasco (but also Jadeja seems to conveniently manage to find a way to field for at least 40 overs per game), how about a rule change where sub fielders are allowed to field but any catches taken by subs are null and void?”
10th over: West Indies 37-2 (Gayle 13, Hetmyer 10) Gayle has 13 from 27 at the end of this initial power play. Granted, he only faces one ball in the final over of it, keeping the strike with one down the ground off Dhananjaya. Earlier, Hetmyer was trying to belatedly take him on but couldn’t make solid contact.
9th over: West Indies 33-2 (Gayle 12, Hetmyer 7) After trying to hit the cover off a few early deliveries, Hetmyer is playing Malinga with due respect here before taking a single past mid-off. Gayle elects to avoid the two bouncers that follow.
“The trouble with The Roy Caper is that they can’t use it again because twice would be too much of a coincidence to be believable,” notes John Starbuck. True. But on the other hand, yesterday was England’s most important ODI in 27 years. Until later this week, that is. They might have to get more creative and break a finger. People bat with broken fingers all the time. Roy has two pinkies.
8th over: West Indies 32-2 (Gayle 12, Hetmyer 6) I’m anti-spinners opening in ODIs as it doesn’t give me a chance to get into my OBO groove with the email themes and so on. But, to be fair, Dhananjaya is bowling nicely. He has 0/13 from his four.
“Whilst we’re on Ethan Forbes’ subject of shabby English gerrymandering,” writes Brian Withington, “I’m surprised no-one is speculating yet about the potential for a spot of classic match-fixing on Wednesday? Given that 11 points and maintained NRR should keep either team in the tournament, what price a contrived draw between England and NZ? Or a cricketing version of Austria vs West Germany 1982 (aka as The Disgrace of Gijón.” Gosh, imagine it! Indeed, I am imagining it. Geoff Lemon, to my right, is going through how difficult it would be.
7th over: West Indies 30-2 (Gayle 11, Hetmyer 5) Another close call, Thirimanne very close to pulling off a stunning catch at midwicket from Gayle! It was a clip into the midwicket region that he went at to his right at full stretch, getting a hand to it as well, but it doesn’t stick. ANOTHER DROP later in the over too, this time Kusal Mendis putting down Hetmyer at second slip! It was a slower ball so he had to shuffle forward as the ball was in the air, but the ground was made. A bad miss.
“If a player is injured,” begins Abhijato Sensarma, “he does not come out to bat and his team sends out just ten men; it shouldn’t be too crazy, then, to suggest that the same team must field with ten fielders as well when the time comes! One possible counterargument to this is that bowling and batting are primary tasks, both of which become impossible to perform on injury, while fielding is a secondary element of the game, but the point persists. This year’s IPL as well as the ongoing World Cup has seen many substitute fielders do better than the ones they’ve replaced, giving the teams what could be percieved as an unfair advantage. Your thoughts on the matter?”
6th over: West Indies 25-2 (Gayle 10, Hetmyer 1) Hetmyer is nearly bowled first ball! Misreading Dhananjaya’s straight one, he is saved by an inside edge.
Hope chops the slower ball on! Gayle might be battling but Malinga is turning the clock back. “He still has all the tricks,” says Simon Doull. Not wrong. That might not look like much of a delivery well outside the off-stump but it does enough to force the batsman into an error. “Malinga’s greatest strength is adaptability,” adds Kumar Sangakkara. Well said. The Windies could well get rolled quickly here.
5th over: West Indies 22-2 (Gayle 7)
4th over: West Indies 20-1 (Gayle 7, Hope 5) Nearly a very Chris Gayle run out at the non-strikers’ end when jogging through for one and only just getting his bat down in time. Dhananjaya isn’t giving them anything to hit early on here.
In response to my opening post, Peter Collins has a thought. “Possibly apt is the Blyth Power album Wicked Women, Wicked Men and Wicketkeepers.”
3rd over: West Indies 17-1 (Gayle 5, Hope 4) Beamer! You don’t see that very often in pro cricket, Hope getting under a full toss from Malinga, his second ball in the middle. Gee, watching it back it nearly hit leg stump. Still, there’s no doubt it was above waist height in his stance so it would have remained a no-ball. Once Malinga lands the ball where he is meant to, Hope gets off the mark with a classy off drive.
“If England were to pull the Justin Roy caper against Australia in the knockout phases,” writes Nick Toovey, “I fear Ricky Ponting will abandon his assistant coaching position and go looking for Gary Pratt.”
Malinga gets Ambris with the bumper! He had a pop at hooking but only got a little top edge, sailing comfortably into the gloves of Perera. No review requried there.
2nd over: West Indies 11-0 (Gayle 5, Ambris 5) Dhananjaya is opening with his more-than-useful offies. He finds Gayle’s inside edge first up, but it spills away to short fine for a couple. He then beats him on the other side of the bat with a pearler. Singles down the ground come eventually but the spinner is straight on top.
1st over: West Indies 6-0 (Gayle 1, Ambris 4) How about these two old boys running around in the World Cup? What a sport. Malinga, with his little flying saucers, beats the West Indian opener first up before he gets off the mark with a single. Ambris, who was flown in for the final week of the campaign as an injury replacement, gets off the mark with a crisp, cover-driven boundary. Nice.
The players are on the field! Malinga to Gayle. Let’s party like it’s 2003. PLAY!
An email from Ethan Forbes to get us going before the players return. “Jason Roy must be pleased that all of the harrumphing today is about Dhoni packing it in early,” he begins. “It seemed just a little unsporting that he came back into the side to save the day with the bat and then rode off into the sunset while Vince took over his fielding duties. Perhaps there should be some limit to the number overs that a sub can be on the field? Say 5 of the 50 overs? That way Holder can still get a quick mani-pedi, or someone could go change a boot or get a cramp strapped up, but the side batting first doesn’t get a pass on the whole overs in the field dictates batting order. Or carry over and tell Roy he can’t bat until 7 in the next match.
Oh, and the obvious first tie breaker is head to head result. Sri Lanka already beat England once, amiright?”
On your first point, I’ve been thinking about this a fair bit. How can a bruise on Roy’s arm get him out of fielding? Can we call it a precedent? Then, if India bat first in the World Cup Final (let’s say), why wouldn’t Rohit Sharma’s teammates punch him in the arm several times after he’s batted so that Ravi Jadeja can do the work for him in the paddock later in the day? I’m onto something here.
There was a bit on the TV then about Chris Gayle. It was documenting how great he’s been at the World Cup. Fair enough. Once more this afternoon, perhaps?
Speaking of. I knew that Lance Klusener’s 1999 tournament was brilliant. But until going back through it 20 years later, I perhaps didn’t appreciate that it was the greatest World Cup campaign every put together by a player. It’s just wrong how much focus there is on that final ball at Edgbaston. We interviewed him about it.
Good afternoon to you all. Thanks Rob. This may be a dead rubber as far as the table is concerned, but... Avishka Fernando! What a revelation. He gave us the taste for it against England and South Africa but the full experience was quite a treat over the last couple of hours. Is he Damien a young Martyn in disguise? I’m fairly certain he’s a young Damien Martyn in disguise.
Who likes punk and sport? Fire up for the afternoon with this, out of my home town of Melbourne, about Essendon dasher Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
West Indies need 339 to win. That would be a record World Cup runchase, but someone’s going to do it in this tournament, right? The 21-year-old Avishka Fernando made a delightful 104, while Kusal Perera provided the usual bish-bosh with a rapid 64.
Adam Collins will talk you through West Indies’ runchase. You can email him on adam.collins.casual@theguardian.com, or tweet @collinsadam. Thanks for your company - bye!
50th over: Sri Lanka 338-6 (Thirimanne 45, de Silva 6) Cottrell’s final over goes for 11, including a deft steer to the boundary by Dhananjaya de Silva, to complete a fine batting performance from Sri Lanka.
Well played young man.. Brilliant 100!! Something special from Avishka.
49th over: Sri Lanka 327-6 (Thirimanne 41, de Silva 0)
Isuru Udana, the Olivier Giroud lookalike of this competition, falls to the final ball of Thomas’s over when he blasts an attempted yorker to long off.
48th over: Sri Lanka 321-5 (Thirimanne 39, Udana 0) After a difficult start, Thirimanne is enjoying his death-hitting role. He boosts Cottrell to cow corner for a one-bounce four, which takes him to 39 from 28 balls.
“It is far more likely that India wanted to spare themselves the indignity of having to swing the bat frantically and risk looking well beaten and spent,” says Jeff Docherty. “India have also developed something of a superiority complex over the years and want to lose on their terms and therefore remain in control. They hate losing and don’t want to give that satisfaction to another team. The rest is conjecture and the imagination running wild.”
Avishka Fernando’s beautiful innings is over. He lifts Cottrell’s slower ball high towards long on, where Allen takes a nicely judged catch. Fernando walks off to a standing ovation, raising his bat modestly, and his teammates all congratulate him when he reaches the dressing-room. That was a delightful performance.
47th over: Sri Lanka 313-4 (Fernando 104, Thirimanne 31) He’s done it! The Sri Lankan balcony are on their feet long before Fernando completes the second run that takes him to a charming hundred. It’s come from exactly 100 balls, with eight fours and two spectacular sixes. He becomes the third youngest centurion at the World Cup, behind Ireland’s Paul Stirling and Australia’s Ricky Ponting. And if his three innings at this tournament are anything to go by, he is a potential superstar.
46th over: Sri Lanka 304-4 (Fernando 97, Thirimanne 30) Fernando flicks Thomas past short fine leg for four to move to bring up the 300, and a single off the next ball takes him to within three of a maiden ODI century. Try telling him this is a dead rubber.
45th over: Sri Lanka 294-4 (Fernando 91, Thirimanne 26) Superb batting from Thirimanne, who charges consecutive deliveries from Brathwaite and dumps them both down the ground for four. The first shot was unashamedly agricultural; the second was a lovely drive over mid-off. At the other end, Fernando is inching towards a hundred - although he survives another run-out chance when Cottrell’s throw from the outfield just misses the stumps.
44th over: Sri Lanka 281-4 (Fernando 90, Thirimanne 15) This West Indies performance has officially moved beyond satire: Thirimanne has been dismissed off a no-ball. Mikey Holding’s internal monologue at this precise moment is surely one of the great pieces of lost comedy.
43rd over: Sri Lanka 275-4 (Fernando 86, Thirimanne 14) Oh my! A short ball from Cottrell is pulled miles over midwicket for six by Fernando. “He looks the real deal, this boy,” says Kumar Sangakkara on commentary. Imagine being a 21-year-old Sri Lankan and finding out that Kumar Sangakkara has said that about you. Not that he knows yet, but I’m sure he will.
“Dhoni Consultancy Inc.?” muses Matt Dony. “Yes, Brian Withington. I like the sound of it. Slight tweak, and then a quick call to Companies House...”
42nd over: Sri Lanka 264-4 (Fernando 79, Thirimanne 12) Fernando blasts the ball into the stumps at the non-striker’s end, and screams the F-word in frustration. That sounded Ben Folds singing Rockin’ the Suburbs. Holder finishes a slightly angry spell of bowling with figures of 10-0-59-2.
“How about two groups of six?” says Mohit Srivastava. “The top three reach the Super Six stage, carrying points against the other two progressing teams from their groups. Each team in the Super Six plays three games against teams qualifying from the other group, and at end each team has points from five games. The top four play the semis, or an IPL-like eliminator. The total number of games in this format is only five less than the current format. Two additional teams get to play the cup. And there is no inconsequential match. And don’t think anyone will be taking the two additional qualifying teams lightly.”
41st over: Sri Lanka 257-4 (Fernando 76, Thirimanne 8) A good over from Cottrell, who concedes just four runs. This is now the highest score of Fernando’s fledgling ODI career. His previous best was 74 against Scotland at Edinburgh in May.
40th over: Sri Lanka 253-4 (Fernando 75, Thirimanne 5) Thirimanne edges his first ball for four, just wide of the falling Chris Gayle in a floating slip position. Those runs make this Sri Lanka’s highest score of the tournament.
“The worry with India is Rahul, and not just that he’s out of form,” says Andrew Hurley. “India’s batting strategy is based on the top three scoring the majority of their runs, and at a good lick, as the middle order can’t really accelerate (though Pant wd help this). Dhawan, an integral part of this order, is gone and replaced by an out of form player, who scores, when he does, too slowly, thereby putting pressure on parts of the team that can’t take it. This is a bit of an issue I think.”
A perfect yorker from Jason Holder cleans up Angelo Mathews. There’s not much else to say, really; it was textbook stuff from Holder.
39th over: Sri Lanka 247-3 (Fernando 74, Mathews 25) Matthews gets stuck into the spinner Fabian Allen, slicing four over backward point before lashing a six over wide long-off. He has 26 from 19 balls; Fernando has 74 from 78.
“Rob,” says Brian Withington. “I’ve previously rather liked the idea of something very much like David Pienaar’s Cape Town format but then worried that teams operating in the middle-upper echelon (ranked 4-6) might have a rather powerful incentive to drop to rank 7 before the final tournament positions are decided! Could make for some interesting opportunities for the start-up Dhoni Consultancy Inc. though.”
38th over: Sri Lanka 235-3 (Fernando 73, Mathews 15) Mathews slaps Holder through extra cover for four, a cracking shot, before Fernando picks a slower ball and swings it over mid-off for two. Sri Lanka are cruising towards their highest score of the competition, which was 247 against Australia.
37th over: Sri Lanka 224-3 (Fernando 69, Mathews 9) A short ball from Gabriel is back cut for four by Fernando. The cricket, in truth, is far less entertaining than Mikey Holding’s burgeoning meltdown in the commentary box. “There’s a deep midwicket. What’s he bowling, offbreaks?”
Gabriel then does bowl an offbreak, which Fernando edges just short of the keeper. “Yes, he is,” deadpans the co-commentator Simon Doull.
36th over: Sri Lanka 214-3 (Fernando 64, Mathews 5) “Hi Rob,” says David Loveday. “Since we’re all speculating about India’s batting yesterday, here’s a theory: it was all about depriving England of a victory against India going at full pelt in this World Cup. The teams may well face each other again, in a match that actually matters for India. So once it was clear they would have an almighty struggle to win yesterday’s match, why not ease off and plant seeds of doubt in the England team as to whether they could really do it when it counts? Strikes me as far more plausible than the fiddling with NRR, and has the virtue of crediting some top Indian players with the strategic intelligence they undoubtedly have.”
There might be something in that. My instinct is that you slightly overstate it – I don’t think it will have any impact on the England dressing-room – but perhaps it was a way of diverting some attention from a very impressive victory. Either that or it was just MS being MS, because he’s MS and he can do what MS wants.
35th over: Sri Lanka 209-3 (Fernando 61, Mathews 3) After a direct hit from the outfield, one of the bails flicks up to hit Gabriel in the face. Thankfully it hit him between the eyes, or that could have been nasty.
“Hope you haven’t been put on dead-rubber duty because of ‘the incident’,” says Ian Copestake. “Maybe you will have learned your lesson in time for a double dose of redemption on Wednesday.”
34th over: Sri Lanka 201-3 (Fernando 56, Mathews 0) Avishka Fernando continues to charm the cognoscenti, and the OBO community as well. He runs down the track to lift Allen over extra-cover for a gorgeous one-bounce four.
The ICC don’t have a Young Player of the Tournament award. If they did, and they should, Fernando would be a strong contender along with Shaheen Afridi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, even if the award would ultimately go to Rishabh Pant after his 27-ball 194 against England in the final.
33rd over: Sri Lanka 196-3 (Fernando 51, Mathews 0) Fernando, having survived a run-out chance earlier in the over, pulls Thomas sweetly for four to reach a classy half-century, the second of his ODI career and his first in the World Cup.
“Greetings from Cape Town,” says David Pienaar, “where I’ve solved the World Cup format!
32nd over: Sri Lanka 189-3 (Fernando 44, Mathews 0) Earlier in the over Fernando played a great shot, running down the track to scorch Allen through extra cover for four. He has looked so good since coming into the side against England, and I hope he goes on to make his first substantial score of the tournament.
Fabian Allen halves his ODI bowling average, and it’s all his own work. Mendis cracked a full toss back towards Allen, who flew to his right to take a spectacular two-handed catch. That was brilliant.
31st over: Sri Lanka 181-2 (Fernando 38, K Mendis 36) A short slower ball from Thomas is muscled over midwicket for four by Fernando.
“Good morning from DC, Rob!” says Kali Srikanth. “Pointing to Dal Dalby’s bonus point method, is/was/can-be useful if the pitches and weather conditions don’t matter as in the Six Nations. But county cricket has these unpredictable conditions to bear. It’s a good thought to start with, but eventually this all leads to one path, the T20 way (which would be awful).”
30th over: Sri Lanka 173-2 (Fernando 32, K Mendis 35) The left-arm spinner Allen is hurrying through his overs. Just three singles from that one, and he has figures of 4-0-14-0.
29th over: Sri Lanka 170-2 (Fernando 30, K Mendis 34) Mendis flicks the new bowler Thomas towards midwicket, where Brathwaite goes down in three easy installments and thus gives away four runs. West Indies’ fielding has been on the execrable side of egregious.
28th over: Sri Lanka 164-2 (Fernando 29, K Mendis 29) Mendis sweeps Allen round the corner for four. He can be erratic but when he’s in form he looks a terrific player; today he has raced to 29 from 29 balls.
27th over: Sri Lanka 158-2 (Fernando 28, K Mendis 24) Mendis manipulates Cottrell for three to bring up a run-a-ball fifty partnership.
26th over: Sri Lanka 151-2 (Fernando 27, K Mendis 17) Four singles from Allen’s second over, the last of which takes Sri Lanka to 150 and Allen t0 255. He still has one ODI wicket more than you and me, though.
“On the subject of tiebreakers, could there be an argument for bonus points like the 6 nations or county cricket?” says Dan Dalby. “Bowl a side out for under x Runs get an extra point. Score over 300 and get an extra point. Surely that would not only reward on-field performance but give an exciting game either a high-scoring thriller or a low-scoring tactical showdown?”
25th over: Sri Lanka 146-2 (Fernando 25, K Mendis 15) “Why not have a plate competition as well as the Cup?” says John Morrissey. “Retain the 10-team format, which, personally, I think is great, but add semi’s and a final for positions 5-8. Maintains interest for all involved and still gives the lesser or poorly performing teams chance for an upset and their day in the sun. Doesn’t solve the NNR, most wins etc. debate, I’ll grant…”
24th over: Sri Lanka 142-2 (Fernando 23, K Mendis 13) It’s time for a bit of spin from the left-armer Fabian Allen. His ODI bowling average is - and you’ll like this - 250. The only way is down, or at least it will be once he takes his second wicket. For the time being it is going up; one run from the over means it is now 251.
23rd over: Sri Lanka 141-2 (Fernando 23, K Mendis 12) Avishka Fernando is your new favourite cricketer. He has just pulled the new bowler Cottrell elegantly, lazily and quite devastatingly for an 83-metre six. He’s only 21, and it looks like Sri Lanka may have found one.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 133-2 (Fernando 15, K Mendis 12) There’s no pressure on the Sri Lankan batsmen, and they look like they are enjoying themselves. Mendis pounds a short ball from Holder for four, and then Fernando gets his first boundary with a gorgeous lofted straight drive.
“I think Dhoni is getting far too much stick for yesterday’s performance,” says Damian Burns. “The Kohli and Rohit have more to answer for with how they began to chase. To be 29-1 off ten when chasing a 300+ score is not good enough. They needed to start with more intent (yes I know Rohit went on to score a ton but that’s not the point).”
21st over: Sri Lanka 123-2 (Fernando 9, K Mendis 6) Kusal Mendis dumps a short ball from Brathwaite past mid-on for four, the highlight of another good over for Sri Lanka - 10 from it.
“Tiebreaking by ranking is a terrible idea I have to say,” says Chris Purcell. “Ranking is supposed to reflect performance, and having performance depend on the ranking is circular. In an ideal world, tiebreaks would be settled by an extra match. This is logistically impossible, so all methods like net run rate, games won etc are meant to simulate who would win in such a match up. The obvious thing to do then, is go by who won their previous match, or something along those lines.”
20th over: Sri Lanka 113-2 (Fernando 5, K Mendis 2) Jason Holder bowls a front-foot no-ball. That means a free hit, so Holder spears in a superb wide yorker that beats Fernando – and, alas, the keeper Hope. The ball scuttles between his legs for four byes.
“One more thought on the dispiriting go-slow by India – perhaps after Hardik’s dismissal they just totally gave up and decided to focus on protecting the net run rate (even though that should have also warranted some simple bat swinging),” says Shankar Mony. “I am thinking of Steve Waugh’s Australia dawdling to beat the WI in 1999, as they tried to ensure that NZ did not make the Super Sixes. Whatever the reason, India’s poor batting in the first ten and last five overs have made me feel they do not deserve to be World Cup winners, for not playing the game in the best of ways. Hard to imagine that Eng would have played like that under any circumstances!”
19th over: Sri Lanka 105-2 (Fernando 4, K Mendis 0) “I’ve done it, Rob,” says OB Jato. “I’ve solved the problem of tie-breakers: if two or more teams are stuck on the same number of points, the team with the biggest aggregate of followers on social media finishes highest. (Wait for England to include Piers Morgan in their World Cup squad ... Those would be real scenes!)”
Like I said: the 2035 World Cup playing regulations.
Kusal Perera has run himself out. He turned for a dodgy second, was rightly sent back by Fernando and was well short when Brathwaite collected Cottrell’s excellent throw and broke the stumps. That’s a blow to Sri Lanka because Perera was playing superbly. He hammered 64 from 51 balls.
18th over: Sri Lanka 102-1 (K Perera 62, Fernando 3) For the love of fielding. Perera swivel-pulls Holder towards deep backward square, where Pooran drops a simple running catch. Holder hoofs the ground in frustration.
17th over: Sri Lanka 97-1 (K Perera 59, Fernando 1) Fernando played two charming, frisky cameos against England and South Africa, scoring at more than a run a ball on both occasions. He has started more carefully here, with one from seven deliveries.
“Most wins in football is a dreadful idea, with three points already for a dire 1-0 and two for a couple of 3-3 thrillers,” says John Cox. “Fewest wins would be better.”
16th over: Sri Lanka 94-1 (K Perera 58, Fernando 0) Holder has shown the way with a decent spell of 4-0-15-1. The rest have combined figures of 12-1-78-0.
Avishka Fernando survives a review for LBW. He played around a full delivery from Jason Holder, who decided to take it upstairs when Bruce Oxenford said not out. Replays showed it was just missing leg stump, which means West Indies lose their review.
Karunaratne has gone, bottom-edging a cut through to the keeper. Jason Holder, who looks thoroughly hacked off with his team’s bowling and fielding, punches the air with feeling.
15th over: Sri Lanka 91-0 (Karunaratne 30, K Perera 58) Perera smears Brathwaite high over midwicket for a one-bounce four. He’s such a dangerous hitter, and West Indies have given him plenty to work with. Ten from the over.
14th over: Sri Lanka 81-0 (Karunaratne 27, K Perera 51) Perera takes a single off Holder to reach a robust, 38-ball fifty, his third of the tournament.It’s been far too easy for the Sri Lankan openers.
In other news, it’s the first day of Wimbledon, right here.
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13th over: Sri Lanka 77-0 (Karunaratne 25, K Perera 49) Carlos Brathwaite replaces Gabriel, who has flattering figures of 3-0-28-0, and is milked for eight runs. Sri Lanka will surely top their highest score in this tournament, 247 against Australia.
“Morning Rob,” says Brian Withington. “After yesterday and the Afghanistan-Pakistan thriller on Saturday, quite frankly it’s a blessed relief to be able to simply enjoy watching a game today without too much invested in the outcome. It looked like Dhoni felt a similar lack of engagement yesterday - doubtless saving himself for the knock-out stages whilst purely coincidentally making it harder for the resurgent Pakistan ‘cornered tigers’ to get there.”
12th over: Sri Lanka 69-0 (Karunaratne 24, K Perera 42) “Most wins’ as a tie-breaker is an odd choice, especially in a game as weather-dependent as cricket in Britain,” says Phil Russell. “ Although bizarrely I wonder if most wins might be a better tie-breaker in football before going to goal difference? Anyway here is my shortlist of alternatives so far, all of which I think are better than ‘most wins’ and focus on the most important thing in cricket - giving fans with a short attention span what they want:
11th over: Sri Lanka 63-0 (Karunaratne 21, K Perera 39) Jason Holder leaves the field for a few minutes - to cut his toenails and fingernails. Seriously. He’s sitting by the boundary with a pair of nail clippers. That’s one of the stranger things I’ve seen in a World Cup. West Indies need him back on the field, because Shannon Gabriel is bowling pitifully. Perera hits three: consecutive boundaries: a gloved pull down the leg side, a smoother swivel-pull and finally an expansive drive over mid-on. He has 39 from 29 balls, and his aggressive hitting prompts a welcome blast of Song 2 over the tannoy.
10th over: Sri Lanka 49-0 (Karunaratne 20, K Perera 26) For the umpteenth time in his captaincy career, a weary Jason Holder brings himself on in an attempt to clean up the mess. Karunaratne takes a dodgy single on the leg side, and Perera is happy to see Ambris’s throw miss the stumps. I think he would have been out with a direct hit.
“Proposal: use rankings as tie-breaker,” says Abhinato Sensarma. “If two or more teams end up with same number of points and wins, the higher ranked team gets the higher position on the WC table. This contextualises bilateral matches while also incentivising long-term excellence in one go!”
9th over: Sri Lanka 47-0 (Karunaratne 19, K Perera 25) “What did you make of the Dhoni show (he holds such sway it was surely him and not Jadhav who decided?) yesterday?” says Andrew Hurley. “Cricket gets into such a spin about Mankading etc (which I see no issue with as the batsman is trying to cheat and advance ahead of time, risk/reward etc) yet has no issue with India effectively the equivalent of a non-trier in horse-racing. Ps, I didn’t have a bet! (but find it appalling).”
Well, it didn’t look great, but they needed 62 from four overs so I can understand why Dhoni decided to have a net. He’s never really cared about PR, which paradoxically is one of the reasons he has 7.49m Twitter followers.
8th over: Sri Lanka 43-0 (Karunaratne 19, K Perera 22) A full, wide delivery from Thomas is driven over point by Karunaratne. West Indies are bowling dismally.
7th over: Sri Lanka 39-0 (Karunaratne 15, K Perera 22) Shannon Gabriel replaces Cottrell, who bowled an unusually poor opening spell of 3-0-17-0. He almost strikes with his third ball, when a leading edge from Perera lands just short of mid-off. The follow-up is leg-stump filth that is flicked fine for four by Perera. Six f-words in that sentence, but not the big one.
I supsect a few West Indies fans used the big one when Gabriel again strayed onto Perera’s pads and was again flicked for four. Ian Bishop, on commentary, settled for, “My goodness. This is not good.”
6th over: Sri Lanka 28-0 (Karunaratne 14, K Perera 13) A maiden from Thomas.
“Re: Tiebreakers being number of wins before Net RR,” says Chris Parker. “I agree on this being the wrong method (this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my beloved Durham were knocked out of the One-Day Cup as a result of this stupid rule). Percentage of completed games won would be a better method, as it’s not exactly the team’s fault they had games rained off.”
5th over: Sri Lanka 28-0 (Karunaratne 14, K Perera 13) Perera chargesdown the track to flat bat Cottrell over mid-off for four. West Indies are bowling a lot of short stuff, probably too much.
4th over: Sri Lanka 22-0 (Karunaratne 13, K Perera 8) Karunaratne slaps a back cut for four off Thomas. West Indies have started, a-hem, imperfectly. They seem determined to bounce Sri Lanka out.
“Dead rubber?” sniffs Mike Suffield. “Is this not a critical day for #pitchwatch ahead of Wednesday’s match between England and New Zealand. Are both matches using the same one?”
3rd over: Sri Lanka 17-0 (Karunaratne 9, K Perera 7) Karunaratne drags Cottrell onto his front boot, after which the ball spins back towards the stumps. He reacts smartly to cuff it away with the back of the bat, and then flicks deftly past short fine leg for his first boundary. He gets four more later in the over with a flick through midwicket. This is a good start for Sri Lanka.
“What in the world were the great MSD and Kedar doing yesterday?” sniffs Amod Paranjape. “Being an MSD backer in a house full of Pant fanatics, it was left to me to explain. I said I would ask Rob and so there.”
2nd over: Sri Lanka 8-0 (Karunaratne 1, K Perera 7) Kusal Perera gets the first boundary, slamming a length ball from Oshane Thomas through the covers. That was a cracking shot from a player who has had a decent tournament: average 43, strike rate 101.
“It’s interesting that we’ve got this far without a true dead rubber - a few games in it was looking very much as though the top four would be done and dusted by now, but due to some fumbling by England and New Zealand we’ve got big games until Wednesday at least, and possibly right up to the last match,” says David Hopkins. “Maybe the World Cup has finally happened upon a decent format?”
1st over: Sri Lanka 2-0 (Karunaratne 1, K Perera 1) Sheldon Cottrell, who has been West Indies’ best player at this tournament by a distance, bowls the first over. He’s not happy with the footholds, as he is skidding a little when he lands. Two runs from the over, and there’s nothing else to say.
If you prefer your rubbers live, or you simply want to commit blogamy, it’s a busy day in the County Championship.
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“I’ve spent my Monday morning listening to Disintegration on repeat (after spending yesterday evening remembering how much I flipping love the Cure),” says Matt Dony. “I imagine both teams looking at each other, knowing their World Cup is effectively over, thinking ‘We’re in the same deep water as you.’ They’re probably feeling homesick, but have to get the last dances out of the way first. Maybe even falling into the cowardly trap of invoking prayers for rain. Or something.”
I’m sensing an emotional Sunday night in the Dony household, and possibly a clink in the recycling bin this morning.
Sri Lanka Karunaratne, K Perera, Fernando, K Mendis, Mathews, Thirimanne, de Silva, Udana, Vandersay, Rajitha, Malinga.
West Indies Gayle, Ambris, Hope (wk), Pooran, Hetmyer, Holder (c), Brathwaite, Allen, Cottrell, Thomas, Gabriel.
Dimuth Karunaratne says he would have done the same. He then announces that Sri Lanka have made three changes and that, er, he can’t remember what they are.
Pre-match reading
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Morning. After a long wait, and enough broken promises to fill at least two episodes of EastEnders, we finally have the first dead rubber of the tournament. Put the Valium away, let your fingernails grow unmolested; today’s entertainment is pulse-stabilisingly unimportant.
West Indies have been out of the competition for ages, at least in their own minds, while Sri Lanka were finished off by a combination of England’s win over India and the tournament regulations. Although they can still reach 10 points, the same as England, they would have fewer wins and that comes before net run rate as a tiebreaker. (I’m not sure that is remotely fair, by the way.)
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