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Pace bowlers Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah bundled Sri Lanka at a meagre 55 runs to guide India to a massive victory at the Wankhede in their World Cup 2023 clash.

This secured India’s seventh consecutive victory in the World Cup 2023 and secured their spot in the semi-finals.

The fast-bowling trio’s performance with the new ball was exceptional, evident from Sri Lanka’s top five batsmen’s scores: 0, 0, 1, 0, 1. Shami further deepened Sri Lanka’s woes by dismissing batsmen No. 7 and 8 for ducks, with the score at 29. This put Sri Lanka in serious jeopardy of recording the lowest total in ODI cricket. Eventually, Sri Lanka was all out in 19.4 overs, marking India’s fourth-largest win in this format.

Shami’s figures of 5-18 also made him India’s highest wicket-taker in World Cup history. This marked the third instance in 2023 where India dismissed Sri Lanka for less than 100 in ODIs, and their second victory with a margin of 300-plus runs against them this year.

Chasing a challenging target of 358 runs, Kasun Rajitha was the highest scorer for Sri Lanka, managing to contribute only 12 runs, followed by Maheesh Theekshana and Mathews, who also scored 12 each. The rest of the Sri Lankan batters failed to reach double figures.

Shami led India’s bowling attack with figures of 5/18, followed by Siraj’s 3/16. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja also took one wicket each.

In the first innings, after India was invited to bat, Dilshan Madushanka struck early for Sri Lanka, dismissing Rohit Sharma on the second ball of the innings after he had hit the first one for a boundary.

Source: Cricinfo

Virat Kohli then partnered with Shubman Gill, and together they amassed 189 runs for the second wicket, both achieving half-centuries.

While Shubman Gill seemed poised to secure his maiden World Cup century, Virat Kohli was aiming for his 49th ODI century to equal Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most ODI hundreds. However, Dilshan Madushanka halted their progress by dismissing both batsmen in consecutive overs.

Shubman Gill emerged as the top-scorer with a run-a-ball 92, featuring 11 boundaries and two sixes. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli scored 88 runs from 92 deliveries, with as many boundaries as his partner.

Source: Cricinfo

Batting at number four, Shreyas Iyer played a blistering knock of 82 runs from 56 balls, including three boundaries and six sixes, propelling India to a formidable total of 357.

Besides Madushanka’s five-wicket haul, Dushmantha Chameera was the only other bowler to claim a wicket for Sri Lanka, while two batters were run out.

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