In the 33rd game of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, India beat Sri Lanka by 302 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. With this dynamic victory, the hosts become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals of the competition.
Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis won the toss, opted to bowl first, and the Men-in-Blue registered a mammoth total of 357 runs with the loss of eight wickets, all credit goes to the incredible half-centuries from Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer.
While chasing the target, the Indian pacers were on their fire, as they have dismantled the Sri Lankan batting line up, just on 55 runs. The main architect behind the destruction was Mohammad Shami, who claimed his second five-wicket haul. It was a terrible day for the Lankan batters, as no one could able to resist in front of the rampage from the Indian fast bowlers. The performance with the ball gave a fresh nostalgia of the Asia Cup final to the fans, as the 1996 champions got bundled out on 50 runs.
Shami was the star with the ball, as he got five wickets by spending 18 runs in his five overs. On the other side, Mohammed Siraj too, showed his bowling prowess by claiming three wickets, and Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja got one wicket each.
In the first inning, the two-time champions did not start well, as the man-in-form, Rohit Sharma (4) got out in the very first over, but the Indian batters did not get nervous, as Kohli (88) and Gill (92) took charge, and started to counter-attack, and built a sensational partnership of 189 runs. Virat continued his good form with the bat, and his innings had 11 boundaries, whereas Shubman found his lost touch with the bat, as he scored 92 runs, that had 11 fours and two sixes in his innings. Both the batters missed their well-deserved centuries, as both of them got dismissed by Dilshan Madhushanka. Indian batting juggernaut in this match continued by Shreyas, as he scored rapid 82 runs that had three fours and six massive sixes, and a jiffy knock from Jadeja (35), helped the side to get the total of 357 runs in their 50 overs.
With the ball for SL, Dilshan Madhushanka was the star with the ball, although being expensive, he secured the five-wicket haul by spending 80 runs in his 10 overs. Dushmantha Chameera got one wicket.
Shami was adjudged Player of the Match for his scintillating show with the ball.
Scorecard:
India: 357/8, Overs 50, Shubman Gill 92, Dilshan Madhushanka 5/80
Sri Lanka: 55/10, Overs 19.4, Kasun Rajitha 14, Mohammad Shami 5/18