Sri Lanka beats West Indies by 23 runs

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Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup - Sri Lanka v West Indies - Emirates Riverside, Chester-Le-Street, Britain – 1 July, Sri Lanka’s Avishka Fernando celebrates his century – Action Images via Reuters

Avishka Fernando slams maiden century to propel Lanka to 338-6 against Windies

DURHAM, (Reuters): Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 23 runs in the Cricket World Cup on Monday as Nicholas Pooran’s counter-attacking knock of 118 went in vain for the Caribbean side.

Chasing 339 to win, West Indies lost Sunil Ambris and Shai Hope to Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga’s fierce spell with the new ball.

Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer added 49 but wickets fell at regular intervals to leave the Windies on the brink of another defeat at 145-5.

After failing to build on solid starts for the majority of the tournament, Pooran went on to make his maiden ODI hundred. The 23-year-old left-hander combined with tailender Fabian Allen in an 83-run stand before Allen was run out for 51. Pooran continued to find boundaries to set up a tense finale before he was caught behind off experienced all-rounder Angelo Mathews, who was bowling in an ODI for the first time since December 2017.

Malinga returned to trap Oshane Thomas lbw for his third wicket as West Indies finished on 315-9. Earlier, West Indies struggled to make an impact with the new ball after winning the toss and the Sri Lankan top order batted well to post a mammoth 338-6. Avishka Fernando smashed his first ODI century (104) and opener Kusal Perera hit eight boundaries in his 51-ball 64 as Sri Lanka finished with their highest total of the tournament.

Both Sri Lanka and West Indies were out of contention for semi-final spots.

Although Sri Lanka could beat India in their final group match to potentially join England on 10 points, they would miss out on qualification having won four games to England’s five.

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