In a dominant eight-wicket win vs England, Sri Lanka retained their hopes of finally making it to the hotly contested 2023 ODI World Cup semi-finals. In M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Kusal Mendis and his team beat the defending champions. This marks his second win in the game. The England cricket team, meanwhile, turned in yet another poor visible and each game the lost let the tournament’s defense appear less weak.
With 146 balls left, Sri Lanka reached 160-2 after chasing a modest target of 157 runs. A key element in their get was the unbeaten half-centuries scored by Pathum Nissanka and Sadira Samarawickrama, both of them in outstanding shape.
Statistics in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023
Nissanka hit seven fours and two sixes in 83 balls in a brilliant inning of 77 not out, his fourth half-century in the game. He sent back Adil Rashid with the second six, which went over long-on, to end the competition.
After this win, Sri Lanka is now up to fifth place, over Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are tied with both of these organizations in terms of scoring points, but they are ahead due to their superior Net Run Rate (NRR) of -0.205.
However, with four defeats and just one success, England’s hopes of making it to the semi-finals have been greatly diminished by this defeat. They must win each of their final 4 matches for them to keep their restricted chances to make it to the semi-finals, and their success will also depend on the outcomes of other teams. They currently sit in ninth place in the ranking, slightly in front of the Netherlands due to their greater NRR.
With five wins in as many activities, Rohit Sharma’s Indian team has an unaffected record and remains top the points table. After their most recent victory over New Zealand, they have collected double-digit points, making them the only clean side in the league.
Also Read : Champions League victory to Manchester City is made possible by clinical Haaland.
Thanks to their better NRR, South Africa’s epic 149-run win over Bangladesh allowed them to pass New Zealand for the second spot. While South Africa, led by Temba Bavuma, has gained 8 points, their incredible NRR of +2.370 has kept them in second place in the standings, while New Zealand fell to third.
Australia, the five-time world champions, beat the Netherlands by an incredible 309 runs on Wednesday to secure fourth place in the points table.
While both are still in contenders for the semifinals, Pakistan and Afghanistan are currently placed sixth and seventh in the ranks.