Image Credit- Getty
At Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed
Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah destroyed Sri Lanka for 55 runs, guaranteeing India’s
seventh consecutive World Cup victory and a trip to the semi-finals.
With the new ball, India’s fast-bowling trio was so
impressive that Sri Lanka’s top five scores looked like a line of binary code:
0, 0, 1, 0, 1. Sri Lanka was in danger of folding for the lowest total in ODI
cricket when Shami had both Nos. 7 and 8 for ducks with the score on 29. India
eventually achieved the fourth-largest victory in the format, binning them out
in 19.4 overs, and Shami became India’s top wicket-taker in World Cup history
with 5 for 18. It was India’s second victory over Sri Lanka this year, and
their third time being dismissed for fewer than 100 in One-Day Internationals
(2023).
Bumrah’s initial ball served as a precursor to the
devastation that would transpire. He swung away late to thump the back pad
after going outside of the crease and getting a full ball to angle in. With his
opening ball, Siraj also scored, lbwing Dimuth Karunaratne. With a stronger
cordon, Siraj caught the highly effective Sadeera Samarawickrama at third slip
after four balls.
However, the most notable thing was the firing of
captain Kusal Mendis. Bowlers are frequently told by coaches to hit a
bail-trimming length, which is neither too short to drive nor too short to pull
or cut. Siraj broke the bails in addition to hitting the length that would have
chopped off Mendis’s outer edge. With only one of those runs coming off the
bat, Sri Lanka’s batting lineup was completely collapsed at 3 for 4.
Despite their best efforts, Angelo Mathews and the
lower order could only force Sri Lanka to reach fifty-five, five runs beyond
their total from the Asia Cup final at the Premadasa in September of this year.