India were at 214-1 at the end of 36 overs in their clash against Sri Lanka on the final day of the World Cup group stage on Saturday.
The loss of a wicket was that of Rohit Sharma’s who was dismissed at 30.1 overs off of Rajitha’s delivery caught by Mathews at mid-off. He posted 103 runs and held a 189-run partnership with KL Rahul before he was sent back to the pavilion.
Sri Lanka innings
Angelo Mathews hit a gritty century to lift Sri Lanka to 264 for seven after a top-order collapse against India.
Mathews made 113 and put on 124 runs for the fifth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne to give Sri Lanka a respectable total after they were reeling on 55 for four at Headingley.
Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah removed openers Dimuth Karunaratne (10) and Kusal Perera (18) inside eight overs after Sri Lanka, who are playing for pride after missing out on the semi-finals, won the toss and elected to bat.
Bumrah returned impressive figures of 3-37 in his 10 overs as India, who are already qualified for the semi-finals, restricted Sri Lanka with some quality bowling.
Kusal Mendis was stumped off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who is playing his first match of the competition, before paceman Hardik Pandya had rising star Avishka Fernando caught behind for 20.
The right and left-handed batting combination of Mathews and Thirimanne rotated the strike and got the occasional boundary to keep the score ticking.
Thirimanne registered his 21st ODI fifty but soon fell to Yadav’s left-arm wrist spin on 53 after giving away a catch to point.
Mathews, who was dropped on 61 by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at long-on off Jadeja, went on to complete his ton — his third in ODIs — with a boundary off Pandya.
The former Sri Lanka captain finally fell to Bumrah after smashing 10 fours and two sixes during his 128-ball knock.
Dhananjaya de Silva chipped in with his unbeaten 29 after his 74-run partnership with Mathews that took Sri Lanka past the 250-run mark.
Virat Kohli’s India need 265 for a victory, which would give them a chance of finishing above defending champions Australia, who face South Africa in the day’s other match.
Match toss
Karunaratne earlier won the toss and elected to bat first against India.
The 1996 champions, who are playing for pride after bowing out of the semi-finals race, made one change from their previous win over West Indies, Thisara Perera coming in for Jeffrey Vandersay.
“It was an obvious plan, it’s a used wicket and will get slower and slower,” Karunaratne said at the toss.
“We didn’t capitalise in the first few games, but we then started to correct those mistakes and started to do well.”
Virat Kohli’s India have won six of their eight league matches to make the semi-finals along with defending champions Australia, hosts England and New Zealand.
The two-time winners have a chance to leapfrog table-topping Australia with a win in Leeds but also need help from South Africa, who face Aaron Finch’s side later at Old Trafford.
India made two changes to their starting line-up, with Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav coming in for Mohammed Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal.
“We would have batted first as well, used pitch, will get slower as the match progresses,” said Kohli.
“The team is doing well, we are striking a good balance at the right time.”
Teams
India: Virat Kohli (capt), KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wkt), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), Kusal Perera (wkt), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Thisara Perera, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lasith Malinga
Umpires: Paul Wilson (AUS), Ian Gould (ENG) TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
