India marched into the semi-finals of the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2023 with a massive 302-run win over a hapless Sri Lanka side at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
A brilliant all-round display with the bat, ball and on the field saw India beat Sri Lanka in ruthless fashion. Having won the toss, Sri Lanka put India to bat first. Even as captain Rohit Sharma went quickly, Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli carried on the innings to set themselves up for big scores.
However, heartbreaks awaited the duo as they fell agonizingly close to a century each. First Shubman Gill was dismissed on 92 and soon Virat Kohli followed having scored 88 runs.
KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer were new to the pitch and had the responsibility of picking up the run-scoring from that point, which they did. Iyer kicked on after Rahul’s followed by Suryakumar Yadav’s dismissal. He also went close to a ton, but was left ruing as he suffered similar fate as Kohli and Gill before him. Shreyas Iyer was dismissed on 82.
Ravindra Jadeja added another 35 runs and India went on to put up 357 runs on the board. For Sri Lanka, Dilshan Madushanka was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets to his name.
Sri Lanka had their work cut out – bat deep, save wickets and keep the scoreboard ticking. However, all of that went out of the window as the Indian pacers ran through the Lankan line-up.
What the fans witnessed must have left them dumbfounded even as it all transpired right in front of them. In the blink of an eye, Sri Lanka were four wickets down with three runs on the board.
From that point onwards, the team could not stop the slide as the Indian pacers piled on the pressure. Mohammed Shami picked up another five-wicket haul as Mohammed Siraj got three, and Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah picked up one wicket apiece.
Shami became the highest wicket taker in World Cups for India with 45 now. He also has the most five-wicket hauls among all Indian bowlers with four fifers against his name now.
India picked up a massive win to help their net run rate (NRR) as they also reclaimed their top spot on the points table and kept on their unbeaten streak.
