Engrossing games beheld another day, as Imad Wasim heroics snatched the win from Afghan hands in a thriller, in the game one, and Starc’s sensational five-wicket haul fading away Trent Boult’s hat-trick, in the game no. 2 on Saturday.
Match 39 will see miracle seeking Sri Lankan side take on pride seeking Caribbean’s.
Sri Lanka’s semi-final hopes are bleak and lie on multiple permutations, whereas West Indies semi-final hopes have been shattered way before.
Of the eight World Cup meets between the two, both the teams have a fair record, as West Indies have four wins in their account, Sri Lanka with three, whereas one match was being abandoned. The past record favors Sri Lanka as West Indies are yet to defeat Sri Lanka in World Cups after 1992.
Match Details
Sri Lanka vs West Indies, Match 39
July 1, 3:00 PM IST
Riverside Ground, Chester-Le-Street
Pitch and Weather Report
Forecasts claim it to be a clear day at Durham, with extremely low chances of rain.
The previous game played here produced a sluggish surface, which is likely to favor bowlers, as batting seemed to be tough on the surface.
Squads
Sri Lanka
Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Mendis (wk), Kusal Perera (wk), Thisara Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Milinda Siriwardana, Lahiru Thirimanne, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Kasun Ranjitha.
West Indies
Jason Holder (c), Chris Gayle, Kemar Roach, Darren Bravo, Sunil Ambris, Shai Hope, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shannon Gabriel, Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Shimron Hetmyer, Fabian Allen, Oshane Thomas, Nicholas Pooran.
Team News
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s 20 run win over the hosts, marked them in the race to semi-finals, whereas a loss against the Proteas has made their chances extremely bleak.
Now they need wins in their final two encounters and favorable results in England and Pakistan games to qualify for semis.
The inconsistent batting line-up has been a worry for them throughout, and an improvement in the same can still produce fruitful results for them.
Bowlers on a couple of instances succeeded to overshadow the indolent batting show.
Sri Lankan skipper will aim to produce improved batting performance to put a challenging fight in front of the Caribbean’s.
West Indies
West Indies had a sorrowful campaign this World Cup, as they have managed to seal just a single win until now.
They have appeared to be impressive in parts but have failed to consolidate.
With the teams shading performance, Shai Hope has lost his form too, which leaves skipper Jason Holder as an only in-form player, with little likes of Sheldon Cottrell.
Chris Gayle needs to play an innings similar to the previous game, along with stable innings from the middle order, if they want to put something respectable in remaining two games and finish their campaign on a high.
Fantasy Prediction
Kusal Perera, Nicolas Pooran, Avishka Fernando, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhananjaya de Silva, Carlos Brathwaite, Jason Holder, Lasith Malinga, Sheldon Cottrell, and Isuru Udana. Captain: Kusal Perera, Vice Captain: Jason Holder.
