WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2019 16 recover to beat Pradeep and Malinga strike as Sri Lanka denied Afghanistan a famous victory by winning a low-scoring thriller in the World Cup

for 57 runs, Mohammad The delay meant the match Nuwan Pradeep took Nabi taking three in five balls was reduced to 41 overs a side • after Gulbadin won the toss. but Sri Lanka folded quickly af- a career-best 4-31 as Shell-shocked Sri Lanka kept ter the resumption, losing Ma- Sri Lanka fought back on losing wickets at regular in- linga and Pradeep for the addi- to beat Afghanistan in tervals, with 35 extras the sec- tion of just 19 more runs. a tense, rain-affected ond-highest scorer of the in - match in Cardiff nings behind ’s 78. Sri Lanka A dramatic 22nd over saw D. Karunaratne c Najibullah b Nabi 30 Nabi K. Perera c Shahzad b Rashid 78 AFP | Cardiff, United Kingdom for 25 before having Kusal Men- L. Thirimanne b Nabi 25 dis by in K. Mendis c Rahmat b Nabi 2 uwan Pradeep and Lasith the slips for two. A. Mathews c Rahmat b Nabi 0 Malinga starred with the was next to D. de Silva c Shahzad b Hamid 0 ball as Sri Lanka fought go, for a duck, also caught by T. Perera (Hashmatullah/Shahzad) 2 N I. Udana b Dawlat 10 back to crush Afghanistan’s Shah. hopes of a memorable World Leg-spinner S. Lakmal 15 Cup victory yesterday. eventually got in on the act when L. Malinga b Dawlat 4 Afghanistan, bidding for just he had opener Kusal Perera, who N. Pradeep b Rashid 0 their second win in a World had seen wickets tumble at the Extras (lb10, nb3, w22) 35 Cup match and their first over other end, caught behind. Total (all out, 36.5 overs) 201 a Test nation were in command Rain then intervened, forcing Afghanistan (revised target 187 in 41 overs) halfway through a gloomy day the players from the field, with M Shahzad c Karunratne b Malinga 7 c Perera b Pradeep 30 in Cardiff after dismissing Sri Sri Lanka bowler Nuwan Pradeep celebrates after Rashid Khan of Afghanistan Sri Lanka 182-8. Lanka for 201,. Rahmat Shah c Mathews b Udana 2 But faced with a rain-revised Afghanistan had slumped to And when Najibullah was run c Perera b Pradeep 4 target of 187 in 41 overs, their 57 for five, with out by a direct hit from Sri Lanka b Perera 11 let them down again as holding a brilliant running catch , lbw b Pradeep 23 they were bowled out for 152. in the deep to dismiss Hazrat- Afghanistan were all but beaten run out (Karunaratne) 43 Victory saw Sri Lanka bounce ullah Zazai on the hook for 30. at nine down. Rashid Khan b Pradeep 2 back from a 10- thrashing Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Earlier, Sri Lanka came out b Malinga 6 b Malinga 6 by in their World Naib (23) and Najibullah Zad- of the blocks quickly against not out 1 Cup opener. ran (43) then started to turn the the unfancied Afghans, who Extras (b1, nb1, w15) 17 Pradeep took a career-best match again with a sixth-wicket suffered a seven-wicket loss to Total (all out, 32.4 overs) 152 four for 31, while Malinga (three stand of 64. champions Australia in their for 39) struck at both ends of But paceman Pradeep struck tournament opener, and were the innings, finishing the match twice, having Naib lbw before set for an imposing total at 144 Today’s matches with a trademark that bowling Rashid Khan to leave for one. bowled Hamid Hassan. Afghanistan 123 for seven. But they lost their last nine

South Africa Vs India Faf du Head-to-head in World Cup Plessis Virat India (1) – South Africa (3) Kohli Facts South Africa Vs India » India has a very well-balanced side with the two top- (12:30pm) ranked batsmen and the top-ranked bowler in the vs New Zealand world at their disposal celebrates taking the wicket of Afghanistan’s Hamid Hasan (3:30pm) » South Africa has injury concerns to some leading players and has lost both its matches in the ICC World Cup 2019 so far » India has beaten South Africa in six out of the seven South Africa not to be taken lightly: Kohli matches so far South Africa India AFP | London African side that faces an uphill has the right mindset, he can ODI Ranking: 3 ODI Ranking: 2 struggle after the loss of strike really perform on the day ... we ndia are banking on their ex- bowlers and Lungi need to maintain respect for World Cup best: Semi Final in 1992, 1999, 2007, World Cup best: Winner 1983, 2011 Iperience in their World Cup Ngidi. that and focus on our strength 2015 The first match of an important tournament can be a opener against South Africa “We need to bring all our ex- and what we can do as a A heavy loss to England and being comprehensively out- bit tricky. India lost its first warm-up match against New and cannot take the opposi - perience to the play tomorrow side.” played by Bangladesh was not how the South Africans would Zealand but was then able to win quite comfortably tion’s depleted bowling attack to be able to make right deci- Kohli, who is captaining the have wanted their World Cup 2019 campaign to start. Dale against Bangladesh. In both those matches, India’s famed lightly, captain sions in pressure situations,” Indian side for the first time in Steyn was already out injured and it looks like Lunge Ngidi top-order was not able to score many runs. said yesterday, insisting the Kohli told reporters during a World Cup, said his team’s late has joined the list as well with ’s availability That can be seen a positive because , Virat Proteas can call upon quality a training session ahead of start to the tournament allows in question. Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan are not going to be kept quiet replacements. Wednesday’s match in South- them to learn from previous South Africa needs to get its act together fast. They have for long on these flat English wickets. Now that the middle Kohli’s India are ranked sec- ampton. games and match conditions. seven matches left in the tournament and need to win five order has had some time in the middle, the Indian batting ond in the world and will be “So we never take anyone “From that point of view, we or maybe six out of them to have a chance of qualifying for looks very strong. firm favourites as they begin lightly, and whether a few key would say that we have a lot of the world cup semi-finals. Shikhar Dhawan has a phenomenal record of making runs their quest for a third World players get injured or not, if a positives that we can take out in ICC events. He also likes to bat against South Africa. Cup triumph against a South youngster is stepping in and he of starting after everyone else.” The pitch at Southampton should have some bounce in it, Probable XI for South Africa: something that all the Indian batsmen seem to enjoy. (wk), Hashim Amla, , Faf Probable XI for India: du Plessis, , JP Duminy, Andile Phe- hlukwayo, /, , Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Bangladesh vs New Zealand , /Dale Steyn MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit New Zealand did not miss Having begun on a Colin Bumrah pace spearhead Tim Southee, Tamim winning note, Bang- Munro PITCH REPORT Iqbal recuperating from a calf Cricket World Cup Player to watch ladesh will not want injury and top-order batsman Virat Kohli to tinker with their Henry Nicholls (hamstring) India combination and will Aer helping India in their opening game. Matt reclaim the number-one Test look to go ahead with ranking, the 30-year-old led his Henry, who replaced Southee, team to a first-ever Test series the same XI. took three wickets in Sri triumph in Australia in January Age: 30 Lanka’s 136 all out, while Born November 5, 1988 The weather forecast for Southampton on match day is not very Place Delhi, India openers and good. We should be able to start the match on time but there Playing role Top-order bat knocked off the is a very good chance of rain in the afternoon. Batting style Right-hand bat 137 required in just 16.1 overs. Bowling style Right-arm medium This could mean that DLS calculations come in place and Squads: affect the outcome of the match. ODI* Test The pitch at the Rose Bowl is flat with good pace and bounce Matches 227 77 1. , 2. Soumya Sarkar, 3. Shakib Al 1. Martin Guptill, 2. Colin Munro, 3. Kane in it. There is not too much in the surface for the spinners and Centuries 41 25 Hasan, 4. (wk), 5. Mohammad Runs 10,843 6,613 Williamson (captain), 4. , 5. Tom we could see some swing thanks to the high humidity. Average 59.57 53.76 Mithun, 6. , 7. Mosaddek Hossain, Latham (wk), 6. , 7. Colin de A score of around 320 should be considered par if the full As of June 3, 2019 8. Mehidy Hasan, 9. Mohammad Saifuddin, 10. Grandhomme, 8. , 9. Matt 50 overs can be played out. *One-day international Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), 11. Mustafizur Source : espncricinfo.com AFP Photo/Glyn Kirk Henry, 10. , 11. Rahman