FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 2019 16 Australia floor Windies Tailender Nathan Coulter-Nile sparks Australia’s revival win over West Indies Holder only for Cottrell at long balls featuring eight fours and Mitchell Starc Australia leg to slip as he eyed a catch. four sixes also saw him beat for- • D. Warner c Hetmyer b Cottrell 3 His patient innings ended mer Zimbabwe international shines in Australia’s A. Finch c Hope b Thomas 6 when he flicked Thomas high Heath Streak’s previous World thrilling 15-run victory U. Khawaja c Hope b Russell 13 towards deep backward square Cup best by a No 8 of 72 before, S. Smith c Cottrell b Thomas 73 only for Cottrell, skirting the in sight of a hundred, he drove G. Maxwell c Hope b Cottrell 0 boundary, to grab the ball Carlos Brathwaite to Holder at AFP | Nottingham M. Stoinis c Pooran b Holder 19 one-handed, throw it back into long-off. A. Carey c Hope b Russell 45 N. Coulter-Nile c Holder b Brathwaite 92 the field of play as he stepped In the West Indies’ run-chase, athan Coulter-Nile’s re- P. Cummins c Cottrell b Brathwaite 2 over the rope -- thereby avoiding big-hitting opener Chris Gayle, cord-breaking innings M. Starc c Holder b Brathwaite 8 a six -- and complete a sensa- having overturned two ‘out’ de- Nlaid the platform for A. Zampa not out 0 tional catch. cisions, was eventually lbw to Australia’s 15-run victory over Extras (b1, lb1, w24, nb1) 27 But Coulter-Nile cashed in as Starc for 21. the West Indies yesterday as Total (all out, 49 overs) 288 he surpassed his previous inter- But Hope, biding his time, the World Cup holders bounced West Indies national best of 34. completed a 76-ball fifty. back from a top-order collapse C. Gayle lbw b Starc 21 His blistering assault off 60 Holder who overturned deci- to make it two successive wins. E. Lewis c Smith b Cummins 1 sions against him on seven and Australia were in dire straits at S. Hope c Khawaja b Cummins 68 22, upped the tempo with sever- 38 for four after the Windies fast N. Pooran c Finch b Zampa 40 al well-struck boundaries. bowlers proved too hot to handle S. Hetmyer run out 21 West Indies, however, suf- early on at Trent Bridge. J. Holder c Zampa b Starc 51 fered a huge setback when Hope But Coulter-Nile’s career-best A. Russell c Maxwell b Starc 15 chipped a Pat Cummins slower C. Brathwaite c Finch b Starc 16 92 92 -- the highest score by any ball to mid-on. A. Nurse not out 19 runs by Nathan Coulter- number eight batsman or lower Nile is the highest score Russell then got off the mark in a World Cup -- helped take S. Cottrell b Starc 1 with a huge straight six off O. Thomas not out 0 by any number eight them to 288 all out. batsman or lower in a leg-spinner Adam Zampa that He carried on a recovery Extras (lb9, w11) 20 took the West Indies to 200 be- Total (nine wickets, 50 overs) 273 World Cup started by former skipper Steve fore he was well caught over the Smith (73), with the pair bailing shoulder by Glenn Maxwell. Australia out in a stand of 102 in But as long as Holder was 89 balls. there the West Indies still had West Indies, despite a pains- a chance. taking 68 from opener Shai Hope and 51 from captain Jason Today’s matches Holder finished on 273 for nine. Nathan Coulter-Nile pulls the ball to the boundary Fast bowler Mitchell Starc did the bulk of the damage with five Australia after Holder won the with boos ringing out as Warner for 46 -- the first five-wicket toss. walked off and Smith walked on haul of this World Cup -- includ- Oshane Thomas had Australia -- a now familiar response by ing a late burst of four for two in captain Aaron Finch (six) caught crowds in England to the pair 11 balls -- as Australia followed before opening partner David having only recently returned up their seven-wicket win over Warner (three) was held at back- from year-long bans for their minnows Afghanistan. ward point off Sheldon Cottrell roles in a ball-tampering scandal The West Indies had bounced -- a wicket that saw the left-arm in South Africa. out Pakistan for just 105 when quick, still a member of the Ja- winning their tournament open- maica Defence Force, celebrate Coulter-Nile cashes in Pakistan vs Sri Lanka er at Trent Bridge last week and with his trademark salute. Smith had a lucky break on 26 Australia’s Pat Cummins, second left, celebrates with teammates the dismissal of (12:30pm) adopted similar tactics against Australia were now 26 for two, when he top-edged a hook off West Indies’ Shai Hope Karunaratne unfazed by Sri Lanka’s Pakistan vs Sri Lanka World Cup woe against Pakistan Facts AFP | Bristol » Pakistan are coming into the game with a terrific win in their previous fixture and will be oozing imuth Karunaratne in- with confidence sists Sri Lanka can end » Sri Lanka lack experience in their top-order as Dtheir wretched World well as the bowling attack which can be a telling Cup record against Pakistan factor in crunch situations when they clash in Bristol to- » Pakistan bat deep which is so often a difference day. between a win and a loss Pakistan have won all seven World Cup encounters against Sri Lanka dating back to the Pakistan Sri Lanka inaugural World Cup in 1975. But Sri Lanka are optimistic afte recovering from a crushing Pakistan is unlikely to tinker with its winning combination. The Lankans may not make alterations to their winning 10-wicket defeat in their open- Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman are in decent form but combination. In their last game, they brought in Nuwan ing match against New Zealand. need to convert their starts. Babar Azam has looked good Pradeep, who picked up a four-fer and the Player of the A hard-earned 34-run win as well. Mohammad Hafeez getting 84 is a big positive for Match award. The decision to open the batting with Kusal against minnows Afghanistan Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera of Sri Lanka make their way out to bat the team. Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik will be hoping for a better Perera also worked as he got an 81-ball 78 that turned out lifted Sri Lankan spirits, al - against Afghanistan show the next time. to be a decisive factor in the contest. though Karunaratne acknowl- Sarfaraz Ahmed scored a morale-boosting fifty last time Lasith Malinga was also able to hit the Yorker length edges they still have room for after being shot out for 136 by around and his confidence will be high. In the bowling consistently. Meanwhile, the Lankans would be worried improvement. New Zealand, but he believes department, Mohammad Amir has been their gun bowler about veteran Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis’ form. The next test for the 1996 they have more than enough thus far with five wickets. Wahab Riaz has also been able to Dhananjaya de Silva also had a couple of indifferent champions comes against We have some talent to see off Pakistan spit venom. Hasan Ali’s form is a worrying factor though as outings. The likes of Thisara Perera haven’t looked at his an unpredictable Pakistan areas to improve “Pakistan is an unpredictable he is yet to get a wicket in the WC. brutal best either until now and he’ll need to deliver. side who were bowled out team but we are also coming for 105 in their opening sev- in batting. We into this game having won one Probable XI en-wicket defeat against the need to focus on and lost one. We were low in Probable XI West Indies before a shock those things and confidence but we will give our Dimuth Karunaratne (C), Kusal Perera (WK), Lahiru 14-run victory against hosts make sure it does best shot out to beat them,” he Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya and tournament favourites not happen in the said. Hafeez, Sarfaraz Ahmed (C & WK), Asif Ali, Shoaib Malik, de Silva, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Suranga Lakmal, England. Pakistan match. Sri Lanka will have to guard Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep Asked yesterday if Sri Lanka’s But the win has, against another middle-order past struggles against Pakistan collapse, which derailed their could be a mental barrier, cap- overall, boosted our good starts in both the matches, tain Karunaratne told report- confidence a weakness Karunaratne hopes PITCH REPORT ers: “We may not have won DIMUTH KARUNARATNE will be addressed. The pitch in Bristol has been good for batting and a high-scoring game can be expected, against Pakistan in the World “We have some areas to im- provided the match takes place. Only seven out of the 17 completed ODIs were won by the Cup but it doesn’t bother us. prove in batting,” said Karun- team, batting first. Even the two encounters played this year were won by the chasing teams. “It’s just another one-day in- win.” aratne, whose team slumped Hence, teams may wish to field first after winning the toss. The DLS method also needs to be ternational for us so if we per- Karunaratne admitted his from 144-1 to 201 all out against kept in mind.