Published: Jun 01, 2019, 08:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Jun 01, 2019, 08:11 PM (IST)
As the New Zealand pacers ran riot and bundled out Sri Lanka for 136 in the third match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Saturday, Dimuth Karunaratne became only the second batsman to carry his bat through the innings in a World Cup match.
The Sri Lankan skipper opened the innings with Lahiru Thirimanne, after Kane Williamson won the toss and put Sri Lanka in to bat.
The left-hander scored an unbeaten 52 from 84 balls, hitting 4 fours. With this, he became only the second batsman after Ridley Jacobs to achieve this feat.
The West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman had scored an unbeaten 49 against Australia in World Cup 1999 in Manchester. (ALSO READ: Cricket World Cup: New Zealand steamroll Sri Lanka by ten wickets)
While the Kiwi pacers struck at regular intervals, Karunaratne stayed put and brought up his third ODI fifty. His knock remained the only highlight of Sri Lanka’s performance in this game after the other Sri Lankan batsmen came a cropper against the likes of Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult.
Although the New Zealand openers – Martin Guptill and Colin Munro – took their time to go big, the pair took on the Sri Lankan bowling once they settled in and chased down the 137-run target in 16.1 overs as the Blackcaps sealed a comprehensive ten-wicket win against the Island nation. (Cricket World Cup: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka: AS IT HAPPENED)
While Guptill scored an unbeaten 73 off 51 balls, Munro remained not out on 58 from 47 balls.
Brief scores: New Zealand 137/0 in 16.1 overs (Guptill 73*, Munro 58*) beat Sri Lanka 136 in 29.2 overs (Karunaratne 52*; Ferguson 3/22, Henry 3/29) by 10 wickets
