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Young players from Sri Lanka didn’t feel ready. Pathirana and Wellalage seemed like they were pushed too early to a big stage such as this.
Kasun Rajitha brought the margin of defeat down, which could be key if net run rate comes into play during the latter stages of the tournament.
Kusal Mendis set the tone in the chase blitzing his way to a 42-ball 76. His fifty came off just 25 deliveries, and before any of his team-mates had scored a single run – Pathum Nissanka was out castled for a duck, while Kusal Perera remained scoreless as Mendis cut loose. Mendis would reach his fifty at the team total of 54 – the lowest at which any batter has completed his fifty in men’s ODIs (where known). He would also plunder eight sixes – Sri Lanka struck nine in total – inside the first 10 overs – the second-most in a men’s ODI innings (where we have ball-by-ball data), one behind the West Indies who hit ten sixes in their first ten overs vs England in 2019.
It was a day for the bowlers to forget, with the game largely decided as a straight shootout between the batters. And in that sense, while the end result shows a decisive loss for Sri Lanka, this is a game that they will feel they could garner more positives than what might have seemed possible at the halfway mark.
This was the highest aggregate for a men’s ODI World Cup match, going past the 714 runs in the 2019 game between Australia and Bangladesh in Nottingham
The 107 boundaries across both innings is the most ever in a World Cup game
Markram’s 49-ball century was the fastest in World Cups, and by a South African, surpassing Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien. Markram, whose 54-ball 106 was as an innings of equal parts belligerence and control. How else would you describe a century that quite preposterously paired a control percentage of 90% at a strike rate of 196.29?
This was just the fourth time an ODI has seen three centurions from the same side. The first wicket partnership lasted long, very long. 174-ball stand, boundaries were never too difficult to find with loose deliveries dealt with efficiently and even the good balls more often than not turned away for singles. It was a partnership that burgeoned with minimal risk-taking.
Whenever we thought the match was over, the Lankans showed a hungry fighting spirit. Starting with Mendis to the captain but South Africa’s 428 proved to be too much on a day to forget for the bowlers.
South Africa’s total of 428 for 5 is the highest ever total in a World Cup game, as well as the highest at the Kotla.
They surprised everyone, they were never in contention till this point. I saw too many pundits talk about India, Pakistan, England, New Zealand and Australia probably. The broke a bunch of records in a single match.
Markram, van der Dussen and de Kock ton up as South Africa trump Sri Lanka in run-fest
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