Avishka Fernando, bowlers hand West Indies another defeat
Nicholas Pooran's century goes in vain as Sri Lanka win dead rubber by 23 runs
Nicholas Pooran's century goes in vain as Sri Lanka win dead rubber by 23 runs
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx)
7.20pm That's all from us at ESPNcricinfo. See you tomorrow for a big clash - India v Bangladesh. Till then, on behalf of our scoring team and Danyal, this is Sreshth signing off
Jason Holder: "We have just got to be better. We've let some key moments slip in this World Cup. I thought their score was on par. Fernando batted well - showed us things get easier if you stay in. Pooran was excellent too. I thought we finished our bowling well. But our fielding let us down. That run-out was crucial, Hetmyer's run-out was crucial too. We just want to play the perfect game next time."
Dimuth Karunaratne: "Really good - got confidence. All the boys contributed. Those are the things I expect as captain. We put additional pressure on ourselves earlier. We all know Sri Lanka play freely, the way you saw Avishka. If you take our middle order, they were more positives. We want to play freely in our next games too. On Angelo Mathews bowling, Vandersay was leaking some runs, so offered Mathews couple of overs."
7.13pm For those asking, Sri Lanka are eliminated from the World Cup despite the win. Because they can only tie England on 10 points - and England have more wins than SL. Number of wins is the first tie-breaker in the World Cup. NRR comes into play only after that. Those two abandoned games coming back to hurt SL.
7.08pm Avishka Fernando is the Player of the Match. Kumar Sangakkara his translator.
"When I went in, I was happy doing what was required from me, says Fernando. "They bowled well. Very happy this hundred came in a winning cause. Very happy that I got this opportunity. Happy to have made use of this opportunity. And all I want to focus on is improving my game for the country."
Usman Hickmath: "Does not matter not making to semis. No one expected them to get into top 4. Many said they will finish behind Afghanistan. But there is a good chance that they will finish on par with England interms of points. Avishka and Dimuth's captaincy are great finds. Positives to take. Well played guys "
RiwajAdhikari: "I have no regrets watching this rivetting nailbiter also reading the commentary here while my exams are in less than 10 days from today and still some lab assignments left to do. Long live cricket! "
VJ: "Shahzeb.....everyone questions the intent of Dhoni but none is praising how good english bowlers yesterday...there is always two sides for the coin...don't forget it. "
Sunil GK: "Real winner is young Pooran, winning millions of hearts! Love from IND "
Watch MATCH DAY right here - with Daniel Vettori, Ajit Agarkar, Daren Ganga and T Dilshan
Shahzeb: "though windies were in worst situation in last 10 overs then india but this is intent this is sportsmaship they are showing never die attitude this is how cricket wins shame on dhoni and other involved indian players"
Veer: "SL deserved to win this... middle order finally succeeded. Go down same path as SA, performing when there is no pressure."
7pm So Sri Lanka move to eight points - a deserved two points earned today. Sure, some may say West Indies deserved to win the match, but the comeback displayed by the SL bowlers deserves some rewards. Also, remember how solid Sri Lanka's batting was today. Karunaratne, the two Kusal's, Thirimanne and ofcourse, Avishka Fernando, batted beautifully to hand SL their highest score of WC 2019. As for West Indies, there were some sparks, especially when Pooran and Allen were batting, but eventually we were reminded once again how difficult it is to chase when there's a scoreboard pressure looming too.
WATCH on Hotstar (India only): How the West Indian wickets fell
Nicholas Pooran scored his maiden hundred but was unable to be West Indies' saviour
Nicholas Pooran's century goes in vain as Sri Lanka win dead rubber by 23 runs
How did a man who had not bowled a ball in the previous eight months come to be at the top of his mark with Sri Lanka in dire need?
ESPNcricinfo's live updates and analysis on Sri Lanka v West Indies
Neither team's campaign has gone according to plan and a large part of that is because their batting line-ups have been disappointing