Sangakkara, Dilshan tons set up big win
At Bellerive Oval, Kumar Sangakkara became the first man in ODI history to score centuries in four consecutive innings, and together with Tillakaratne Dilshan ensured a comfortable win over Scotland
At Bellerive Oval, Kumar Sangakkara became the first man in ODI history to score centuries in four consecutive innings, and together with Tillakaratne Dilshan ensured a comfortable win over Scotland
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Rohan Sharma
10.17 pm: Sri Lanka finish off the group stages on a high as they now sit back to see how they finish overall once all the other results are in. We also have news on Angelo Mathews, who was off the field for most of the second innings after injuring his right Achilles. Hopefully he will be up and at 'em come the knockouts.
Scotland have proven worthy Associates, and will feel content with what has been an encouraging performance throughout. And how about Sangakkara, who became the first ODI player to score four consecutive hundreds. To do that in a World Cup, well, really shows the class of the man doesn't it?
We hope you enjoyed our coverage today. Don't forget to tune into Match Point as well, which should have started by now. As always, this is Rohan Sharma signing off on behalf of ESPNcricinfo. Have a good one, folks!
Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka captain: I've got a sore Achilles tendon, so management thought it would be wise for me to stay out of the field as a precautionary measure. I don't think I will be out, but we will have to assess it over the next couple of days. I think the boys played really well. Credit goes to Sangakkara and Dilshan. Sangakkara is getting better with every game. We just have to take one game at a time and then play positive cricket, which we have done pretty well in the past few games. Got to keep playing the same kind of game. If we can improve our bowling and fielding quite a bit it would be a great thing going forward. (Twitter question - Is there anyways you can stop Sangakkara from retiring? I have gone on my knees to beg him out of retirement, but at the end of the day, it is his decision, and he has served his team and country for such a long time.
Preston Mommsen, Scotland captain: Freddie and I got a nice partnership there. Gave us a nice platform. Sad we couldn't push harder and get it closer. It was hard not to go on and get a bigger score. Today was a huge learning experience, especially watching some of the best batsmen in the world. Saw how they kept their calm under pressure, so we could learn a lot. Sangakkara is definitely No. 1 in terms of the players we have had to play against. This is the level, this is the standard we want to compete at. We want to compete against Full Members more often. Today was a brilliant day for learning.
10.07 pm: Don't go anywhere just yet as we wait on more quotes from the match presentation.
Kumar Sangakkara, Man of the Match: It was a pretty good game. It was important we finished off strong, especially when playing a team like Scotland. We could have got complacent, but we came in and put up the necessary fight. Once you get used to a certain routine (keeping and batting in ODIs), it isn't so bad, but now that I am 37, the joints are creaking. I consider myself lucky to be part of such a good side. Sometimes things just fall in place. Everything clicks. No matter how hard you try to find that one thing, it becomes difficult. I am not sure what that one thing is, but it is definitely working for me at the moment, so hopefully I can keep onto it. As long as we enjoy ourselves and believe we can do it, then we can go far. The squad has changed a bit from the start, and we have had a lot of injuries. The key for us is the way we enjoy our cricket. As long as there is a smile on our face, then that is what matters most. Would love to see myself, and all of us, on the winning podium, but you can't want it too much. Just need to keep focused on the present and work hard each day. We are just concentrating on the quarter-final and semi-final thereafter.
The player of the match, is, and its no surprise, Kumar Sangakkara
10.02 pm: In the end, Sri Lanka move temporarily to the second spot in the Pool A rankings, although Australia and Bangladesh each have a game in hand, and lie currently on 7 points.
10.00 pm: Sri Lanka are able to bundle out Scotland for 215 as they never were really in this chase, despite the best efforts from players like Preston Mommsen and Freddie Coleman. Once those two departed, it became a rather regular procession of wickets. Chameera, who is bowling for the first time in a World Cup match, ended up with figures of 3 for 51. Kulasekera, though, was the star of the show with the ball, picking up 3 for 20 in his seven overs.
JH Davey c Thirimanne b Chameera 4 (12m 7b 0x4 0x6) SR: 57.14
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Sri Lanka have played down concerns about Angelo Mathews' Achilles pain and said that Rangana Herath was likely to be fit for the quarter-final in Sydney on March 18