IND vs SL: India bowls out Sri Lanka for 55, 4th lowest innings total in World Cups

Sri Lanka’s horrid run against India continued with the bat as they set the record for the fourth lowest innings total by a team in the World Cup during the match in Mumbai on November 2.

The batting performance of the 1996 World Champions invoked memories from the Asia Cup 2023 final, where Sri Lanka were bundled out for just 50 runs.

Key contributions came from Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer, who all scored half-centuries helped India post a big total at the Wankhede stadium. Kohli and Gill stitched together a significant 189-run stand for the second wicket after the early dismissal of Rohit Sharma.

Despite falling short of reaching triple figures, their efforts set the stage for a big total. Shreyas Iyer then accelerated the scoring with a quickfire 82 off just 56 deliveries, helping India set a daunting target of 358 for Sri Lanka.

As Sri Lanka began their chase, they were immediately put on the back foot. Indian seamers Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah ripped through the top order, removing all of the top four batsmen in a remarkable early flurry of wickets. Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Sadeera Samarawickrama all departed without scoring, while captain Kusal Mendis could only add one run. This left Sri Lanka reeling at four down for three runs in an astonishing spell of play.

Mohammed Shami was brought in and he would also join the party as he picked up two wickets in consecutive deliveries with Sri Lanka left reeling at 14 for six in just 10 overs. Shami would come back once again and pick up the wicket of Dushmantha Chameera after a fantastic review from KL Rahul as Sri Lanka lost their seventh wicket with just 22 on the board.

He would continue his fine spell and cleaned up Angelo Mathews to make it 29 for eight. A boundary from Rajitha and a few singles ensured that Sri Lanka wouldn’t break the record for the lowest innings total by a team in the World Cup.

The record was set by Canada in the 2003 World Cup at Paarl, incidentally scored against Sri Lanka. Canada were bundled out for 35 runs on the day.

Rajitha would hit a few more boundaries as Sri Lanka went past the second lowest score of 45 before Shami got his five-wicket haul to make it 49 for nine in 18 overs. The Lankan Lions were ultimately bundled out for 55 in 19.4 overs, the fourth lowest score in the history of the World Cups.