Cricket World Cup 2019 Results: Friday's Wicket-Takers and Top Run-Scorers
Sri Lanka produced the biggest shock of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup so far on Friday, as they beat hosts England by 20 runs.
After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Sri Lanka struggled against the England attack. Jofra Archer—three wickets for 52—and Mark Wood—three wickets for 40—excelled for the hosts, as Sri Lanka made just 232 for nine wickets from their 50 overs.
It should have been a straightforward chase for the hosts, but they lost wickets cheaply throughout their innings. The brilliant Lasith Malinga finished with figures of four wickets for 43 runs conceded, as England were bowled out for just 212, despite the efforts of Ben Stokes, who was unbeaten on 82.
Here is a look at some of the top players in the individual categories at the World Cup and a reminder of some of the best bits of action from Headingley.
Top Run-Scorers
1. David Warner, Australia: 447
2. Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh: 425
3. Joe Root, England: 424
4. Aaron Finch, Australia: 396
5. Rohit Sharma, India: 319
Top Wicket-Takers
1. Jofra Archer, England: 15
Mitchell Starc, Australia: 15
3. Mohammad Amir, Pakistan: 13
4. Mark Wood, England: 12
5. Lockie Ferguson, New Zealand: 11
Pat Cummins, Australia: 11
For the full stats and overall competition standings, visit the World Cup website.
Thursday Recap
With so much focus on the England batting at this competition so far, Friday saw the England bowlers grab some of the spotlight.
On what was expected to be a good batting pitch, Sri Lanka failed to offer much resistance against the pace of the home bowlers. In the third over, they found themselves two wickets down for just three runs scored.
It was a fantastic team effort with the ball; Benedict Bermage of Sky Sports noted that even those bowlers who didn't take wickets played their part:
Wood and Archer were the stars, as the express pace they provided was too much for Sri Lanka to cope with.
The three wickets for Archer were enough to draw him level with Mitchell Starc on 15 wickets for the lead in the tournament. The 24-year-old's ability to bowl rapid deliveries, slower balls and yorkers makes him such an important part of the England attack.
Cricket journalist Peter Miller noted Archer is on course to smash an England World Cup record:
Meanwhile, the CricViz Analyst picked up on the improvement made by Wood in this format:
In the end, a determined 85 from Angelo Mathews hauled Sri Lanka to a total of 232, one that England would have been confident of chasing down with their batting firepower.
While England were let down by a number of key players in their response, Malinga rolled back the years to produce a fast-bowling masterclass.
With the new ball, the veteran was excellent, taking the wicket of Jonny Bairstow in the first over for a duck and then prising out James Vince for 14. He then returned late on to grab the key wickets of Joe Root, who batted well for his 57, and Jos Buttler, ten).
Cricket journalist Freddie Wilde was full of praise for the Sri Lankan, who moved to 50 World Cup wickets overall with this performance:
England threatened to take the chase to the wire thanks to Stokes, although the lower order was not able to forge regular partnerships with the all-rounder. In the end, he was left stranded on 82, as Sri Lanka grabbed the final wicket of Mark Wood with England 20 runs short of their target.
As the tournament favourites, England now have work to do to secure a semi-final spot, especially with games against Australia, New Zealand and India to come.
Sri Lanka, after a torrid start to the competition, will now feel they have an outside chance of making the final four if they can carry this momentum forward.
