West Indies all but pulled off a heroic chase of 339 runs against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup Match 39 on Monday as Nicolas Pooran bagged his maiden ODI century to all but take his team home. Former England captain Michael Vaughan, however, used it as an opportunity to take a subtle dig at Virat Kohli & Co. who produced a lacklustre chase against England on Sunday while chasing a similar target.
With Windies struggling to post decent partnership right from the start yet again, Pooran found a capable partner in the form of Fabian Allen as the two put together 83 runs for the seventh wicket to keep their team on course for a record chase. Allen’s run-out, however, changed the flow of the game, with Pooran remaining as the only established batsman on the pitch. Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews then bowled his first over in 2 years, taking Pooran’s wicket on the very first delivery to dent West Indies’ hopes.
Vaughan tweeted: “Unlike India !!!”, taking a dig at the approach Team India showed against England while chasing 338 just a day before. Vaughan wasn’t the only one targeting the way the Indian team planned their chase, with MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav being subjected to criticism yet again on social media.
India will have the opportunity to make amends with the mistakes they made against England by securing a win over Bangladesh on Tuesday. The Men in Blue are only a win away from sealing a spot in the top four. The Bangla Tigers, on the other hand, need to win both of their remaining fixtures – against India and Pakistan – in order to stand a chance of qualifying into the knockouts.
