The Men’s 2023 ODI World Cup is now past the halfway stage as it builds towards the final on November 19. Each morning we will round up the latest action and news from the event and bring you the insights from our reporters on the ground.
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Top Story: Warner, Maxwell one-two knocks Netherlands out cold
Australia 399 for 8 (Maxwell 106, Warner 104, Smith 71, Labuschagne 62, van Beek 4-74) beat Netherlands 90 (Zampa 4-8, Marsh 2-19) by 309 runs
Australia posted 399 for 8, standing triumphantly at the halfway stage over floored opponents, who were unable to rise off the canvas, eventually succumbing to a chastening 309-run defeat – the largest in margin in men’s ODI World Cup history.
Match analysis: Maxwell defies the laws of physics in Delhi
Twenty-nine balls into his innings, Glenn Maxwell is waiting. His legs apart, facing the bowler front-on, wrists cocked, right one crossed over the left. In his own way, he is ready.
He is in the middle of the most manic of this World Cup’s innings, in which he would go on to demolish the record for fastest World Cup hundred, set only 17 days ago. Two balls before this, he has reverse swept a full ball on leg stump from seamer Bas de Leede way into the stands behind backward point.
Must Watch: Where are the last-over thrillers?
News headlines
Match preview
England vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT
So, how’s that whole “attacking champions” thing working out? Jos Buttler may always regret saying England wouldn’t be “trying to defend anything” out in India – a statement that appears to be coming true uncomfortably quickly – but they are not quite at the point of no return, despite only being kept off the bottom of the table by Bangladesh’s thumping defeat to South Africa on Tuesday. Cornered lions, anyone?
Team news
England (probable) 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 Dawid Malan, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Harry Brook, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Gus Atkinson/Mark Wood
Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Kusal Mendis (capt, wk) 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Dushan Hemantha/Dunith Wellalage, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Dilshan Madushanka
Feature: World Cup’s the (toughest) stage for accidental captain Kusal Mendis
As such, international cricket can be a hard place to learn on the fly and Kusal perhaps had valid reasons for not wanting the job in the lead-up to the 2023 World Cup. Far from a sustainer of good form, he had only slowly been emerging from that frustrating ‘one step forward, two steps back’ pattern that has been a constant in his seven-year international career.