Rohit Sharma became the first player to hit five centuries in a single World Cup as India cantered to a comfortable seven-wicket win in their final World Cup group match against Sri Lanka on Saturday

Sharma smashed 103 off 94 deliveries as semi-finalists India chased down their target of 265 in 43.3 overs to end the league stage with seven wins, one defeat and one washout.

Sharma's opening partner KL Rahul top-scored with 111 as the pair put on 189 runs for the first wicket to put India well on top.

Sharma reached his milestone with a boundary off Kasun Rajitha to pass the mark set by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who scored four hundreds at the 2015 tournament.

He reached his century off 92 balls with 14 fours and two sixes but was dismissed shortly afterwards, caught by Angelo Mathews off the bowling of Rajitha.

Sharma, known as the "hitman", now leads the tournament's run-scoring charts with 647 runs in eight matches after hitting his third successive century.

He is only the fourth batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and Shakib Al Hasan to score more than 600 runs at a single World Cup.

Skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 34 and Hardik Pandya hit the winning runs to give India a chance of finishing above group leaders Australia, playing South Africa in the later match at Old Trafford.

Rahul registered his first century of the tournament but was caught behind shortly before the end of the game off veteran paceman Lasith Malinga -- playing his final World Cup match -- after hitting 11 fours and one six in his 118-ball knock.

Earlier, Mathews hit his third one-day international century and put on 124 runs for the fifth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne (53) to give Sri Lanka a respectable total after they were reeling at 55-4.

Jasprit Bumrah returned impressive figures of 3-37 in his 10 overs as India, who had already qualified for the semi-finals, restricted Sri Lanka with some quality bowling.

The 1996 champions finished their World Cup campaign with three wins, four defeats and two games ending in no result.

Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyangshu Sarkar

India's Rohit Sharma says he is chasing World Cup glory and not personal records after he scored his fifth century at the 2019 World Cup on Saturday.

The in-form opener made 103 off 94 balls to lead semi-finalists India to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka at Headingley.

Sharma reached his ton with a boundary off Kasun Rajitha to pass the mark set by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, who scored four hundreds at the 2015 tournament.

His century took him to 647 runs in eight matches at the World Cup but he said his records would only be meaningful if India went on to win the title at Lord's on July 14.

"I'm not here for records. I'm here to play cricket. I'm here to play and score runs and lift the cup," Sharma said.

"Winning the game is important, no matter how many runs you score or how many wickets you take. For us, as cricketers, it's important to get the job done because we have all been looking for this World Cup, which comes every four years."

The Indian vice-captain started the tournament with an unbeaten 122 in his team's opening win over South Africa on a tough batting wicket at Southampton.

Sharma, who followed that up with scores of 57, 140, 1, 18, 102, 104 and 103 to average 92.42, said every innings was a fresh start for him.

"It is very difficult. Trust me because you're in that fraternity where you meet so many people. They will talk about how well you're batting, how many runs you're getting, how many hundreds you've scored," said Sharma.

"Fortunate that we have a bunch of guys around us who do not discuss these kinds of things too much, about personal milestones. And my family is here to distract me from that."

Sharma, who is renowned for his hunger for big hundreds and is the only batsman to register three double centuries in one-day international cricket, was dismissed by Rajitha but India chased down their 265-run target with 39 balls to spare.

The 32-year-old Sharma said he will learn from his mistakes and build on his hundred if he gets one in the knockouts.

"I was disappointed with that, the last three hundreds I got, I couldn't go on to bat as deep as I could," said Sharma.

"After a hundred, it's your mistake that can cost you your wicket... little disappointed with that, but I'll make sure if, come the semis, if I'm in that situation I wouldn't just let it go like that."

The two-time champions, led by Virat Kohli, will meet hosts England or New Zealand in the semi-finals next week.

Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyangshu Sarkar

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne has backed India to win the World Cup after losing to Virat Kohli's side at Headingley on Saturday.

India wrapped up their group stage campaign with a seven-wicket victory inspired by Rohit Sharma's record fifth century of the tournament.

Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, created the biggest upset of this World Cup by beating hosts England, but failed to make the semi-finals.

Karunaratne believes of the four semi-finalists in India, England, holders Australia and New Zealand, it is Kohli's team who are the most well balanced.

"I think India has a better chance to win this World Cup, for me, from my point of view," Karunaratne told reporters.

"And I think on that particular day if the other team can do better than the India team, they're definitely going to win."

Sharma, who made 103, led India's chase during his 189-run opening stand with KL Rahul, who went on to top score with 111.

Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets to restrict Sri Lanka to 264 for seven despite a gritty hundred from Angelo Mathews.

Karunaratne, who was made captain of the side just ahead of the World Cup, credited India's domestic structure for their steady flow in talent.

"I think India, they have a nice structure behind the India national team. I think they have the Indian T20 League," said Karunaratne.

"They have good domestic teams and a good season. So those are the things they will keep building, keep producing the good players. So we expect the same from our administration."

Karunaratne said the team was disappointed not to give a winning farewell to veteran paceman Lasith Malinga, who was playing his last World Cup game.

"We all want to give him a nice farewell, but unfortunately we couldn't. But I think we tried really hard," said Karunaratne.

"But Mali (Malinga) going to play another couple of games in Sri Lanka against Bangladesh. We'll try to give a nice send-off at that time."

Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyangshu Sarkar

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne has urged his country's cricket chiefs to help more players enter overseas Twenty20 leagues to make up for the limitations of their domestic structure.

Sri Lanka have failed to replicate their 1996 World Cup triumph in the current tournament, with the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara leaving them short of top-class talent.

Sri Lanka, who are already out of the race to reach the semi-finals, take on India in their final group game at Headingley on Saturday.

And Karunaratne said exposing Sri Lankan talent to international tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Australia's Big Bash is the best way to broaden their limited-overs experience.

"In Sri Lanka we have one domestic season. The players have only one chance to showcase their talent in a particular domestic season and we can identify players only that season," Karunaratne told reporters on Friday.

"We have to close that gap (between domestic and international cricket). We have to give a chance to the players to play in IPL, Big Bash or county cricket.

"We have to give them permission to play in overseas tournament to gain experience and come back. Those are the things I'm expecting from the cricket board after this World Cup."

Sri Lanka's veteran paceman Lasith Malinga has been part T20 leagues across the globe, recently winning the Indian T20 League title with Mumbai.

Karunaratne's team revived their flagging World Cup campaign by upsetting hosts England, but they soon suffered a loss to South Africa that shattered their last four hopes.

Karunaratne though has still taken out positives from the campaign as he singled out Avishka Fernando as a future star.  

"Avishka Fernando is doing really good. In the last three games, he showed that he can produce some runs for Sri Lanka and he is one of the future stars," he said.

"If you take the bowling line-up they did really well, especially (Lasith) Malinga and Nuwan Pradeep. Those are the positive points from this World Cup."

Fernando, 21, hit his maiden international century in the team's third win of the tournament against the West Indies on Monday, but that was not enough to make the semi-final cut.

Karunaratne, who was appointed captain just ahead of the World Cup after being out of the ODI side since the 2015 edition, said the country's cricket bosses are keen to start building a squad for the 2023 tournament.

"After 2015 we started to build the World Cup side but unfortunately the players who came in couldn't perform. We had to change a lot of players," he said.

"After this World Cup we are trying to have a special plan and identify the players who can give a good performance. We are trying to make a solid 15 players for the next World Cup."

Feature image courtesy: AFP Photo/ Dibyangshu Sarkar

Angelo Mathews hit a gritty century to lift Sri Lanka to 264 for seven after a top-order collapse against India on the final day of the World Cup group stage.

Mathews made 113 and put on 124 runs for the fifth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne to give Sri Lanka a respectable total after they were reeling on 55 for four at Headingley.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah removed openers Dimuth Karunaratne (10) and Kusal Perera (18) inside eight overs after Sri Lanka, who are playing for pride after missing out on the semi-finals, won the toss and elected to bat.

Bumrah returned impressive figures of 3-37 in his 10 overs as India, who are already qualified for the semi-finals, restricted Sri Lanka with some quality bowling.

Kusal Mendis was stumped off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who is playing his first match of the competition, before paceman Hardik Pandya had rising star Avishka Fernando caught behind for 20.

The right and left-handed batting combination of Mathews and Thirimanne rotated the strike and got the occasional boundary to keep the score ticking.

Thirimanne registered his 21st ODI fifty but soon fell to Yadav's left-arm wrist spin on 53 after giving away a catch to point.

Mathews, who was dropped on 61 by Bhuvneshwar Kumar at long-on off Jadeja, went on to complete his ton -- his third in ODIs -- with a boundary off Pandya.

The former Sri Lanka captain finally fell to Bumrah after smashing 10 fours and two sixes during his 128-ball knock.

Dhananjaya de Silva chipped in with his unbeaten 29 after his 74-run partnership with Mathews that took Sri Lanka past the 250-run mark.

Virat Kohli's India need 265 for a victory, which would give them a chance of finishing above defending champions Australia, who face South Africa in the day's other match.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Dibyangshu Sarkar

As Sri Lanka prepare for their final game of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup against India, pacer Lasith Malinga has heaped praises on MS Dhoni by saying that the wicketkeeper-batsman should play for another year or two.

Dhoni, 37, has been a subject of heavy criticism from the fans and the pundits alike after his subpar approach towards his batting in the ongoing tournament. Speaking about the former India captain, Malinga credited him for India’s success over the years by saying that it is his experience that the Men in Blue have gotten this far with such a young squad.

“I think MS (Dhoni) should play for another one or two years. He is the best finisher in the last 10 years. I don’t think anyone can beat him in future. He has to give his experience and situation handling to all the young players. They (India) have good experience in past captain MS Dhoni. I think that’s why they are a successful team. I think they are good enough to beat any team in this competition,�Malinga told ANI.

India have already sealed their semi-final berth following a win over Bangladesh.  And most of the credit has rightly gone to the performances of their pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami coupled with their spinning wizardry of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Speaking about the contingent, the pacer said, “They (Bumrah and Shami) are the most accurate bowlers. Shami is the guy who took five wickets and three wickets. Every time he gets the ball, he knows how accurate it is for him. Jasprit is an experienced death overs bowler. He knows how to handle pressure situation,�Malinga said.

“I think that combination is very good for them. And I think they have two genuine good spinners. That’s why they are a well successful team. Jasprit is doing good in this world cup and I am still waiting for his five wickets in the World Cup. I fell if he gets five wickets in the semi-finals they will definitely qualify for the final,�he added.

Sri Lanka, who take on India on July 6 in Leeds, are already out of the tournament. Speaking about his team though, the pacer believes it was unfortunate that two of Sri Lanka’s games were washed out, but admitted that it wasn’t in their control anyway.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t play two matches (against Pakistan and Bangladesh) because of rain wash. Then we won three matches. Then we have opportunity day after. We are also in a good position but unfortunately, we are not qualified for the World Cup semi-finals. Still, if we play in the last two matches, we never know what’s going on. But we can’t control that,�he said.

And when asked about his plan after the World Cup, the 35-year-old concluded, “I want to go to Sri Lanka and meet the Sri Lanka cricket board and ask what they are expecting from me next month or next year. Then according to that, I want to get my decision as soon as possible,�he said.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Lindsey Parnaby

Dinesh Karthik insists India won't take it easy in their last World Cup group match against Sri Lanka on Saturday because the title contenders want to go into the semi-finals on a high.

Virat Kohli's side have won six of their eight group games after beating Bangladesh in their previous outing to seal a semi-final berth.

Rather than rest on their laurels, India batsman Karthik, who made his World Cup debut against Bangladesh, is adamant the team plan to fine-tune their game at Headingley this weekend.

"For all the four teams that qualify, it's going to be a massive game (the semi-finals). So that's in the back of the mind," Karthik told reporters on Friday.

"But having said that, I think we're professional enough to go out there against Sri Lanka and play a very clinical game.

"There is scope for improvement in all aspects of our game. We've been playing a good tournament until now, but I'm sure personally each player would have some box to tick."

Defending champions Australia, two-time winners India and England and New Zealand have booked their semi-final places ahead of Saturday's last group games.

India, who are second in a table currently topped by Australia, need to beat Sri Lanka to leapfrog Aaron Finch's side.

They also need help from eliminated South Africa, who would have to beat Australia later on Saturday at Old Trafford for India to end in top spot.

Karthik insisted India, who will take on either New Zealand at Old Trafford on Tuesday or England two days later, have no preference for their semi-final opponent.

'Any team can stand up'

"It's hard for me to say, obviously, which team will be a threat. But on any given day any team can stand up. And that's the beauty of a tournament like a World Cup," Karthik said.

"We're really looking forward to it as a team. At the same time, I think we have a game to play in Leeds. We'll do the best we can tomorrow."

India's middle order has faced flak for going slow in the final half of the innings in recent matches, with Karthik included in the line-up in place of underfire Kedar Jadhav for the Bangladesh game.

Karthik, a wicketkeeper-batsman who bats at number seven, said adapting to conditions is key on English wickets.

"Obviously, it depends first thing on the conditions. And also it depends a little bit on how many batsmen you have behind you," he said.

"When I go in at No. 7, I need to judge this -- assess the situation of the game and then play accordingly."

Teams have rarely been able to chase down scores of over 250 in this World Cup, but Karthik insists India are equipped to handle any possibility that comes their way.

"I think we as a team believe that we're good chasers, because that's what we do day in, day out," he said.

"And we're a team that actually has the ability to handle pressure very well. We'd back ourselves to chase and get the totals that we believe we can achieve."

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan