The Riverside Durham once again showed off its glorious best as Sri Lanka beat West Indies in an ICC Cricket World Cup thriller.
In the second of three matches to be hosted in Chester-le-Street, Nicholas Pooran’s century wasn’t enough to marshal the Windies’ lower order to victory.
They were set a steep target of 339 for victory by Sri Lanka, with Avishka Fernando becoming the third youngest centurion at a Cricket World Cup in making 104.
The reply started badly as they slipped to 84/4 before Pooran kept them alive, putting on an 83-run stand with Fabian Allen as they edged towards a shock comeback.
But a mix-up in the middle left Allen well short of his ground & despite some lusty blows from the left-hander, he feathered behind off Angelo Matthews to signal the beginning of the end.
Attention now turns to Wednesday’s huge encounter between England & New Zealand, with a win enough to secure England’s progression to the semi-final stages.