Cricket World Cup 2015 Results: Scores and Group Tables After March 1 Fixtures

Day 16 of the 2015 Cricket World Cup saw three of the game's most illustrious names in action, as the climax of the pool stages of the competition edges ever nearer.

The opening match of the day saw Sri Lanka prolong England’s World Cup misery. Eoin Morgan’s men posted a decent total of 309/6 after winning the toss and batting first in this one, but Sri Lanka rattled off the runs needed with 2.4 overs and nine wickets to spare thanks to unbeaten centuries from Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara.

In the second game, Pakistan picked up their first win of the competition in a low-scoring affair against Zimbabwe. It was a tense affair in Brisbane, but after two losses in their opening two games, getting over the line here was absolutely vital for the Pakistani players.

Here’s the rest of the schedule for the tournament, the updated standings and a closer examination of the best of the action from Day 16 of this engrossing competition.

Points Tables

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Pool A

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	Net Run Rate	Points
New Zealand	4	4	0	0	0	3.59	8
Sri Lanka	4	3	1	0	0	0.13	6
Bangladesh	3	1	1	0	1	0.13	3
Australia	3	1	1	0	1	-0.31	3
Afghanistan	3	1	2	0	0	-0.76	2
England	4	1	3	0	0	-1.20	2
Scotland	3	0	3	0	0	-1.74	0

Pool B

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Tied	No Result	Net Run Rate	Points
India	3	3	0	0	0	2.63	6
South Africa	3	2	1	0	0	1.26	4
Ireland	2	2	0	0	0	0.34	4
West Indies	4	2	2	0	0	-0.31	4
Zimbabwe	4	1	3	0	0	-0.71	2
Pakistan	3	1	2	0	0	-1.39	2
UAE	3	0	3	0	0	-1.33	0

Upcoming Schedule

Matt King/Getty Images

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 Fixtures

Pool Matches

Mar. 3 Pool B: South Africa v Ireland, Canberra (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 4 Pool B: Pakistan v UAE, Napier (d/n) (1 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 4 Pool A: Australia v Afghanistan, Perth (d/n) (6:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 5 Pool A: Bangladesh v Scotland, Nelson (10 p.m. GMT, Mar. 4)

Mar. 6 Pool B: India v West Indies, Perth (d/n) (6:30 a.m. GMT 

Mar. 7 Pool B: South Africa v Pakistan, Auckland (d/n) (1 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 7 Pool B: Zimbabwe v Ireland, Hobart (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 8 Pool A: New Zealand v Afghanistan, Napier (10 p.m. GMT, Mar. 7)

Mar. 8 Pool A: Australia v Sri Lanka, Sydney (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 9 Pool A: England v Bangladesh, Adelaide (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 10 Pool B: India v Ireland, Hamilton (d/n) (1 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 11 Pool A: Sri Lanka v Scotland, Hobart (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 12 Pool B: South Africa v UAE, Wellington (Westpac Stadium) (d/n) (1 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 13 Pool A: Bangladesh v New Zealand, Hamilton (d/n) (1 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 13 Pool A: England v Afghanistan, Sydney (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 14 Pool B: India v Zimbabwe, Auckland (d/n) (1 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 14 Pool A: Australia v Scotland, Hobart (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 15 Pool B: West Indies v UAE, Napier (10 p.m. GMT, Mar. 14)

Mar. 15 Pool B: Pakistan v Ireland, Adelaide (d/n) (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Quarter-Finals

Mar. 18 Quarter-final 1, A1 v B4, Sydney (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 19 Quarter-final 2, A2 v B3, Melbourne (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 20 Quarter-final 3, A3 v B2, Adelaide (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 21 Quarter-final 4, A4 v B1, Wellington (1 a.m. GMT)

Semi-Finals

Mar. 24 Semi-final 1, Winner QF1 v Winner QF3, Auckland (1:00 a.m. GMT)

Mar. 26 Semi-final 2, Winner QF2 v Winner QF4, Sydney (3:30 a.m. GMT)

Final

Mar. 29 Final, Melbourne (4:30 a.m. BST)

Schedule courtesy of BBC Sport.

Sri Lanka Maul Sorry England

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Sri Lanka (312/1) beat England (309/6) by nine wickets

It was the same old story for Eoin Morgan and his England side as they were comprehensively beaten by a classy Sri Lanka team in Wellington.

England batted well enough overall, with a fine 121 from Joe Root pushing his team to a total of 309/6 from their 50 overs. But some toothless, inexplicable short bowling allowed Sri Lanka to get a foothold in the match and the 2011 runners-up waltzed to victory with nine wickets in hand; Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara both helped themselves to unbeaten centuries.

As noted by BBC Test Match Special, England will be delighted to see the back of this particular venue:

"

England will be glad to see the back of the Wellington Regional Stadium - four ODIs since 2002... and four defeats. pic.twitter.com/g0gfvPxjw8

— Test Match Special (@bbctms) March 1, 2015"

Despite the embarrassing conclusion, things didn’t actually start that badly for England here. Both Moeen Ali and Ian Bell looked to play aggressively at the top of the order and the manner of their play shifted the pressure from them onto the Sri Lankan bowlers.

With the runs flowing freely Elizabeth Ammon of BBC was a little worried by how well things were going:

"

This is going worryingly well. #ENGvSL

— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) February 28, 2015"

With good reason too, it would seem. Ali threw his wicket away with a loose shot to mid-on, while Gary Ballance failed yet again with the bat as he was caught and bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan. His wicket brought Root out to the middle, however, and the youngster led a counter-attack for England.

Despite Bell falling for 49 not long after Root arrived at the crease, the 24-year-old played with the kind of poise you would expect from a seasoned veteran. Root accelerated his innings with a real distinction, while Morgan and James Taylor both fell by the wayside after being dismissed for 27 and 25 respectively.

His 121 moved England to within touching distance of 300 and as noted by Cricket Record, Root’s exploits are particularly impressive when you consider his tender years:

"

Joe Root now have scored four ODI centuries, the most 100s by any England player in their ODI history at age less than 25. #CWC15 #ENGvSL

— Cricket Record (@cricinfo_record) March 1, 2015"

A blistering late cameo from Jos Buttler—39 off 19 balls—pushed England past 300 and a total of 309/6 was about par and definitely defendable. But via a combination of sensational batting and toothless bowling, they would come up embarrassingly short yet again.

Sri Lanka’s opening pair of Thirimanne—who was dropped on three by Root—and Dilshan put on 100 for the first wicket before the latter fell for 44 off the bowling of Ali. That brought Sangakkara to the crease and the veteran batsman clearly wanted to give the Wellington crowd something to savour.

After a slow start he surged through the gears in familiarly magnificent style. As noted by Bleacher Report UK, his 70-ball century was his fastest ever in ODIs:

"

#eng 309-6 / #sl 312-1 #Sangakkara scores his fastest ODI century—in 70 balls. #cwc15 #engvsl http://t.co/ochrsOQagF pic.twitter.com/FIaKvMccDY

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) March 1, 2015"

While Sangakkara stole the show in Wellington with his delectable 117 not out, Thirimanne also deserves great credit for his diligent knock.

He knitted the Sri Lanka innings together with his unbeaten 139 and the opener represents a superb foil for players like Sangakkara and Dilshan at the top of the order. As noted by Alt Cricket, he’s the kind of batsman that bodes well for a bright future for Sri Lanka:

"

Thirimanne's cover-drives are going to keep me warm in those dark, lonely nights after Sangakkara's retirement. #ENGvSL

— Alt Cricket (@AltCricket) March 1, 2015"

The batting was sublime at times, but it has to be said that Sangakkara et al were served up some pretty rank bowling by England. Once again Morgan’s men were far too short throughout the innings and with the quality of players Sri Lanka boast, that negligence is always going to be emphatically punished.

Eventually the aforementioned batting duo surpassed England’s mark with 2.4 overs remaining and this nine-wicket win was an appropriate indicator of their dominance. With some critical contests to come, Sri Lanka will be hoping to take some valuable momentum from this triumph, while England will be left to reflect on another moribund showing.

Pakistan Edge Past Zimbabwe

Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Pakistan (235/7) beat Zimbabwe (215) by 20 runs

Pakistan picked up their first win at the 2015 Cricket World Cup, beating Zimbabwe by 20 runs in a tense contest at the Brisbane Cricket Ground.

Both teams found it difficult to score runs quickly in difficult batting conditions and Misbah-ul-Haq’s ponderous 73 made up a sizeable portion of Pakistan’s 235/7 from 50 overs.

The African side also struggled for rhythm in the early stages of their innings, and although Brendan Taylor made a fine 50, they haemorrhaged wickets too regularly throughout their innings. Eventually they came up 20 runs short.

Pakistan came into this one with confidence at rock bottom and a couple of very early wickets will have done little to help their cause. The opening pair of Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad made just one run between them and Zimbabwe had their more illustrious opponents at 4/2 in the fourth over.

As noted by Fox Sport Cricket, it was painful viewing for the first ten overs of the Pakistan innings:

"

We would say Pakistan's playing like it's a Test, but 2-14 after 10 overs is crawling by Test standards. http://t.co/x5JDr08XUd #PAKvZIM

— FOX SPORTS Cricket (@FOXCricketLive) March 1, 2015"

Misbah came to the crease looking to rebuild his team’s innings, and while he did so with a degree of distinction, it was very slow going. The skipper dug in to ensure without any doubt his team would bat out the 50 overs, but he took up almost half of the deliveries in the innings, making 73 from 121 balls.

Nonetheless, as noted by cricket statistician Mohandas Menon, typically a sizeable score from the skipper bodes well for Pakistan’s chances:

"

Before this match, Misbah-ul-Haq total ODI 50s: 39 Pakistan won 22, lost 15, Tie 1, NR 1 (win % 56.41) #PakvsZim #CWC15

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 1, 2015"

After Misbah’s departure was followed by the dismissal of the dangerous pairing of Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi, Pakistan looked to be meandering towards a total of circe 200. But somewhat surprisingly, Wahab Riaz inject some vital late initiative as he smashed an impressive 54 off 46 balls.

As noted by OptaJim, it was one of the best late cameos from a Pakistani player in World Cup matches:

"

54 - Wahab Riaz's 54* is the second highest score by a Pakistan player batting at numbers 8-11 in World Cup history. Wagged. #PAKvZIM

— OptaJim (@OptaJim) March 1, 2015"

Thanks to Riaz, Pakistan were able to post a total of 235/7. With conditions difficult and early wickets lost it was a pretty commendable effort overall, but Zimbabwe boast some dangerous players who are very capable of scoring quick runs. However, they also found scoring tough to come by in the early stages.

Subsequently, frustration levels rose and they too lost some early wickets, with Mohammad Irfan doing the damage with the ball. He had both Zimbabwe openers caught at slip after finding some early swing and broke a subsequent 52-run partnership between Hamilton Masakadza and Taylor, leaving Zimbabwe in trouble at 74/3.

As noted by OptaJim, Irfan has an uncanny knack for making the batsmen miss:

"

16 - Morne Morkel is the only bowler with a higher ODI play & miss percentage since Jan. 2014 than Mohammad Irfan's 16% (250+ balls). Rangy.

— OptaJim (@OptaJim) March 1, 2015"

Taylor looked likely to be the man to haul Zimbabwe over the line here, but after he went to 50 he fell immediately afterwards to the bowling of Riaz. Another decent partnership was broken and Pakistan had wrestled back the momentum; when the dangerous Sean Williams departed for 33, they were suddenly big favourites.

Irfan was brought back into the attack and picked up his fourth wicket with the dismissal Solomon Mire;  when Riaz removed Craig Ervine and Tawanda Mupariwa in quick succession, Zimbabwe were 168/8 and staring down the barrel of a defeat. Elton Chigumbura and Tinashe Payangara hung about for the final embers, Zimbabwe were eventually bowled out for 215.

For Pakistan, this victory was so important. They're a team who are renowned for thriving on confidence and after two losses and early wickets here, morale seemed to have bottomed out.

But the determination of their captain and some astute bowling from Riaz and Irfan dragged them back into this match; the Pakistani fans will be hoping this result can be a springboard to accrue the wins needed for quarter-final qualification at this tournament.