The allrounder was among the top performers of the group stage. From No. 3, he made useful scores of 30 and 33 against Pakistan and India, respectively, but it was his unbeaten 72 against Namibia in Delhi that was the standout. That day, he also took 2 for 20 in three overs, while also producing a three-wicket haul in the loss against USA.

Nepal gave England a mighty scare with Lokesh Bam’s unbeaten 38 but it was Airee’s 29-ball 44 – apart from his 2 for 23 – on a slow-ish Wankhede surface that gave them the early jitters. Then, against West Indies, he held the innings together with 58 on a day his compatriots struggled. He finished the tournament on a high with a rollicking 23-ball unbeaten 50 that took them to victory against Scotland.

Namibia, capt (seven wickets at 11.85; economy 7.54)

The Namibia captain and allrounder did not have a productive time with the bat but he stood up with the ball, taking seven wickets. His best performance was 4 for 20, where the variations in his delivery stride helped maintain an economy of 5.00, even as India posted a strong 209. He dismissed Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel. He also took 2 for 27 against USA and 1 for 25 against Pakistan.

 

Shubham Ranjane 

USA (141 runs at 70.50; strike rate 180.76)

Ranjane produced multiple impact knocks against big teams. Facing mobility issues against India, Ranjane launched a 22-ball 37 by counterattacking against Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammed Siraj. Then, against Pakistan, his 30-ball 51 didn’t let Pakistan rest easy. His 24-ball 48 against Netherlands gave USA an imposing 196. His medium-pace bowling also gave USA a crucial sixth-bowling option.

 

Ben Manenti

Italy (138 runs at 46.00; five wickets at 20.60)

The elder Manenti brother was an X-factor in Italy’s maiden campaign. His 2 for 9 in four overs deflated Nepal’s hopes and earned Italy their maiden World Cup win. His 25 – ball 60 against England kept his opponents on their toes. His 31-ball 52 against Scotland was another standout. Add in the two-for against West Indies and Ben Manenti has the highest impact-per-match numbers according to ESPNcricinfo’s metrics.

 

Michael Leask

Scotland (nine wickets at 13.55; economy 7.62)

Against Italy, Leask produced an explosive five-ball unbeaten 22 in the 20th over to take Namibia past 200 in Kolkata and then returned figures of 4 for 17 with his offspin. He wasn’t a big turner of the ball, but came from around the wicket to strangle right-hand batters, dismissing Harry Brook against England, too. Leask also took all three Nepal wickets, against right-handers, in Scotland’s final World Cup game.

The right-arm seamer from USA started the World Cup with a bang. A three-wicket over in the powerplay against India sent the Wankhede stadium into silence as he eventually finished with 4 for 25. That spell left India feeling very uncomfortable at halftime. Then against Pakistan, he went 4 for 25 again, relying on his hard-length deliveries that forced attacking shots into mis-hits. A further five scalps against fellow Associates left him with 13 wickets in four games, which, at the time of writing, remains the most in this tournament.

The offspinner was a menace with the new ball against Pakistan and India, rattling both teams’ top order. He generated strong revs on his deliveries through the World Cup and picked off Ayub and Salman Ali Agha in Colombo to leave Pakistan in trouble. Then against India, his 16 dots in a four-over spell strangled India’s dangerous top-order by removing Abhishek Sharma for a duck and ending Kishan’s stay early too.

Kalugamage’s brave flighted wristspinning deliveries were a delight for lovers of spin bowling. In Italy’s landmark maiden win, he shushed the Nepal fans at the Wankhede with 3 for 18 in four overs which included the wickets of Rohit Paudel and Airee. Although expensive against England, he outfoxed Tom Banton and Sam Curran, and he finished his tournament with a miserly 2 for 25 against a strong West Indies line-up that included the wicket of top-scorer Shai Hope and Jason Holder.

12th man: Michael Jones, Scotland (142 runs at 35.50; strike rate 142)

At the T20 World Cup, which Sri Lanka came to after losing 3-0 to England in a series at home, they beat Oman and Ireland, teams ranked lower than them, and then Australia in the group stage, but since then, it has all been downhill. Zimbabwe,  England and now New Zealand have beaten Sri Lanka, and the last two have come after poor batting performances.

“It’s becoming a bad habit to have. I have been doing this analysis for seven-eight years, I keep saying the same old thing: once in a while, a good game, and our hopes are high; all of a sudden, come crashing down to the earth,” Maharoof said, referring to the Australia game. “It’s not the first time. I just hope something down the line, this has to come to an end, some hard decisions have to be made.

“I think after the next game, before the next series starts, Sri Lanka’s selectors and the think tank should really think of the future, what are the capabilities of the players, who should stick and who should not stick, and move on. I expect probably in the next couple of weeks, some hard decisions are going to be made. If not, I will be very surprised.”

Sri Lanka end their campaign with a game against Pakistan, in Pallekele on February 28.

[Cricinfo]

“I felt like I was in a pretty good space batting-wise and probably just [in the] first game got pretty unlucky with how I got out and then in the second match gave my own hand away,” Matthews said. “So I certainly felt like I was in a space where I wasn’t exactly being too threatened at the crease and I knew I just had to lock in and try to take it a bit deeper.”

The home side was in early trouble in St George’s against a target of 218 with Qiana Joseph and Shemaine Campbelle falling to Malki Madara to leave West Indies 12 for 2. But after taking 12 balls to find her first boundary, Matthews did not look back as she took charge of the innings, adding 124 for the third wicket with Stefanie Taylor, who moved second on the all time run scorers list in ODIs.

Matthews’ fifty came from 48 balls before she slowed a little in the second half of her innings, but the asking rate was never a threat for West Indies. She did give a chance on 70 when Nilakshika Silva was unable to hold a return catch. The ball after reaching the century, though, Matthews picked out deep midwicket but a stand of 49 between Deandra Dottin and Chinelle Henry finished the job.

Following the early loss of Athapaththu, Sri Lanka’s innings was anchored by Harshitha Samarawickrema’s 70 off 112 balls. She added 78 for the third wicket with Vishmi Gunaratne, but the visitors struggled to lift the scoring rate in the latter stages as West Indies chipped away, with Karishma Ramharack removing Gunaratne and Samarawickrama in the space of four overs.

Brief scores:
West Indies Women 218 for 4 in 46 overs  (Hayley Matthews 100, Stefanie Taylor 38, Chinelle Henry 32*;  Malki Madara 2-33) beat Sri Lanka Women  217 for 7 in 50 overs (Hasini Perera 27, Harshitha Samarawickrama 70, Kavish Dilhari 45*, Hayley Matthews 2-33, Karishma Ramharack 2-39) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]