Hossam Abdelmaguid scored the winning penalty as Egypt made history by beating a dogged Australia 4-2 on penalties to reach the World Cup last 16.

A tense affair on Friday in which Egypt and their off-colour captain Mohamed Salah wasted the better chances had ended 1-1 after 120 minutes in Texas.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina loom next for Egypt, as long as the reigning champions avoid a massive upset against tournament debutants Cape Verde in their last-32 encounter.

The Pharaohs will celebrate anyway, having reached this stage of a World Cup for the first time ever.

Australia coach Tony Popovic threw on experienced goalkeeper Mathew Ryan for the penalty shootout in a last-gasp gamble.

Shooting towards the Egypt fans and whistles raining down, defender Harry Souttar blazed the first penalty over to put the Socceroos on the immediate back foot.

The next five players all scored, including Salah with the coolest of penalties, before 18-year-old Australia defender Lucas Herrington hit the bar.

Abdelmaguid kept his nerve to send Egypt through to leave Salah in tears of joy and break Australia hearts

Emam Ashour had given seven-time African champions Egypt the lead from a header after 13 minutes at the air-conditioned home of the Dallas Cowboys.

The early goal put the onus on a shot-shy Australia, who scored only twice in the group phase, to attack in front of a crowd of 70,000.

With Salah mostly ineffective following injury in Egypt’s last game, the Socceroos equalised 10 minutes after half-time when Mohamed Hany headed into his own net.

Both sides sensed history, neither having won a knockout game before at a men’s World Cup, and they went to extra time after some late Egypt pressure.

With nothing to divide them, they went to penalties.

Popovic’s side had nearly taken the lead with less than five minutes gone as Cristian Volpato – who switched to Australia from Italy on the eve of the World Cup – rattled the top of the crossbar.

Egypt, who won a World Cup match for the first time in the group phase when they beat New Zealand 3-1, looked nervy at the back.

Slightly against the run of play, Hossam Hassan’s men took the lead.

Australia forward Nestory Irankunda failed to pick up Ashour, who headed home at the back post from a cross by Karim Hafez for his second goal of the tournament.

The Socceroos had their first shot on target 10 minutes before the break when full-back Aziz Behich fired tamely at goalkeeper Mostafa Shobeir.

His father, Ahmed, played in goal for Egypt at the 1990 World Cup.

The 34-year-old talisman Salah, who came into the match after a hamstring strain, made little impact in an attritional first 45 minutes.

The half ended with Jordan Bos, one of the fastest players at the tournament, in a heap after a robust flying challenge from Rabia.

The wing-back had to be helped from the pitch and was replaced at half-time by Kai Trewin in a blow to Australian hopes.

Seconds after the restart it should have been 2-0 when Egypt’s Manchester City attacker Omar Marmoush slid the ball off-target from close range.

Egypt’s coach had said he was wary of Australia’s physical approach, and so it proved as Hany headed under pressure into his own net from an in-swinging Socceroos free-kick.

It was Hany’s second own goal of the tournament.

Former Liverpool superstar Salah remained a peripheral figure but was involved in the buildup as Australian stopper Patrick Beach saved athletically deep in added time to keep out Ramy and force another 30 minutes.

Egypt finished normal time the stronger and Salah fired well over early in extra time on his weaker right foot, with penalties looking increasingly inevitable.

Salah, though, was to prove more reliable in the shootout as Egypt triumphed.

Egypt will face the winner of the last-32 match between Argentina and Cape Verde in Atlanta in the next round on Tuesday.

(Aljazeera)

A pair of wickets in the final half hour play brought the West Indies  back into the game, but prior to that it was Lahiru Udara  who had led Sri Lanka’s redemption arc as the opener fell 12 runs short of a maiden Test double-ton as day one of this second Test wound to a close at North Sound.

At 32 years of age, Udara has had to bide his time to make his way into the Test side, and it was just his luck that Sri Lanka’s Test schedule shrunk considerably just as he made his debut last June. Then in the Caribbean, he might not have got a look in, but an injury to Pathum Nissanka opened the door, and like Amir Jangoo in the first Test he took his chance with both hands.

Udara’s epic 188 off 248 all but ensured that the visitors ended the day in precisely the sort of commanding position they would have envisioned when they opted to bat – only partially sullied by those late strikes.

His innings came primarily across two major stands. The first was of the record-breaking variety, as Udara and Kamindu Mendis (84 off 120) struck 215 off just 255 deliveries. It was Sri Lanka’s highest-ever partnership in the Caribbean and very nearly their highest ever against West Indies in Tests. It also came after their side had stumbled to 25 for 2.

The second was less brisk but equally as important, as Dhananjaya de Silva joined Udara in the middle to stitch together a stand of 93 off 179. This one had come just as West Indies had begun to put together a much more disciplined display with the ball in the final session – efforts that had for large parts seemed destined to go without reward.

But the perseverance from the hosts belatedly paid off, first as a tiring Udara – he had received treatment earlier in the session on his lower back – top-edged to deep fine leg, before the other set batter, Dhananjaya, edged through to the slips after a gritty 33 off 90.

The latter wicket also brought about another cause for celebration for West Indies, as it meant that Jayden Seales reached 100 Test wickets, becoming the second-fastest West Indian bowler to do so in terms of deliveries bowled – Ian Bishop heads the list.

Seales’ and his team-mates’ jubilant celebrations were representative of catharsis, but also revealed the frustration that had been building up until that point, as Sri Lanka rode their luck but also pressed home the advantage for much of the game. They will however now feel they have restored some parity on a day that was largely dominated by the visitors.

Scores:

Sri Lanka 338 for 5 in 83 overs (Lahiru Udara 188, Kamindu  Mendis 84;  Shamar Joseph 2-60) vs West Indies

(Cricinfo)

B Sai Sudarshan had retired hurt during the first four-day fixture between Sri Lanka A and India A, but returned to action with an unbeaten century on day two of the second game at Galle. He was unbeaten on 104 at stumps, and giving him company was Devdutt Padikkal, who was 94 not out.

Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal’s partnership was unbroken on 181 for the second wicket, leaving India A only another 119 runs behind Sri Lanka A’s first-innings total of 366.

India A had started positively, with Sai Sudharsan and his opening partner Aman Mokhade bringing up their half-century stand off just 63 balls. While Sai Sudharsan had hit five boundaries until that stage, Mokhade had hit four. But offspinner Keshara Nuwantha broke the stand at 66 when he had Mokhade caught for 38.

Despite the loss, Sai Sudharsan and Padikkal kept India A going by steadily chipping into the hosts’ total. The runs kept coming at a steady pace for the visitors, who had, earlier in the day, bagged the last five Sri Lanka A wickets for just 61 runs.

Sri Lanka A had resumed on 288 for 5, with their captain Sahan Arachchige unbeaten on 83. He hit the second ball of the day, bowled by Gurnoor Brar, for four, but the fast bowler broke the sixth-wicket partnership on 35 when he had Chamika Gunasekara caught behind for 13 in the 92nd over. Arachchige, meanwhile, reached his century in the 94th over. He kept Sri Lanka A ticking in a steady eighth-wicket stand with Dilum Sudeera after  Saransh Jain got Nuwantha for 1.

Sudeera contributed a handy 20 before Jain had him lbw in the 109th over, before Grunoor wrapped up the innings in the next over. He dismissed Arachchige for 127 and last batter Asanka Manoj two balls later to bowl Sri Lanka A out in 110 overs. That was lunch, and both Gurnoor and Jain finished with four wickets each. India A then carried the momentum into the next two sessions of the day.

Scores:
India A 247 for 1 in 63 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 104*, Devdutt Padikkal 94*; Keshara Huwantha 1-63) trail  Sri Lanka A 366 in 110 overs (Nuwanidu Fernando 44, Sahan Arachchige 127, Anjala Bandara 42; Gurnoor Brar 4-77, Saransh Jain 4-92, Yash Thakur 2-46) by 119 runs

[Cricinfo]