2025 World Cup - Open Men: Day 2 Recap

A recap of results from Day 2 of the Open Men's Division at the 2025 World Cup in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Summary

A five-game slate on Day 2 saw the top sides continue their momentum, with New Zealand, Australia, UAE and the India all picking up wins. After a tough first day where they came up short against Australia and New Zealand, the host nation Sri Lanka are also on the board after a win over their Development side.

Here’s how Day 2 panned out:

Day 2 Results

Sri Lanka 133 (45 26 27 35) defeated Sri Lanka Development 70 (-2 18 23 31)

Player of the match: Dilisara Sasanka (SRL) - 16 runs, 4/-1.

Shewon Fonseka and Nilantha Wijekoon smashed 45 for the opening partnership in a fast start from the Sri Lankans. The first two wickets for Sri Lanka Development came consecutively in the eighth over, thanks to Thilina Siriwardena. Despite a hat-trick from Samudh Jaysuriya, Sri Lanka kept the scoreboard ticking over in the third pair. A big finish from Dhanushka Dilshan and Heshal Silva set the Development side a mammoth chase of 133.

Sri Lanka started their defence well, converting five run-outs in the opening pair. Sri Lanka Development showed some promise, with a very competitive batting display in the final three pairs - Suresh Fernando and Savindu Arandara in particular scoring 31 in the last partnership. Dilisanka Sasanka was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, with an impressive 4/-1.

United Arab Emirates 84 (15 33 33 3) defeated United States of America 21 (8 5 8 0)

Player of the match: Krishnachandran Karate (UAE) - 16 runs, 3/-2.

USA were explosive in the field, with a few early wickets in the opening pair. Noufal Basheer and Nadir Hussain were able to stabilise the innings, with an impressive 33 runs in the second pair, backed up by another score of 33 from Hariharan Gurumurthy and Rukhsar Malik. Pranav Bhatt swung the momentum back with the Americans, taking two wickets in the last over to keep the pair to just three and a real opportunity of claiming a bonus point for the skin.

However, UAE put pressure on the US batters straight away, with five wickets being taken in the first and second pair respectively. Noufal Basheer secured the win with a hat-trick in the 11th over, backed up by Krishnachandran Karate, Aqib Malik, and Nadir Hussain, who all took three wickets of their own. Unable to get the innings going, the Americans were left with single-digit partnerships acorss the board and notably fell short of the final partnership skin by three runs.

Australia 100 (36 17 25 22) defeated Singapore -25 (-8 -16 10 -11)

Player of the match: Justin Perkins (AUS) - 14 runs, 6/-19.

Tim Floros and Kieran Perkins kicked things off for the Aussies with a 37-run opening partnership. Singapore adjusted to bowl great lines for the rest of the innings, while the Australians were able to consistently score off second ball. Two wickets from Shahaan Viswanathan in the 15th gave the fielding side some late momentum, holding Australia to 100.

In response, Singapore were never able to get going, losing wickets in 14 of the 16 overs bowled. Justin Perkins was dominant in his first World Cup game as Australian captain, claiming six wickets, including a double hat-trick. Cameron Bullard was also excellent, taking five wickets himself. Dealing with the chaos around him, Raghul Rajagopalan was able to hit 15 from his 12 balls for the Singaporeans as Australia won comfortably by 125 runs.

New Zealand 83 (26 32 18 7) defeated South Africa 20 (29 3 14 -26)

Player of the match: Ryan Jackson (NZ) - 9 runs, 5/-20.

South Africa started well with a wicketless 29-run opening skin from Jose van der Berg and Eduan Eksteen, setting the tempo for the game. New Zealand were able to fight back with consistent run-outs in the second and third pair. The game was then blown away in the fourth pair, courtesy of a Ryan Jackson double hat-trick, followed by a Micah Conroy hat-trick, as New Zealand reduced the Proteas’ score by 26 runs to hold them to a meagre 20 overall.

Dion Joll and Victor Davies - playing his 59th international Men’s match for New Zealand, now the highest in their history surpassing current coach Leigh Kelly - were then able to reach South Africa’s score in just the fourth over. Captain Todd Watson and Micah Conroy smashed 32 in the second pair to put the game beyond doubt. South Africa were admirable in the back half of the innings, taking six wickets in eight overs to keep the New Zealanders under 100, but it was too little too late.

India 108 (25 15 32 36) defeated England 36 (-1 -3 16 24)

Player of the match: Daivik Rai (IND) - 13 runs, 4/-13

India continued with their perfect record in the tournament, comfortably defeating England by 72 runs to complete three wins as well as all available skins thus far.

England were behind the game from the start, with the first two pairs totalling -4, as nine wickets tumbled including three in the second over to India captain Daivik Rai. Liam Brazier and Oliver Green got the English side into the positives with 16 for the third pair, whilst captain Navin Patel, who hit a seven off his first ball, and Michael Gallear added a valuable 24 to get the score up to 36.

India were untroubled in the chase, with Rai and Dhanush Bhaskar scoring 25 in the first four overs. England briefly threatened, with Jaedyn Bartosh Short’s left-arm orthodox bringing three wickets in the sixth over, but the total was not enough to sustain the pressure England needed. 68 runs came in the last two pairs as India sauntered to a big win, but bigger challenges await.