Looking at past statistics and current form of both the countries, most people predicted that India would prevail over Sri Lanka in yesterday’s match. However India fans were stunned by a surprise defeat and Sri Lankan fans were delighted by a victory that they may not have really expected. Here is what went down yesterday when India clashed with Sri Lanka at the Oval on London in match no 8 of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
Captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and put Virat Kohli’s men in to bat. Openers Rohit Sharma (78 off 79) and Shikhar Dhawan (125 off 128 studded with 15 boundaries and one six) gave a dream start to the innings.
After an excellent opening partnership, scoring slowed. Kohli departed without scoring and Yuvraj Singh made just 7 off 18 balls. M S Dhoni played a characteristic knock of 63 off 52. Many felt that the Indian total of 321 could have been better, considering the type of pitch it was the sort start the openers got off to.
Though the departure of opener Niroshan Dickwella (7 off 18) was an early hiccup, the Lankans did not let this faze them. Danushka Gunathilaka (76 off 72) and Kusal Mendis (89 off 93) dug in their heels and stayed doggedly at the crease frustrating Indian bowlers.
Kusal Parera (47 off 44) and skipper Mathews (52 off 45) who remained no out steered the game away from the Indians. Asela Gunaratne also remained not out till the end, scoring 34 off 21. In the end Sri Lanka won comfortably with 8 balls to spare.
For his stellar batting performance, which was the backbone of his team's run chase, Mendis was adjudged player of the match.
Kohli and his men were favorites to win but had to eat humble pie. He admitted that the other team played well and that there were phases when Indian batsmen could have but did not accelerate.
The next two matches will be Group A matches where New Zealand take on Bangladesh at Cardiff today and England square off against Australia at Edgbaston tomorrow. India’s next fixture is the all important clash with South Africa on Sunday.
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