CT 2017: Match 8, Who Said What: India vs Sri Lanka

The atmosphere was electric at the Kennington Oval, London as India took on Sri Lanka side in the eighth match of the Champions Trophy. As it turned out, the tournament witnessed the second upset in the league stage as Sri Lanka won the match fair and square without any intervention of rains, by a handsome margin of 7 wickets to open up the points table in Group B.

The match started off on a perfect note with Matthews winning the toss and electing to field first, backing their ability to chase down the total. Dhawan and Rohit continued their form from last game and gave India a perfect start with their mammoth partnership. Later on, Dhoni andJadhavv took India to a score of 321.

Chasing a monumental total, Sri Lanka came out all guns blazing as the as the likes of Mendis, Gunathilaka, Kusal Perera, Gunaratne and captain Matthews, all chipped in with important runs as Indians bowling attack had no answer to the onslaught from the Lions. Kusal Mendis was awarded the man of the match for his knock of 89.

Kusal Mendis

Man of the match Kusal Mendis stated that the wicket was a batsman paradise and his partnership with Danushka Gunathilaka, set up the game perfectly for his team. Mendis signed off by complementing the efforts of Kusal Perera and Matthews.

“It was a very good wicket. Dhawan batted well. I had a good partnership with Danushka (Gunathilaka). I am very happy to have won my first game against India. Kusal (Perera) and Angelo (Mathews) batted very well too.”

Angelo Matthews

The ecstatic Sri Lankan captains expressed that the win will go down in the history books especially against a side like India. The skipper lauded the efforts ofhis bowlers who restricted the Indians to a total of 321 especially after the start provided by Dhawan and Rohit. Matthews and his men never stopped believing in themselves as the wicket seemed flat and the target was chasable.

It’s one of the top wins. To beat India is quite fantastic. Good effort from the bowlers, they restricted India to 321. We know this is a good batting wicket and 300 is quite chaseable. You try and hit as many balls at the net and try and keep yourself fit. As long as you hit balls and keep fit that’s all counts. To walk in and bat like he did was fantastic.

The captain then went commend the contribution of the two Kusals in the team who took the game away in the end. Matthews stressed the importance of partnerships in pursuit for big totals. Angelo described the win as a special feeling because not many expected the side to win.

Kusal Mendis is a great player and we rate him very highly. Kusal Perera also played a good hand. Those crucial partnerships were the key for us. It’s a must-win game for all of us in the game. Not many people expected us to win and that took the pressure off us. I thought the opening partnership, they set us the platform for us explode in the end (on turning point of the match)

Virat Kohli

Indian skipper, on the other hand, believed that the total set by them was enough to restrict the Sri Lankans in between the innings. Kohli repeatedly emphasized that the bowlers did a decent job and later appreciated the efforts of the Sri Lankan batsmen.

We all felt we had enough on the board at the half-way mark. We trusted our bowlers, but they were pretty good on the day. Kept their momentum going and executed their shots really well. Our bowlers bowled decently, but they batted really well. There is always hindsight to think when you don’t win games, as I said we bowled decently well, but the execution wasn’t quite there. Obviuosly there is food for thought, but you gotta give credit to other teams as well. You don’t take any team lightly. It’s going to be like this throughout the tournament and we don’t expect anything less.

With this win, all the four teams in the group interestingly are at 2 points with a win and loss each. Therefore, the next two games are virtual quarterfinals with India taking on South Africa as well as Pakistan locking horns with Sri Lanka. The winner of these two matches qualifies for the semi-finals with no scenarios of permutations and combinations.