Sri Lanka opener Niroshan Dickwella gives a fitting reply to Indian fans who considered the match 'a practice game'

Sri Lanka opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella gave a fitting reply to Indian fans who considered the India-Sri Lanka tie to be ‘a practice game’. In the post-match interview, he said that Sri Lanka had ‘got their revenge’. Not many would have given the Lankans a chance against the usually clinical Indians, especially after the defending champions posted a total of 321 in the first innings.

Shikhar Dhawan‘s century powered India to yet another 300+ score in the ICC Champions Trophy, and he was ably assisted by Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. In reply, Sri Lanka launched an onslaught after the first wicket. Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis stitched a 159-run partnership to bring them back on track. Towards the end, it was skipper Angelo Mathews whose sensible batting took the Lankans over the finish line. Asela Gunaratne, who seems to be tailor-made for scenarios such as these, chipped in with a handy 34.

We got the revenge: Niroshan Dickwella

“As Sri Lankans, today we are very happy to beat India. They are a big team, and I’ve heard them say they take this game as a practice game, I don’t know, and this is the return,” Niroshan Dickwella said.

“We don’t really care about those things – that hurts sometimes for us, because both the teams are playing cricket at the same level. But they think this is a practice game and we got the revenge,” he added.

Before the match Kohli says “It’s a practice match for us’
Watch Niroshan Dickwella’s reply for that :https://t.co/vOGr6WOnJW #SLvsIND #CT17 pic.twitter.com/QoXlfYN2lA

— Mirror Cricket (@MirrorCricketSL) June 9, 2017

Essentially, Sri Lanka’s victory has set up two quarter-finals in Group B, which means all four teams are very much in for a chance to make the semi-finals.

Sri Lanka will next go up against Pakistan, who are on the back of a clinical bowling performance against the mighty South Africans. On the other hand, India will play their last league game against South Africa which is certainly going to be a mouth-watering clash.