Dhawan century in vain as Lankans win easily
London: Sri Lanka inflicted a crushing blow to India’s aspirations in the ICC Champions Trophy as they defeated the tournament favourites by seven wickets at the Oval here Thursday. Set a victory target of 322, the Lankans kept themselves afloat in the event by coasting home with 10 balls to spare.
Dhanushka Gunathilaka (76, 72b, 7×4, 2×6), Kusal Mendis (89, 93b, 11×4, 1×6), Kusal Perera (47 retd hurt, 44b, 5×4), Angelo Mathews (52 n o, 45b, 6×4) and Asela Gunaratne (34 n o, 21b, 2×4, 2×6) all came to the party to derail India. Earlier the Men in Blue had scored 321 for six riding on Shikar Dhawan’s (125, 128b, 15×4, 1×6) 10th ODI hundred.
“I thought we had a match-winning score at the interval,” skipper Virat Kohli said after the game. “I think they (Sri Lanka) batted exceptionally well. Credit to them.”
Sri Lanka never lost momentum with Mendis and Gunathilaka putting on 159 runs for the second wicket. Then Mathews and Perera had a fruitful partnership of 75 runs for the fourth wicket followed up by another stand of 51 between the skipper and Gunaratne to seal the game. The Indian bowlers managed to take only one wicket during the game – the other two being run outs.
The win has turned the group in to a ‘Group of Death’. All the four teams – South Africa, India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have one win apiece. So India will have to win at any cost against the Proteas, Sunday as a defeat would see the defending champions exit the tournament. The other game between Asian rivals Pakistan and Sri Lanka will decide the other semifinalists from the pool.
Earlier Dhawan continued his love affair with the Champions Trophy with yet another elegant hundred and added 138 for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma, who cruised his way to a languid 78 (79b, 6×4, 3×6). This was their second successive century partnership in the tournament. But it did not help India’s cause.
The final flourish in the Indian innings was provided by none other than Mahendra Singh Dhoni (63, 52b, 7×4, 2×6). He was well-supported by Kedar Jadhav (25 n o, 13b, 3×4, 1×6). However, the soft dismissals of Kohli (0) and Yuvraj Singh (7) affected India’s momentum in the middle overs. At the end, it can easily be said they were at least 20 runs short of a winning total.
Agencies
