CT: Ishant's double-strike rattles Lanka

NEW DELHI: Ishant Sharma gave India second wicket by removing Lahiru Thirimanne and added Sri Lanka's woes in the second semifinal of the Champions Trophy at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Sri Lanka batsmen had tough time negotiating Indian bowlers as they just conceded only 26 runs in the mandatory powerplay.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar continued his good form, giving India again a quick breakthrough when he dismisssed Sri Lanka's Kusal Perera.

Sri Lanka suffered a massive blow when their opener Tillakaratne Dilshan got retired hurt as he had some serious trouble in his right leg.

Earlier, Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl after rain delayed the scheduled start by 30 minutes but did not lead to a reduction in overs.

Indian retained their winning composition while Sri Lanka included Jeevan Mendis and Thisara Perera in place of Dinesh Chandimal and Shaminda Eranga

Both sides must bat for a minimum of 20 overs for a result to be declared.

If this game is washed out, India will go through to the final as they come into the knockout stages as the toppers of their group.

While India were the first team to make the last four from the tournament's Group of Death with an all-win record, Sri Lanka grabbed the last semifinal berth on Tuesday after warding off a late challenge from Australia.

The 20-run win against the Aussies enabled the Lankans to finish level on points with England, but an inferior run-rate pushed them to No. 2 and earned them a date with India.

For the Lankans, the clash against India will be a grudge game of sorts. In the final of the 2011 World Cup at the Wankhede, India outclassed the co-hosts by six wickets, easily chasing down a 275-run target, with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni laying the coup de grace with a towering six off Nuwan Kulasekara.

India and Sri Lanka clashed in the Champions Trophy final in 2002 in Colombo, not once but twice. On successive days, rain played spoilsport and for the first time in the history of a major ICC tournament, the title had to be shared.

Teams:

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt/wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravinchandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav

Sri Lanka: Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), Mahela Jayawardene, Jeevan Mendis, Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga

Share it Please

Tweet

Shweta Pandey

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation.