Perhaps the biggest highlight for the ICC Champions trophy was the massive surprise underdogs Sri Lanka served on a rather sloppy Indian team which managed to keep Sri Lanka’s hopes for the semi-finals alive and kicking until their loss to Pakistan yesterday.

Sri Lanka Outclass India by 7 Wickets

The stupendous knocks delivered by Kusal Mendis and Danushka Gunathilaka served to allow the Sri Lankans to deliver their bolt from the blue, thanks to the 7 wickets which resulted from these players during the 2^nd game of the ICC Champions Trophy of 2017, which took place at The Oval.

Group B is Now Wide Open

The Sri Lankans’ win against India threw the Group B gates wide open, and the winners of the next 2 games revealed who the semi-finalists are. India faced South Africa on the 11^th of June and went on to win, and Sri Lanka met Pakistan on the 12^th, but did not fare so well. India and Pakistan are going through.

Quotable Quotes on the ICC Champions Trophy

Man of the Match winner Kusal Mendis was quoted as calling the game a good wicket. He mentioned that the Indian team had gotten off to a good start, thanks to Dhawan’s 100, and that his team member, Danushka, had offered him good support. He stated that it was his 1^st game against India, and that he was happy to have contributed to the win, as were the NZ betting sites offering markets for this game, no doubt.

Angelo Mathews said that it was a coveted win, beating India, and agreed with Mendis in that it was a good wicket. He went on to say that the Sri Lankan bowlers did a great job of restricting the Indian players to 321, which allowed Sri Lanka to focus on an easy-to-chase target. Matthews said that he simply focussed on hitting as many in the nets as he could, and this had made him feel good, and helped him get back into the game after his injury.

Virat Kohli has said that his team felt that they had what was required on board, and that their bowlers were trusted, but that the Sri Lankans had played very well. While his team managed to keep the momentum up during the innings, the Sri Lankans picked areas to hit well, and executed these hits brilliantly. He ruefully stated the dangers of 20/20 hindsight, but felt that his team had bowled decently, although he did add that their execution may not have been up to scratch, and that this was something to take into consideration going forward.  Kohli graciously gave credit where credit was due.

Sri Lanka managed to beat the Indian team by a total of 7 wickets in order to keep their hopes of reaching the semi-finals for the ICC Champions Trophy alive at 22:50 hrs IST.

Quick Facts about the Two Teams

1. The Sri Lankans have suffered 4 run-outs so far.
2.  Sri Lanka has had 8 century partnerships for 2^nd wicket since the ICC World Cup of 2015.
3. Shikhar Dhawan is the fastest Indian, 77, and 3^rd quickest in terms of 10 ODI centuries. He is ranked just after Quinton de Kock, 55, and Hashim Amla, 57.