The Cricket World met two back-to-back shocks in last two days as Pakistan and Sri Lanka considered to be depleted and underdogs prior to the commencement of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 stunned favorites South Africa and India, keeping the group B very much alive.
Sri Lanka’s brilliance with the bat at The Oval on Thursday against India led the former to register a record chase in the history of ICC Champions Trophy.
Simply outstanding from Sri Lanka, a result very few predicted!#CT17 #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/uux2bj13aD
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) June 8, 2017
While batting first, India with 138-run opening partnership and Shikhar Dhawan’s Century scored 321 runs in allocated 50 overs for the loss of six wickets. Shikhar Dhawan scored 125 runs off 128 balls.
Rohit Sharma remained second highest scorer for India as he made 78 runs with 3 sixes followed by MS Dhoni who scored 63 runs.
For Sri Lanka, Lasith Malinga bagged 2 wickets while Suranga Lakmal, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Pradeep and Asela Gunaratne took 1 wicket each.
Considering Sri Lankan batting performance against South Africa, no one would have thought that Sri Lanka would reach the target with such ease as it clinched the victory by 7 wickets with 8 balls still remaining.
Unlike India, Sri Lanka didn’t have an excellent start as Niroshan Dickwella fell early for just 7 runs but Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis established 159 runs partnership for the second wicket. Later both these batsmen were run out on 76 and 89 runs respectively.
The Captain Angelo Mathews also played sensibly and took his Side to a comfortable victory over India in the end. He scored unbeaten 52 runs.
Following the Sri Lankan win against India, the group B of ICC Champions Trophy 2017 remains wide open as all four teams in the group have 2 points each at the moment though having a difference in net run rates. Therefore, the next two matches between India vs South Africa on June 10 and Pakistan vs Sri Lanka on June 11 have turned out to be Quarter Finals.
