India crushes http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 to reach the ICC Champions Trophy finale – Cricket News
India roared their way into the final of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Champions Trophy by handing Sri Lanka an eight-wicket defeat in the second semi-final of the tournament on Thursday, June 20, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.
India had won all their matches in the tournament before going up against Sri Lanka and was the obvious favourites. On the other hand, a later insurgence by Sri Lanka made them look very dangerous.
India’s bowling made the main difference as the bowlers annihilated the Sri Lankans on a meagre score of 181, leaving their opponents with no option but to give a miraculous bowling performance to get out of
this mess. However, if the Indian bowling was anything in this match, their batting was even more devastating for their opponents as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men reached the target for the loss of only two wickets.
After winning the toss, India chose to field first and delivered the first blow in the third over with the Lankans on only six runs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bhuvneshwar-Kumar-c48045 was the first bowler to strike for India, as he nabbed the
wicket of Kusal Perera for four.
Then with 17 on the board, Sri Lanka lost the services of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hettige-Don-Rumesh-Lahiru-Thirimanne-c63124 and get his
side out of the troubled situation. However, this partnership could take the score to only 36 runs before the latter lost his wicket to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/I-Sharma-c1566 after scoring seven runs.
Sangakkara and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 were expected to give India a tough time, however, their partnership was short-lived as Sangakkara, after playing a knock of 17 was dismissed by Sharma, leaving his side stranded
on 41 runs.
Jayawardene and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AD-Mathews-c913 brought some stability in the middle, as they led their side towards 119 runs, before the departure of Jayawardene, who found his way back after hammering 38 runs.
Mathews’ 51 and Jeevan Mendis’ 25-run knock made Sri Lanka give India a target of 182.
Indian openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/S-Dhawan-c2392 gave their side a fantastic start of 77, before Sharma was removed by Mathews after hitting 33 runs. Later with 142 on the board, India lost Dhawan for 68. Nonetheless,
Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 58 was enough to get http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 across the finish line.
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