India-Sri Lanka semifinal

[Parul]

CARDIFF: Unbeaten so far, a confident India would be up against a massive challenge when they take on sub-continental rivals Sri Lanka, a team on the ascendancy after a slow start, in the semifinal match of the ICC Champions Trophy on Thursday.

India will be the fancied team on paper but the Lankans are also on a high after defeating both England and Australia en route to the semifinal, which would be a repeat of the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai.

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 at The Oval 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 at the Sophia Gardens.

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.

While Sri Lanka have retained the core of that 2011 World Cup Kumar Sangakkara-led squad at the Champions Trophy, the Indian team has seen an influx of new blood after Sandeep Patil replaced Krishnamachari Srikkanth as chief selector in September 2012.

Only Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina are the remnants of the victorious World Cup squad and the arrival of a set of precocious youths like Ravindra Jadeja and Shikhar Dhawan has had a telling impact on the overall team performance, especially fielding.

The Indians have been on song ever since landing in the UK for the Champions Trophy. The Lankans were the first to face the heat, losing a warm-up game in Birmingham on June 1.

India flexed their batting muscle, easily chasing down a 334-run target with five wickets in hand and six balls to spare.

Kohli and Dinesh Karthik scored hundreds, virtually toying with a mature Lankan attack, spearheaded by Kulasekara and current skipper Angelo Mathews.

India's batting domination has been eloquently clear in this competition. They have scored over 300 runs thrice in five matches, twice batting first.

Against the West Indies in a group B fixture, India easily chased down a 234-run target with eight wickets in hand and in a rain-hit game at Edgbaston, dismissed an off-colour Pakistan by an identical margin (D/L method).

Sri Lanka, by contrast, have got better with every game. After losing a low-scoring thriller against New Zealand at Cardiff by a wicket, Lanka bounced back with a commanding seven-wicket victory against England at The Oval.

The Lankans did have some anxious moments against the Aussies but the 20-run win would have given the islanders a big shot in the arm ahead of the semis.

India's batting revolves around a clutch of young men like Shikhar Dhawan, Kohli and Karthik, who have taken the world by storm with their euphoric stroke-making and natural belligerence.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, continue to profit from salty old pros, who still swear by the old charm of silken touch and classy stroke-making.

Sangakkara proved that against England with an unbeaten 134 that had grace written all over it. And Mahela Jayawardene showed why he is still an artist with a compelling flow, scoring an exquisite 84 not out against a desperate Australia at The Oval.

Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan are central to Sri Lanka's batting and with several young and explosive youngsters like Lahiru Thirimanne, Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal packing the middle order, the match against India should be a contest between quality batsmen.

A fresh new track has been laid by the Glamorgan ground staff at Sophia Gardens for the semifinal. Chief curator Keith Exton says 280 should be a par score but 300 will be very safe.

With overcast conditions expected on Thursday, the seamers should get early advantage but batsmen who have been patient and respected the conditions have stood to gain in this Champions Trophy.

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.

But come Thursday, neither history nor the result of a warm-up game will have any consequence. As Jayawardene said on Tuesday: "Warm-up games or whatever, it doesn't count right now. It's a big tournament. It's the semifinal...I'll be desperate for every game to win, (as) simple as that."

Hot and happening India are equally desperate and will match the Lankans, eyeball to eyeball for sure. The battle lines at Cardiff are drawn.

Teams (from):

India: MS Dhoni (Capt.), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (Capt.), Dinesh Chandimal, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shaminda Eranga, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake and Lahiru Thirimanne.

Confident India take on resurgent Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy semifinal - The Times of India

 

[SRP]

lets see who wins tomorrow.

 

[SirHatesALot]

India all the way

 

[Shweta]

It will be a nail biting match. One who will hold the nerves better gonna win it. I have my money on India.

 

[Azizam]

Let's see.........

 

[Parul]

ICC Champions Trophy: Rain threatens India-Sri Lanka semifinal clash

An upbeat Sri Lanka take on high-flying India in the semifinal that could be affected by rain.

As India and Sri Lanka gear up to face off at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Wales for the semifinals of the ICC Champions Trophy on Thursday, the threat of rain looms large over the marquee clash.

According to BBC weather, a dry and bright start to the day is expected. However the rest of the day will be 'rather cloudy with showery outbreaks'. The forecast goes on the state that the rain may be heavy and prolonged at times, particularly in the afternoon.

In the event that weather conditions force the match to be declared a 'no-result', the group winners shall progress to the final. This would mean that India would progress to the final on account of topping group B, with six points from three games. Interestingly no 'reserve days' have been allocated for either semifinal tie. However there is a provision for a Super-Over if the match were to end in a tie.

After a dry first few days, the second week of the Champions Trophy has been affected by rain. The seventh match of the tournament - Australia vs New Zealand was abandoned during the second innings. The sharing of points was beneficial to neither, as both the sides did not make the semifinals.

South Africa sneaked a tie - and gained a valuable point - at Cardiff last week when rain forced the game to end with the West Indies on the exact Duckworth-Lewis par score of 190-6 in 26.1 overs. This meant that the Proteas progressed to the semifinals at the expense of their opponents on account of a higher net run-rate.

However the marquee India-Pakistan tie was the biggest damp-ner. After a delayed start, as many as four rain interruptions took the fizz out of an high-octane encounter.

In a winner-take-all penulimate group-phase encounter, New Zealand and England were forced to effectively play a Twenty20 (and a few) match, that resulted in the hosts entering the semifinals.

With the 8-nation tournament entering its latter stages, one can only hope that the rain stays away.

ICC Champions Trophy: Rain threatens India-Sri Lanka semifinal clash | ICC Champions Trophy 2013 - News | NDTVSports.com

 

[JanjaWeed]

It's going to be a frustrating one guys! light to heavy rain is expected whole day in Cardiff tomorrow...

​

 

[Parul]

Keeping my Figures Crossed....I Hope, we'll win the Match

 

[SRP]

Tomorrow's match Kohli vs Malinga. Kulsekara vs Dhawan.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Also the rules are such that if the whole match gets rained off... India will qualify to the finals due to their superior record in group matches. So let's hope it's either full 50ovr match or complete wash off!!

 

[Parul]

India prepare quietly ahead of big clash


Relaxed. That is what the Indian team are feeling at the moment. In fact, that seems to have been their state of mind throughout the tournament. Their progress might have caught the cynics off guard, especially back home, but MS Dhoni and his team could not care less. Although Dhoni did point out on the eve of the first warm-up match that it was surprising not to see numerous Indian TV channels, who had boycotted the event, unhappy with the terms and conditions set by the ICC over accreditation for non-rights holders.

Away from the glare of relentless media attention, India have trained quietly and purposefully. And it was the same in Cardiff on a warm and sunny Tuesday afternoon, where India did nothing out of the ordinary, two days ahead of their semi-final against Sri Lanka. Being such a big match, it is normal to expect teams to bring extra intensity to training. But India decided to keep things simple; greasing the nuts and bolts so that they are ready to roll out smoothly come Thursday.

Suresh Raina, obsessive when it comes to training, turned up first at Sophia Gardens, an hour before the rest of the squad arrived (at the scheduled time) in the afternoon. Taking throw downs from the fielding coach Trevor Penney, Raina focused on every aspect of his batting, especially against the moving and short ball. The success of the top order has not allowed Raina much time in the middle, so it was key that he remained in the right frame of mind.

Elsewhere, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik asked Penney to feed them length balls, as they wanted to make certain they were sensing, eyeing and timing well. Kohli focused on leaving the ball as he felt he was not letting them go as much as he should have during match situations. Karthik went so far as to berate himself after pulling a ball too far away from his body. He communicated that to Penny, even pointing the exact distance he had connected with the ball, when all of the time he should have been lunging forward to play the pull.

Earlier, Karthik was involved in an animated chat with Indian coach Duncan Fletcher, with both men discussing the finer points about the upper cut and pull shot. It would have been fascinating to hear what was being said, but Fletcher seemed to galvanise Karthik, who was hell bent on getting things precise later.

Although the success of the Indian batting has been the central point of focus, the fast bowlers have also toiled hard, despite not having much experience with the white Kookaburra, bar Ishant Sharma. Today, Joe Dawes, the Indian bowling coach, put the trio of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar through various drills, pointing out exactly what each needed to do in order to be more sharp. Lengths, body movement and getting certain variations accurate seemed to be Dawes' focus during the hour-long session.

Dawes, a former Queensland fast bowler, and a policeman, is a methodical guy, and at times irritates the batsmen by refusing to give them easy balls, even during throw downs. This fact was not lost on Kohli, who teased Dawes for never giving batsmen any allowance. "Always at the batsman's wrists. You can throw 300 balls, but only five will be easy to drive," Kohli joked with Dawes, who was giving a slightly hard time to Bhuvneshwar at the time.

Such light-hearted banter only happens when a team is functioning smoothly. And that has remained the key to India's success in this Champions Trophy.

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Feeds: Nagraj Gollapudi
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

 

[Ayush]

india..

 

[Parul]

india..

It may rain today. If the match is washed out, we'll still make to finals. I would prefer a complete match and expect the best team to win. Tough match ahead.

 

[agamdilawari]

Dear Malinga n co...waiting to see u in semis

Yours truly,
Virat Kohli

 

[Parul]

Preview: India v Sri Lanka, semi-final

Having confidently made it to the last-four stage, India will look to put in yet another clinical performance in their semi-final match in Cardiff. However, MS Dhoni's side will encounter stiff competition from Sri Lanka, who have consistently entered finals of various major ICC events over the past few years.

India:

In this Champions Trophy: India started their campaign with a 26-run win against South Africa in a high-scoring encounter before easing past West Indies by 8 wickets with 10.5 overs to spare in their second match to qualify for the semis. Following that, they extended their unbeaten run with a comfortable 8-wicket win with 2.5 overs to spare in a rain-affected tie against arch-rivals Pakistan.

Team form: The Indian team have by far been the most consistent team in this Champions Trophy. Not only have they won all their matches - 2 warm-up matches and 3 league games - but the manner in which they have overcome their opponents makes them the team to beat in this edition of the tournament. While India's batting has been their strong suit for quite some time now, the reason for their continued success in this edition of the Champions Trophy has much to do with their fielding, which has been top-notch and bowling, which has been tight and disciplined more often than not.

Strong performances from openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have more than made up for the absence of big names such as Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir at the top of the order. Dhawan has been in the form of his life, smashing back-to-back centuries before helping himself to a quick-fire 48 against Pakistan. The mercurial Rohit, too, looks like he is finally making his presence felt in the international arena with a degree of consistency - he has scored consecutive fifties in the sub-continent side's first two matches.

Dhawan and Sharma apart, Dinesh Karthik has played a couple of useful knocks, following his successive hundreds in the warm-up matches, and been there at the end in two out of three games India has won. While Dhoni will be happy with the form of these three batters, he will want Virat Kohli to get amongst the runs soon - the number three batsman is yet to make a fifty in the tournament. The Indian middle order, which comprises Suresh Raina, Dhoni, and Ravindra Jadeja, has been given the opportunity to bat only once in this edition of the tournament; the team will hope these three are up to the task if and when they are called on to bail out the team.

Jadeja, apart from contributing with his fielding skills in all games and a crucial, quickfire knock of 47 runs in the match against South Africa, has been India's top wicket-taker. The left-arm spinner, who has been in tremendous form, is the only one with a five-wicket haul in the tournament so far and is just two wickets shy of Mitchell McClenaghan (11 wickets), who has the most scalps. While Jadeja has been India's most effective bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin have also done reasonably well. However, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have not been as potent, which is the only source of worry as far as India are concerned.

Player-watch:

Virat Kohli has got starts in all the three matches that India have played, but has failed to convert them into big scores. The one-drop batsman will be keen to make amends and he couldn't have asked for a better opponent to do it against than Sri Lanka - Kohli has 1386 runs against them in ODIs at an average of over 55 with 7 fifties and five hundreds.

Team News: India do not have any injury concerns at the present time and are unlikely to tinker with their winning combination.

Likely XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Sri Lanka:

In this Champions Trophy: After losing a low-scoring thriller against New Zealand by a wicket in their opening game, Sri Lanka bounced back with a commanding seven-wicket victory against hosts England. In their third match, they survived some anxious moments to overcome Australia by 20 runs and make it to the knock-out stage.

Team form: Sri Lanka did not get off to the kind of start they would have hoped for, suffering an agonizing one-wicket loss at the hands of the Black Caps, despite a spirited bowling performance. The loss might have acted as a catalyst, for Sri Lanka re-grouped quickly to register back-to-back wins.

Sri Lanka's batting has revolved around the experienced trio of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Tillakaratne Dilshan. The wicket-keeper batsman proved his worth, scoring a defiant 68 against New Zealand before producing a match-winning 134 against England. Mahela also showed why he is considered a key batsman in the Lankan set-up with a classy 84 against Australia. Dilshan, too, has had a few useful outings, despite not being able to make a truly big contribution thus far. Sri Lanka will also be happy with the middle-order after the likes of Lahiru Thirimanne and Dinesh Chandimal spent some quality time in their last game against Australia, with Thirimanne scoring a fine half-century. The concern for Sri Lanka is the form of Kusal Perera at the top of the order and skipper Angelo Mathews' returns with the bat and ball.

Coming to the bowlers, Lasith Malinga has been Sri Lanka's top-wicket taker in the tourney and Nuwan Kulasekara has provided him good support. What's more Kulasekara also contributed a match-winning knock with the bat against England. Rangana Herath and Dilshan have been adequate if not spectacular in the spin department. Sri Lanka's main worry is Shaminda Eranga, who has gone for over six runs per over in the tournament.

Player to watch:

Mahela Jayawardene has found form at the right time as far as Sri Lanka would be concerned. The experienced right-hander is known to produce big knocks in crucial games, and he will be eager to make his presence felt against India. Having scored over 2000 runs in 77 matches against the sub-continent rivals, Mahela will keen to add more to his runs tally against India.

Team News: Like India, Sri Lanka too do not have any injury problems to worry about and will, in all likelihood, not make any changes to the line-up that got them into the semi-final.

Likely XI: Kusal Perera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews (c), Dinesh Chandimal, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Shaminda Eranga.

Pitch and weather: A fresh new track has been laid by the Glamorgan ground staff at Sophia Gardens for the semi-final and chief curator Keith Exton reckons 280 should be a par score. As far as the weather is concerned, overcast conditions are expected, with rain showers also being predicted. In case of a wash-out, the topper of the Group stage will progress to the final, which will be India in this case.

Numbers game:

5: The number of centuries scored by Virat Kohli against Sri Lanka. The right-hander has scored 1386 runs against Sri Lanka at an average of 55.44 and has also hit 7 fifties. 33% of Kohli's ODI runs tally has come against the Lankans.

3: the number of catches Mahela Jayawardene needs to take to become the first to reach the mark of 200 in ODI cricket. The former Lankan skipper is 37 clear of Ricky Ponting, who is in second place.

0 and 0: The head-to-head stats between India and Sri Lanka in Champions Trophy. The only two occasions these two sides played each other - in 2002 - both games were washed out and India and Sri Lanka were declared joint-winners.

Preview: India v Sri Lanka, semi-final | Cricket News | Cricbuzz.com