India target pace to unpick England

Virat Kohli and his teammates put the heat on Sri Lanka in the Champions Trophy semifinal. Picture: Getty

Sri Lanka were asked to bat first and superb seam bowling from Ishant, (three for 33), Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (one for 18) and Umesh Yadav restricted them to 181 for eight from their 50 overs, with only captain Angelo Mathews and Mahela Jayawardene (38) ever looking comfortable.

The total never looked like being enough and another fine knock from Shikhar Dhawan (68), plus a half-century from Virat Kohli (58) helped India get home with 15 overs to spare.

The World Cup winners now face hosts England in Sunday’s Edgbaston final and, having dealt with the threat posed by Sri Lanka’s big hitters, paceman Ishant is confident India have what it takes to stymie the likes of Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell.

When asked if he felt England were the most dangerous batting side they would face, he said: “I don’t think so. If you are bowling in a good area no batsmen will enjoy playing you, that is what we have been doing in the last five games and we will do the same thing in the final.

“We have played good cricket until now, we don’t need to change anything. We will stick to the patterns and our strengths and we will keep doing the same thing in the final.”

The 24-year-old was understandably delighted with his performance at Cardiff Wales Stadium, but admitted bowling first had worked out ideally.

He said: “I think I have been bowling really well, in this match I seemed to bowl really well and I have carried on my momentum as I was really confident coming into the Champions Trophy.

“I think with the conditions there was something for the fast bowlers, but when I came on for my second spell the wicket was getting flat and coming more towards the batsman. So I think it worked well for us in the second half of the game.”

Sri Lanka captain Mathews admitted the toss had been key as India enjoyed the better of the conditions in both innings.

The all-rounder said: “It was a bad day at the office, the toss was vital I thought.

“The wicket was swinging and seaming so the batters were finding it hard to time the ball, especially with the two  new balls. It was not coming on; it was a bit two-paced and there was a bit of lateral movement.

“It got a bit easier, but I thought 182 was just below par. With the Indian batting line-up at least 250 would have been a good score on that.

“We are disappointed and the whole nation is disappointed, but I’m also sure the whole nation and the team is also quite happy that we reached the semi-finals, because it’s the best eight teams and we competed against the best.

“Unfortunately once again we choked in the semi-finals against India.”

And Mathews believes the final will be too close to call.

“That’s a toughie. Both teams are quite even and on that day whoever does less mistakes will win the game,” he said.

The 26-year-old also insisted his side had not been worried by two separate instances where politically motivated protesters invaded the pitch.

But Mathews said: “I was not really concerned. We as cricketers are not really bothered about what is happening around.

“I think it was unfortunate there was a reaction today after the Oval game, but I can’t really comment.”