India passed their 1st test of genuine English conditions on cloudy Thursday evening as they seemed out Sri Lanka by 8 wickets. India enters their third Champions Trophy final match.
After restricting Lanka to 181/8 through a combination of astute swing and spin, India romped home with 15 overs to spare as Shikhar Dhawan continued his impressive run with 68 and Virat Kohli hasten the expected with a blistering unbeaten 58.
Dhawan was reprieved by captain Angelo Mathews at slip when he had scored 18 - a costly miss - and he went on to smash his 2nd half-century of the tournament, to go with the 2 (114,102)centuries he plundered in the first couple of matches.
Kohli then reeled in win in a great speed, peppering his fifty with disdainful boundaries against Sri Lanka trump card Lasith Malinga and a towering six off leggie Jeevan Mendis, the last 50 runs of the chase coming in just 5 overs.
India will face hosts England in Sunday final – arguably the 2 best sides over the last fortnight meeting for the title with an unblemished record of 4 wins in as many matches.
Sri Lanka paltry total was an outcome of an overall good bowling show in conditions fostering movement in the air. Man of the match Ishant Sharma and off-spinner R. Ashwin picked up 3wickets each, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja exercised marked control and economy.
Score DetailsSri Lanka- 181/8 (50)
A Mathews -51(81)
M Jayawardena -38(63)
India-182/2(35)
S Dhawan -68(92)
V Kohli -58(64)
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