India v Sri Lanka: Key Plays

MOMENT OF THE DAY

A defining moment in the second innings came at 145/1 when the impressive Danushka Gunathilaka smashed the ball towards Rohit Sharma at long-on. The India fielder made a valiant attempt but was unable to hang on. Player of the Match Kusal Mendis then hit three successive boundaries, culminating in 15 off Hardik Pandya’s over. Sri Lanka were starting to believe, and despite some run-outs and an injury to Kusal Perera, the returning captain Angelo Mathews kept his cool to hit the winning runs.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: INDIA - SHIKHAR DHAWAN

The India opener brought up his fifty in the 24th over with an immaculate cover drive, illustrating sublime control and weight transference. Dhawan loves to drive the ball in front of square but he played within himself early on, opening the face and nudging behind square to keep the scoreboard ticking. This fine stroke kick-started a succession of blistering drives; he had been content to let Rohit take centre stage but expressed himself more commandingly after his partner's dismissal. Dhawan’s fifty came from 69 balls but his next 27 runs came from just 15 deliveries, before he ceded the limelight once more to allow MS Dhoni to have some fun. A lovely cut through backward-point brought about Dhawan’s tenth ODI hundred, eventually falling for 125 from 128 balls, with 14 fours and one six. He certainly likes this tournament.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: SRI LANKA – KUSAL MENDIS

Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka’s most exciting young talent, showed maturity beyond his years with a frill-free 89 off 93 balls, including 11 fours and one six, which edged Sri Lanka into a commanding position. The 22-year-old allowed Danushka Gunathilaka to take centre stage early on but the diminutive batsman sparked into life with three successive fours off the bowling of Pandya at the half-way point of the innings. Danushka Gunathilaka, who was drafted into the squad late last evening following the injury to Chamara Kapugedara, also deserves a lot of credit, posting an impressive 76 and bowling eight tidy overs with his part-time off-spin.

SHOT OF THE DAY

Asela Gunaratne prematurely entered the fray due to Kusal Perera’s injury but he and Mathews delivered a brilliant late-innings onslaught to guide Sri Lanka home. 31 required from the final 29 deliveries became 25 from 28 when Gunaratne shifted his body to the off-side and went down on one knee, allowing room for a mighty sweep over mid-wicket for six. A well-executed, calculated risk, and Sri Lanka weren’t going to lose it from there.

BALL OF THE DAY

In a match dominated by batsmen, we’ve gone for the most memorable delivery over the most penetrative. Gunaratne floated up a rather innocuous delivery, which Yuvraj Singh tried to gently chop behind square, only to send the ball trickling towards the sticks. India’s No. 4 looked in a state of disbelief that the ball had managed to escape his defence. Only 11 runs were conceded from Gunaratne’s three overs.

STAT OF THE DAY

Dhawan hit his third ICC Champions Trophy hundred – a joint record shared with Chris Gayle, Herschelle Gibbs and Sourav Ganguly. The opener now averages 92.66 from seven ICC Champions Trophy matches. Overall, this was his fifth century in ICC ODI tournaments, in 15 innings. He thrives on the world stage.

SHOCK OF THE DAY

Having scored 81 not out against Bangladesh on Monday, in-form batting colossus Virat Kohli, ranked No 3 in the ICC ODI Batting Rankings, fell to a five-ball duck off the bowling of Nuwan Pradeep.