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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, easily chasing down a 334-run target with five wickets in hand and six balls to spare.
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.
Teams from:
India: MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay, Amit Mishra, Irfan Pathan and Vinay Kumar.
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (Capt.), Kusal Perera (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Shaminda Eranga, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake and Dilhara Lokuhettige.
Pitch & conditions
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.
Stats & trivia
Match facts
Thursday June 20, 2013
Start time 10.30am (0930 GMT, 1500 IST & SLT)
