Cardiff: Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews on Wednesday said his team is physically and mentally ready for the challenge that will be posed by a formidable Indian side in the semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy.
"India are a strong team to beat, but we are prepared physically and mentally," the young Lankan skipper told reporters here on Wednesday.
For the talented allrounder, it will be a big achievement if Sri Lanka are able to get past India on Thursday. "We are aware of our poor record. It will be an achievement if Sri Lanka can beat India here tomorrow and on our day, we can beat any team in the world," Mathews said.
Like his counterpart Dhoni, the Lankan captain also doesn't believe in exacting revenge. "In sport, there is no word called revenge," he said....
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08:12 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Cardiff: Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya said Sri Lanka will target the Indian bowlers during the Champions Trophy semifinal slated for Thursday at the Sophia Gardens here. "Their (India) bowling isn't the best, so we need to have a very good plan. The goal was to make the semifinals. Anything can happen now," Jayasuriya told the BBC. Jayasuriya, who led Sri Lanka when it shared the Champions Trophy with India in...
07:17 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Cardiff: India captain MS Dhoni rated Sri Lanka as "a dangerous team" ahead of their ICC Champions Trophy semi-final here on Thursday, saying they were not just focussing on "a Mahela Jayawardene or a Kumar Sangakkara". Thursday's semi-final will be the fifth meeting between India and Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom. Except for the shock defeat in the 1979 World Cup, India have easily won the remaining four. But...
06:53 PM, Jun 19, 2013
Overall, since 1983 when they reached the semi-finals of the Prudential World Cup, India have played 14 ODI tournament semi-finals with a 9-5 win-loss record. Ahead of the second 2013 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final between India and Sri Lanka in Cardiff, here's a recap of how those matches have panned out for India. The 1980s Between 1985 and 1989, India made at least one ODI semi-final a year. In their...
02:35 PM, Jun 19, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday told a delegation of Sri Lanka Tamil MPs that he was "dismayed" by reports suggesting that Colombo planned to dilute certain key provisions of the 13th Amendment on devolution of powers to provinces ahead of polls to the Northern Provincial Council. The prime minister noted that the proposed changes "raised doubts about the commitments made by the Sri Lankan government to India...
04:30 AM, Jun 19, 2013
London: India have strengthened their number one position on the ICC ODI Championship Table as they have added two more rating points to their kitty with an unbeaten run in the group stage of the Champions Trophy. India had entered the tournament on 119 ratings points and have moved to 121, thanks to victories over South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan. England are now ranked second after moving up two...
10:26 PM, Jun 18, 2013
India takes on Sri Lanka, and England and South Africa will battle it out in the Champions Trophy semi-finals. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the teams and what is expected? James Alter, editor, Cricketnext.com, joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. Hi Jamie! Let me, for a change, reverse the question for you.India, we all know, are firm favorites to go all the way, but...
06:48 PM, Jun 18, 2013
Kingston: West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith will lead the West Indies A team against Sri Lanka A in two Twenty20 matches this week at Arnos Vale. Smith, a prolific scorer in the just ended Indian Premier League (IPL), is one of four members of the West Indies World T20 champion team named in the regional A team for the series, reports CMC. The others are Lendl Simmons, allrounder Andre Russell,...
03:38 PM, Jun 18, 2013
London: Sri Lanka will play India in the Champion Trophy semi-finals after ousting defending champion Australia by 20 runs and overtaking New Zealand in the group standings on Monday. Sri Lanka posted 253-8 on a turning pitch at The Oval due to Mahela Jayawardene's 84 from 81 deliveries and Lahiru Thirimanne's 57. That meant Australia needed to eclipse the target in 29.1 overs to advance, a prospect that always seemed...
01:13 AM, Jun 18, 2013
Live updates from Game 12 of the ICC Champions Trophy fixture between Australia and Sri Lanka played at Kennington Oval, London. Defending champions Australia will have to put David Warner's bar brawl controversy and questions surrounding their team culture behind them when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture here on Monday to decide the last of the remaining ICC Champions Trophy semi-final places. It will be...
04:43 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalalitha on Monday accused the Centre of not engaging with the Sri Lankan government in any dialogue to resolve the issue of attacks on fishermen from the state and maintaining a 'stoic' and 'apathetic' silence over it. "The External Affairs Ministry has continued to maintain a stoic and apathetic silence and there appears to be no effort to engage the Sri Lankan government in...
02:54 PM, Jun 17, 2013
Rameswaram (TN): Eight fishermen from Tamil Nadu, arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy near Katchatheevu, were on Monday remanded to judicial custody till June 27 by a court in the island nation. The fishermen, arrested yesterday, were produced before the judicial magistrate court in Mannar which sent them to judicial custody, officials here said, quoting information received by them. The eight were arrested along with their two boats by the...
09:05 AM, Jun 17, 2013
London: Defending champions Australia will have to put David Warner's bar brawl controversy and questions surrounding their team culture behind them when they take on Sri Lanka in their final league fixture here on Monday to decide the last of the remaining ICC Champions Trophy semi-final places. It will be a virtual quarter-final clash between the two sides at Kennington Oval but a lot will depend on the outcome of...
12:24 PM, Jun 16, 2013
Cardiff: England have found themselves at the centre of a tampering row after former captain Bob Willis accused them of scratching the ball. The alleged incident took place during England's seven-wicket Champions Trophy one-day international defeat by Sri Lanka at The Oval on Thursday when Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar and his New Zealand on-field colleague Billy Bowden ordered one of the balls in use to be changed while the Lankans...
06:23 PM, Jun 15, 2013
London: Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara described his match-winning unbeaten knock of 134 against England in the Champions Trophy as one of the best innings of his career. "Yeah, it has to be. And I am pretty happy about it and am all the more so as we won the match and we kept ourselves alive in the tournament," Sangakkara said when asked if it was one of his best...
08:35 AM, Jun 14, 2013
London: Kumar Sangakkara smashed an unbeaten 134 off 135 balls as Sri Lanka stunned England by seven wickets in a high-scoring thriller on Thursday to stay afloat in the Champions Trophy. The Islanders, chasing England's seemingly impregnable 293 for 7, launched a spirited chase in the day-night game at the Oval to surpass the target in 47.1 overs and throw open the semi-final race from group A. Sri Lanka, who...
01:20 AM, Jun 14, 2013
A buoyant England look hungry after their win over Australia, but it will be a battle of survival for Sri Lanka. The two teams have made contrasting starts to their campaign in the eight-team event, which is being played for the last time. While England thrashed defending champions Australia by 48 runs, Sri Lanka lost by a wicket against New Zealand in a low-scoring thriller. Going purely by how the...
04:35 PM, Jun 13, 2013
London: A buoyant England would eye the semi-final slot, but it would be a battle of survival for Sri Lanka, after a narrow opening loss, when the two sides clash in their second Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy here on Thursday. The two teams have made contrasting starts to their campaign in the eight-team event, which is being played for the last time. While England thrashed defending...
04:34 PM, Jun 12, 2013
London: Sri Lanka's batting coach, Marvan Atapattu, has backed the team to make the ICC Champions Trophy semi-finals with victories in their remaining matches against hosts England and Australia. Sri Lanka narrowly lost to New Zealand in Cardiff on Sunday in a low-scoring match to leave Angelo Mathews' team needing to win at The Oval on Thursday and next Monday, but Atapattu was confident they could cast aside their poor...
04:06 PM, Jun 12, 2013
Colombo: Renowned Sri Lankan umpire K T Francis, who stood in islanders' inaugural Test match in 1982, has passed away after losing battle against acute diabetes, family sources said Monday. He was 73. Francis died in a hospital yesterday, they said. A Tamil, Francis along with Herbie Felsinger officiated in Sri Lanka's first-ever Test match against England here in February 1982. He was a member of the ICC international panel...
05:59 PM, Jun 10, 2013
