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 unlikely and proved increasingly so when they lost four wickets inside the opening nine overs. However, the Australian middle order and tail fought a thrilling rearguard action to finish on 233 from 42.3 overs.
While the Sri Lankans missed a chance to edge England to win Group A, the victory delivered a double knockout in eliminating both finalists from the previous Champions Trophy in 2009, Australia and New Zealand. The Kiwis would have advanced with a Sri Lanka loss. Instead, Sri Lanka plays on Thursday in the second semi-final in Cardiff, Wales. England meets South Africa a day earlier at The Oval....
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01:13 AM, Jun 18, 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
New Delhi: Franchises with a strong Sri Lankan presence are slowly building up pressure on the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to shift their play-off and knockout matches out of Chennai. Four franchises IANS spoke to were confident that the issue would be sorted out by the time the Twenty20 tournament reaches its business end. Their contention is that there should be a level playing field among...
10:09 PM, Mar 30, 2013
Rangana Herath picked up his 15th five-wicket haul and combined with seamer Nuwan Kulasekara to help Sri Lanka dismiss Bangladesh for 240 on the opening day. ...
06:14 PM, Mar 16, 2013
James Faulkner is expected to get a game in after a disappointing performance by Ben Laughlin at Sydney. ...
09:55 PM, Jan 27, 2013
Only 3.2 overs were possible in Sri Lanka's chase after Australia struggled to 222 for 9 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. ...
09:02 AM, Jan 20, 2013
Victory in Sydney would make Sri Lanka just the second team ever to win two bilateral series against Australia in Australia. ...
12:41 PM, Jan 19, 2013
Sri Lanka are resigned to life without Malinga in Test matches and do not expect him to make a dramatic return in the series against Australia. ...
11:08 AM, Dec 13, 2012
A dramatic collapse of 9 for 83 on day three set Sri Lanka a target of 93, which they achieved without loss thank to debutant Dimuth Karunaratne's unbeaten 60. ...
09:41 AM, Nov 19, 2012
Kumar Sangakkara and Nuwan Kulasekara are winning their battle to be fit for this month's Twenty20 World Cup. ...
08:01 PM, Sep 10, 2012
Sri Lanka pacer Kulasekara picked up a groin injury during the first ODI at Hambantota on Saturday. ...
02:12 PM, Jul 23, 2012
The loss of Nuwan Kulasekara and several batting concerns leave the hosts needing a much improved show to level the series. ...
01:44 PM, Jul 23, 2012
The Sri Lankan pacer picked up a groin injury during the first ODI against India on Saturday. ...
09:01 AM, Jul 22, 2012
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene compiled their 15th 100-run partnership in Test matches. Sangakkara has equaled Sir Donald Bradman's tally of 29 Test centuries. ...
10:00 AM, Jun 22, 2012
