Sri Lanka stun India to set up thrilling Champions Trophy group finale

On a grey, tense, occasionally febrile day at The Oval a Champions Trophy that has fizzled and sparked burst into vibrant life as Sri Lanka beat India by seven wickets to scenes of great joy among their flag-twirling fans.

This was a hugely impressive, relentlessly aggressive team batting performance as Sri Lanka chased down India’s 321, a total built around a fine century from Shikhar Dhawan. For India the match was probably lost in the middle overs as Sri Lanka bowled tightly and only MS Dhoni of that trio of grand middle order guns got into double figures.

Afterwards Angelo Mathews dedicated the win to Sri Lanka’s recent flood victims and said he hoped victory might “bring a smile” in some difficult times. The result at The Oval has also thrown up an intriguing turn for the tournament itself, with the final fixtures in Group B – Pakistan versus Sri Lanka and South Africa versus India – pared back into de facto knockout quarter-finals. It might have taken a while. We may have had to dry our socks once or twice. But the next 10 days look fraught with possibilities.

This match might still have turned late on with Sri Lanka closing in on India’s total.

Having limped his way to a feisty 47 Kusal Perera wandered off clutching a hamstring, breaking the spell of a wonderful partnership with Mathews that had seemed to be romping cloudlessly towards the finish. In came Asela Gunaratne in his place, a fun, slightly clubby-looking cricketer, who poked around a little before getting off the mark with a wonderful pulled six over square leg to leave Sri Lanka needing 43 from 36 balls. Gunaratne kept on swinging, plonking Jasprit Bumrah over midwicket. Mathews raced to his 50 and with eight balls remaining Sri Lanka were home.