Sri Lanka, Pakistan battle for semi-final spot

Sports Desk: Pakistan and Sri Lanka head into their concluding ICC Champions Trophy group match knowing the winner will advance to the semi-finals.

Monday's match in Cardiff - live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am - has become a virtual quarter-final after Pakistan defeated South Africa last time out and Sri Lanka stunned reigning champions India.

Pakistan were thrashed by India in their opener and Sri Lanka went down convincingly to South Africa but the sides' surprise wins in their second matches means one of them will join England, Bangladesh and India in the last four.

"We had a good bowling meeting," said Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed after his team secured a rain-affected triumph over South Africa. "We took wickets. If you take wickets, every good team feels under pressure."

Pakistan were also inspired by playing in front of a partisan crowd at Edgbaston, something they have rarely enjoyed since a 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore led to them playing most of their major matches overseas.

"That is a feeling we miss, not playing in Pakistan," added Sarfraz. "Maybe that was a difference, the crowd was supporting us and that's why the players were boosted."

Sri Lanka, too, did not lack for support at The Oval as they turned the tables on India in dramatic fashion.

Set 322 to win, Sri Lanka knocked off the runs with eight balls to spare thanks to contributions from Kusal Mendis (89), Danushka Gunathilaka (76) and all-rounder Angelo Mathews (52).

"It's one of the top wins, to beat India," said Mathews. "The bowlers did brilliantly to restrict India to 321. It was a very chaseable target. Not many people expected us to win and that took a lot of pressure off us.

Sri Lanka could hand a start to batsman Dhananjaya de Silva, who has been drafted into the squad due to the hamstring strain picked up by Kusal Perera while making 47 against India.

"It's a shame to lose Kusal, he batted extremely well," added Mathews. "But Dhananjaya is also a very good player. He has a good chance of playing, but we still haven't decided.

"We all know Pakistan are a very dangerous team - there's no room for complacency in this kind of tournament."

Pakistan do have some recent knowledge of Cardiff, having beaten England there by four wickets in a one-day international last year.

Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim starred with both bat and ball in that Cardiff clash and he will hope for more success upon on his return 'home' - he was born in the nearby town of Swansea.

Agencies


risingbd/Dhaka/Jun 12, 2017/Nasim