India eye semi-final berth in Champions Trophy clash against Sri Lanka

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The spin and pace bowling combination for India has only helped them become a lethal all-round side though fielding has been a matter of concern - as pointed out by skipper Kohli - and which the team will look to overcome against the Lankans.

Sri Lanka have won 13 matches in the history of the ICC Champions Trophy, the equal second most of any team in the competition's history second only to India.

On the eve of Thursday's match, Mathews was asked if he had been tempted to ask Sri Lanka legend Sangakkara - who retired from global cricket in 2015 - to make a comeback for this event given his stunning recent form for Surrey.

"That is our brand of cricket, being aggressive and positive". Adding insult to injury, Sri Lanka were later found guilty of a slow over-rate offence by the ICC, with their stand-in captain Upul Tharanga banned for their next two matches, and players fined.

The teams go into the match with contrasting results.

Sri Lanka: Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews (captain), Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Pradeep.

Brief scores: India 321/6 in 50 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 125, Rohit Sharma 78, MS Dhoni 63; Lasith Malinga 2-70) vs Sri Lanka. Overall India enjoy a convincing win percentage after winning 83 out of the 149 matches with Sri Lanka emerging victorious on 54 occasions.

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In the other semi-final, Australian skipper Nathan Outteridge's Swedish team Artemis Racing lost twice to Team Japan to slump behind 3-1.

Mathews stressed that Sri Lanka are under no pressure, but in global cricket no team is shielded from pressure and scrutiny.

Popularly known as the "WALL OF INDIA", Rahul Dravid is also It was in starting phase of his career that he played a knock 145 runs off 129 balls against Sri Lanka at Taunton.

India: TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1HD (English, Hindi, Tamil). Once logged in, you can stream the match. But Sharma and Dhawan absorbed everything Sri Lanka threw at them, and stuck to the team formula: A cautious first 10 overs, and surge through the middle overs, to set up a big finale.

USA: TV: Willow TV.

At present, India is at the top of the Points Table with two points followed by South Africa and Pakistan while Sri Lanka is at the bottom with yet to gain any point.

He is realistic about his inexperienced side's chances to win the Champions Trophy and that he believes it takes away a lot of pressure from the youngsters.

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