India 337 for 5 (Kohli 144, Karthik 106*) beat Sri Lanka 333 for 3 (Dilshan 84, Kusal Perera 82) by five wickets
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It says much for the enduring appeal of 50-over cricket that, despite
looking the second-best team for much of the day, India still left
Edgbaston celebrating an exhilarating victory with six deliveries to
spare.
If it was a stand of 186 in 140 balls between Virat Kohli and Dinesh
Karthik that provided most obvious cause for Indian joy, as it helped
them fight back in a match that had appeared to be sliding inexorably
towards Sri Lanka, perhaps it was more subtle factors that will be of
long-term relevance.
Even if India had lost this game, they might have been justified in
leaving Edgbaston in good spirits, for this match did provide hints that
some of the pre-conceptions about this tournament may be misplaced.
India, despite their No.1 ranking, are not among the favourites for the
Champions Trophy. That is due, in part, to the suspicion that, in
English, early-season conditions and with two new balls, they may lack
the specialists to cope. Not only, it is argued, will they lack the
batting techniques to negate the rising, swinging ball, but they might
lack the bowling firepower - the admirable Bhuvneshwar Kumar aside - to
hurt sides in reply.
But, on the evidence of this game, conditions may not be so alien.
Despite awful weather in Birmingham for almost as long as anyone can
remember, this was an excellent batting surface. And while two new balls
were used, the early indications are that the kookaburra-turf ball in
operation hardly swings. Indeed, it just means that batsmen still have a
hard ball to hit later in the innings. In such circumstances, India,
utilising their spinners and powerful batsmen, may be far more at home
than has been anticipated. There was not a single maiden all day.
Certainly Kohli and Karthik, celebrating his 28th birthday in some
style, looked at home as they accelerated towards victory. While few of
the Sri Lankan bowlers will reflect with much pleasure on this
performance - Jeevan Mendis conceded 31 in his three overs - there were
times when the India pair allowed so little margin for error that it
looked almost impossible to contain them.
Kohli, initially at least, picked up runs with stealth and quick running
- at one stage, he scored 20 singles in succession and managed an
all-run four on this far from huge ground. Karthik was more aggressive,
his century came in just 79 balls and included an array of boundaries
flicked, driven and bludgeoned through the leg-side.
It would be foolish to read too much into this result. It was not an ODI
and the teams agreed to play 15 men aside. What is more, while Sri
Lanka decided to retire their top two batsmen just as they might have
been expected to accelerate, India allowed their two top-scorers to win
the game. Sri Lanka were also without Lasith Malinga who arrived late
and was suffering from jet-lag. No one will remember this match in a few
weeks.
And, for much of the game, Sri Lanka looked the better side. Kusal
Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan batted with some class to post 209 for
Sri Lanka's first wicket in 35.1 overs, before Dinesh Chandimal and
Kumar Sangakkara, back on the ground that he briefly made his home, also
impressed.
India's bowling was loose and their fielding lethargic. While it is true
they have not played ODI cricket since January, the rustiness of some
of the bowling was alarming and will need to be rectified quickly if
they are to progress.
The top-order batting was underwhelming, too. When Kohli and Karthik
came together, at 110 for 4 in the 21st over, their cause looked close
to hopeless. But Kohli was calm - his century occupied 95 balls and
included only seven fours and a six - and his acceleration afterwards
oozed class and suggested he had simply been playing with the bowling
previously.
Karthik, if anything, was even more impressive, if not quite as pleasing
on the eye. The pair set up a platform to help India score 208 runs
from the final 24 overs and 131 from the final 14. Sri Lanka's bowling
wilted in the face of the assault.
It is also worth noting the attendance at this match. While several
other venues in England and Wales struggle to sell respectable numbers
of tickets for games involving England - tickets are still available for
the Champions Trophy match between England and New Zealand in Cardiff,
and attendance for the second Test between England and New Zealand at
Leeds was bitterly disappointing - more than 5,500 people paid £20 a
head and watched this game at Edgbaston. If anyone needed any reminder
of the financial muscle of Indian cricket - and they really shouldn't
have done - it was provided here.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
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© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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