London: India captain Virat Kohli said he expected his bowlers to defend 321 but Sri Lanka batted exceptionally well to take the game away from the defending champions in the Champions Trophy here today.
“We felt we had enough on the board, we trusted out bowlers, but Sri Lanka were pretty good,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation here today.
“They kept the momentum through the innings, they picked their areas to hit and executed really well.
“There’s always hindsight. I thought we bowled decently. But when you don’t execute properly, there is always food for thought. Here you have to give credit to the other team,” Kohli added.
Sri Lanka chased down the stiff target in 48.4 overs to register an unexpected win.
Angelo Mathews, who himself scored an unbeaten 52 in his comeback game, rated the win as one of top wins of his times.
“It’s one of the top wins, to beat India. It was a fantastic wicket,” said Mathews.
“The bowlers did brilliantly to restrict India to 321. It’s a very chaseable target. I tried to hit as many balls in the nets as possible, it makes you feel good and that helped me come back from injury.
“Wasn’t easy for Danushka Gunathilaka to walk into the side and bat like how he did. Kusal Mendis is a great player, and Kusal Perera also batted really well.
“Those partnerships were crucial. It’s a must-win game (Sri Lanka against Pakistan, and India versus South Africa) for all of us in the group. Not many people expected us to win and that took a lot of pressure off us,” he added.
PTI