Ishant sure India can shackle England’s batting line-up

Ishant Sharma backed the India pace attack to take the game to England in the Champions Trophy final after a disciplined bowling display helped them to an eight-wicket semi-final win over Sri Lanka in Cardiff.

Sri Lanka were asked to bat first, but superb seam bowling from Ishant, (3-33), Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (1-18) and Umesh Yadav restricted them to 181-8 from their 50 overs, with only captain Angelo Mathews and Mahela Jayawardene (38) ever looking comfortable.

The 181-8 total never looked like being enough and another fine knock from Shikhar Dhawan (68), plus a half-century from Virat Kohli (58) helped India get home with 15 overs to spare.

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The World Cup winners now face hosts England in Sunday’s Edgbaston final and, having dealt with the threat posed by Sri Lanka’s big hitters, paceman Ishant is confident India have what it takes to stymie the likes of Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell.

When asked if he felt England were the most dangerous batting side they would face, he said: “I don’t think so. If you are bowling in a good area no batsmen will enjoy playing you.

“That is what we have been doing in the last five games and we will do the same thing in the final.

“We have played good cricket until now, we don’t need to change anything. We will stick to the patterns and our strengths and we will keep doing the same thing in the final.”

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The 24-year-old was understandably delighted with his performance at Cardiff Wales Stadium, but admitted bowling first had worked out ideally.

He said: “I think I have been bowling really well. In this match I seemed to bowl really well and I have carried on my momentum as I was really confident coming into the Champions Trophy.

“I think with the conditions there was something for the fast bowlers, but when I came on for my second spell the wicket was getting flat and coming more towards the batsman. So I think it worked well for us in the second half of the game.”

Sri Lanka captain Mathews admitted the toss had been key as India enjoyed the better of the conditions in both innings.

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The all-rounder said: “It was a bad day at the office, the toss was vital I thought.

“The wicket was swinging and seaming so the batters were finding it hard to time the ball, especially with the two new balls. It was not coming on; it was a bit two-paced and there was a bit of lateral movement.

“It got a bit easier but I thought 182 was just below par. With the Indian batting line-up at least 250 would have been a good score on that. We are disappointed and the whole nation is disappointed.”