Pakistan wins, India loses! Champions Trophy becomes a potboiler

Teams of Group B of the ongoing ICC Championship Trophy can no longer take things for granted.

Sri Lanka, whom cricketing experts labelled as underdogs, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in a do-or-die match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, as they hammered defending champions India by seven wickets at the Oval, and chased down a daunting total of 321 in 48.8 overs.

Yes, it was like David had beaten Goliath as the Lankans were not expected to present much of a threat, as the Sri Lankan team was devoid of big names and missing the quality of star players like Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkaras. And their major weapon - Lasith Malinga - had never had the better of the Indians.

And not to forget India won 5-0 in the last ODI series between these two teams, showcasing the difference in class between the two Asian giants. 

Since 2009, India has 28-13 win-loss record against Sri Lanka. That’s how poor Sri Lanka has been in recent times.

Before the game, few gave Sri Lanka a chance, but they got over the line with eight deliveries to spare. The batsmen displayed controlled batting effort and at the end, it was a fabulous run chase by the Islanders.

But India was quite sloppy on the field again. They didn’t apply as much as pressure as they should have in the vital moments of the game. The plans were not carried out as well as the Indian team expected and more than anything the missed chances will be regretted in particular.

Another upset happened when the Pakistan accomplished an outstanding turnaround to defeat #1 ranked ODI side South Africa by 19 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis Stern method.

This was certainly a changed Pakistan team to the one that went up against the Indian side. This win will surely lift the confidence of the Pakistan side, but to make it to the semi-finals they have to beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin in its last group match in Cardiff.

However, Pakistan is in a tricky situation to qualify for the semi-finals. Pakistan’s huge 124 run loss at the hands of India in their first game has left them with the worst net run-rate in the group.

But their win against the Proteas has slightly eased them over the net run-rate issue. It was a complete improvement by the Pakistani team. 

They put up a much better bowling display as they restrained South African batsmen.

Any team taking the Men in Green lightly is at an enormous risk, as they have a remarkable knack of bouncing back as they have risen and notched up a surprising win against top-ranked sides. 

On such days the unpredictable Pakistani side can give some magical performances.

These results mean that Group B is wide open as now all the four teams India, South Africa, Pakistan and South Africa are on two points each and the Champions Trophy is buzzing again and these match will decide who will qualify for the semi-finals. England is the only team to qualify for the semi-finals. 

• Pakistan
• India
• Champions Trophy