Ishant Sharma may not quite have hit the heights he once managed, but his performance at the Cardiff Wales Stadium on Thursday was a relative peak from the recent past.
“I’ve been bowling very well. I bowled with good rhythm in the IPL too, so I was really confident. I’m carrying that momentum into this tournament,” he said after his spell of three for 33 helped India past Sri Lanka in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy.
Speaking of the pitch, Ishant said: “I didn’t have any specific plan because the wicket was helping fast bowlers. There was bounce and movement. I was just hitting the lengths.”
The Sri Lankan captain, Angelo Mathews, meanwhile lamented his side’s continued failure to convert knock-out appearances into trophies.
“We’re definitely disappointed. The entire nation is also disappointed but at the same time it shows we are doing well. We can’t be happy (merely reaching the semifinals). Our objective was to enter the final.” — Sports Reporter
