To give you an idea of the magnitude of Sri Lanka’s achievement here, at the halfway stage, you could have got longer odds on them winning than on Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next prime minister. Yet on an overcast election day in south London, it was Sri Lanka who carved out the narrowest of majorities, even if in a packed crowd of over 22,000, their fans were very much the minority.It was one of the finest one-day chases The Oval has seen, and given this ground’s rich history of limited-overs batsmanship, that is not a statement you make lightly. Against one of the shrewdest attacks in the world game, Sri Lanka hunted down India’s total of 321 with guts and precision. Afterwards captain Angelo Mathews, who helmed the chase with a fine 52 not out, dedicated the win to a country ravaged by floods that have killed more than 200 people and left more than 600,000 homeless.
In less pressing matters, a damp fuse of a tournament has quite startlingly caught light. And after Pakistan’s surprise win against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, here was another reminder that at the game’s sharp end, the margins are deceptively narrow.
