India vs Sri Lanka: It all went according to plan, says Dhoni after eight-wicket win

Emphasising on the importance of winning the toss, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said their crushing eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the semifinal of the ICC Champions Trophy here was a "well-written script".

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A dominant India stormed into the final with an emphatic victory over a hapless Sri Lanka to put themselves on course for yet another world title.

"I think it is a well-written script, good toss to win, started well by the bowlers," Dhoni said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

The Indians put in a disciplined bowling show to restrict Sri Lanka to 181 for eight and then overhauled the target with as many as 15 overs to spare to set up a summit showdown with hosts England on Sunday.

Dhoni said India capitalised on Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan retiring hurt after scoring 12 off 14 balls.

"Unfortunately for Sri Lanka they lost Dilshan, we capitalised on that, then the bowlers bowled well, especially the spinners. I think it is important to have good bowlers in the side. The ball was still doing a bit."

Dhoni teased the Lankans by coming on to bowl in the 24th over. Dinesh Karthik took over the glovework and the Indian skipper tried his medium-pace and almost got a wicket off his second delivery.

"Bhuvnesh (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) had already bowled 8 or 9, we wanted to keep some of the fast bowlers' overs for the death, so with Karthik around I think might as well give it a go. I thought even if it goes badly, I'll bowl one over. It went okay so I bowled another..."

Talking about Sunday's opponents, he said, "England are a very good side, and we have played a lot against them in the last couple of years."

Ishant Sharma was rewarded with the Man-of-the-Match award for securing impressive figures of 3/33.

"My strength is the bounce, I stick to my strength. I think up front Umesh (Yadav) and Bhuvi bowled really well. I think the conditions were really favourable here. In the previous games the wickets were quite flat," Ishant said.

Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews, too, felt the toss was crucial.

"The toss was crucial, we would have also bowled if we won the toss. The ball was seaming around, swinging around, the pitch was two-paced, our batsmen found it difficult. But credit should go the Indians," Mathews said.