India’s quest for a historic treble ended in heartbreak as a gutsy Sri Lanka produced a clinical display to win their maiden CC World T20 trophy with a convincing six-wicket victory here today.
Sri Lanka thus became third time lucky in the World T20 summit clash while Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dream to win a record third World title lay in tatters as his team faltered when it mattered the most.
Despite Virat Kohli’s belligerent 77, Yuvraj Singh’s excruciatingly slow innings of 11 off 21 balls left India with a very modest score 130 for four in 20 overs. Kohli’s brilliance went down the drain due to Yuvraj’s struggle.
Sri Lanka faced a few anxious moments in the early stages of the chase but eventually overhauled the target with 13 balls to spare.
It turned out to be a ‘fitting finale’ for the two retiring legends of Sri Lankan cricket as Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara certainly made it a ‘farewell to remember’ as the champions ended their T20 careers with a memorable triumph.
Mahela’s 24 was a sweet little innings which set the tempo while Sangakkara anchored it to perfection with an unbeaten 52. He again proved to be a thorn in the flesh for the Indians as he chose the final of the tournament to claw his way back to form after indifferent first five matches.
The match decisively swung in Sri Lanka’s favour in the 15th over in which Thisara Perera (17 n.o.) chanced his arms to hit Amit Mishra over long-on while Sangakkara swept him fine to get a boundary. 15 runs came off that over and the match was as good as over by then.
In Mishra’s next over, Sangakkara hit him over extra cover for a boundary while Thisara again hit the portly leggie for a six. Mishra went for 32 from four overs and would like to forget his last two matches after a good start. Earlier, Kohli struck his fourth half century of the tournament with yet another superb effort but Lankan bowlers applied brakes on a struggling Yuvraj Singh which certainly hampered the scoring rate to a large extent.
Kohli struck five fours and four sixes in his 58—ball knock as Yuvraj turned out to be a complete disaster as he looked completely out of sorts which even frustrated the in—form batsman at the other end. The last four overs produced only 19 runs due to Yuvraj’s failure to get big hits.
While Kohli peppered all parts of the field with his blazing blade, Yuvraj found it difficult to even pick up Sachithra Senanayeke’s ‘doosra’ and Lasith Malinga’s blockhole deliveries. His struggle became so apparent that even Kohli’s anger was palpable at the other end as the hero of 2007 triumph consumed delivery after delivery.
Rangana Herath (1/23) and Angelo Mathews (1/25) gave away only 48 runs in the eight overs as it became a Kohli versus Sri Lanka duel. Even Nuwan Kulasekara (1/29) had a decent day in office despite 16 coming off his one over.
When Yuvraj was finally out for 11 off 21 balls as he holed out in the deep, the loudest cheer came from the Indian fans, who were relieved to see him back in the dug—out.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni came in with only 11 deliveries left and found it difficult to accelerate the pace of scoring as Malinga and Kulasekara bowled the yorkers.
Ajinkya Rahane (3) looked completely shaky during his eight—ball stay at the crease. Angelo Mathews pitched it on length and the opener played it early trying to pull it and was played on.
Kohli entered the crease twirling his bat as Vivian Richards used to do during his playing days.
He clipped Kulasekara’s inswinging half volley through the deep mid—wicket region for a boundary. Rohit got his first boundary when Senanayeke couldn’t pitch the carrom ball properly as he pulled it towards square leg for a one bounce four.
Scoreboard
India:
Rohit Sharma c Senanayake b Herath 29
Ajinkya Rahane b Mathews 3
Virat Kohli run out (Senanayake) 77
Yuvraj Singh c Perera b Kulasekara 11
Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 4
Extras: (B—2, LB—2, W—2) 6
Total: (for 4 wickets in 20 overs) 130
Fall of wickets: 1—4, 2—64, 3—119, 4—130
Bowling: Kulasekara 4—0—29—1, Mathews 4—0—25—1, Senanayake 4—0—22—0, Malinga 4—0—27—0, Herath 4—0—23—1.
Sri Lanka
Perera c Jadeja b Mohit 5
Dilshan c Kohli b Ashwin 18
Jayawardene c Ashwin b Raina 24
Sangakkara not out 52
Thirimanne c Dhoni b Mishra 7
Perera not out 21
Extras: (LB—2, W—3) 5
Total: (4 wickets in 17.5 overs) 132
Fall of wickets: 1—5, 2—41, 3—65, 4—78
Bowling: Kumar 3—0—18—0, Mohit 2—0—18—1, Ashwin 3.5—0—27—1, Mishra 4—0—32—1, Raina 4—0—24—1, Jadeja 1—0—11—0.