India beat Sri Lanka to win ICC World Cup 2011 after Long 28 Years

MS Dhoni (91 not out) and Gautam Gambhir (97) helped India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the ICC World Cup 2011 at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. Dhoni joined legendary Kapil Dev to lift the coveted trophy for India. 

Dhoni played captain's innings in the summit clash as he hit two sixes and eight fours in his 79-ball innings and raced to fifty in just 52 balls.

The skipper added a record 109-run partnership with Gambhir for the fourth wicket, which was highest for India in World Cup finals, to chase the challenging 275-run target.

Gambhir missed to score a hundred in the World Cup final as Lankan all-rounder Thisara Parera clean bowled him in the 42nd over.

After losing two quick wickets, Virat Kohli (35) added a valuable 83-run stand with Gambhir to resurrect the Indian innings.

Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga dismissed Sachin Tendulkar (18) and Virender Sehwag (0) early to jolt the India run-chase. Tendulkar was going smoothly as he hit two fours in his 14-ball 18 innings before Malinga struck in the seventh over.

India started the run-chase on terrible note as they lost Virender Sehwag (0) on the second ball of the match as Malinga trapped dashing opener LBW in his opening over. 

Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene slammed 14th one-day hundred, second of the mega-event, to help Sri Lanka post 274/6 against 1983 champions.

Jayawardene used all his experience to score unbeaten 88-ball 103 as he hit 13 fours and raced to his hundred in just 84 balls.

With this Jayawardene joined the elite group of batsmen who scored a century in the World Cup finals - Clive Lloyd ('75), Viv Richards ('79), Arvinda de Silva ('96), Ricky Ponting ('03) and Adam Gilchrist ('07).

Thisara Perera joined the party in their batting powerplay as he slammed a six and three fours in his 9-ball 22 blitzkrieg. Sri Lanka piled agony for India in the period as they scored 63 runs and lost only a wicket.




For India, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh took two wickets apiece to halt Sri Lanka innings before Jayawardene started dominating the proceedings with Nuwan Kulasekara (32).

In between, Zaheer equalled Shahid Afridi as leading wicket-taker when Chamara Kapugedera became his 21st victim of the World Cup.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat against India.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.

Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan.        

Batting: Sri Lanka Innings

Batsmen Sri Lanka (274/6 in 50 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR Upul Tharanga c V Sehwag b Z Khan 2 20 0 0 10.00 Tillakaratne Dilshan b H Singh 33 49 3 0 67.35 Kumar Sangakkara (c) (wk) c M Dhoni b Y Singh 48 67 5 0 71.64 Mahela Jayawardene not out 103 88 13 0 117.05 Thilan Samaraweera lbw b Y Singh 21 34 2 0 61.76 Chamara Kapugedera c S Raina b Z Khan 1 5 0 0 20.00 Nuwan Kulasekara run out (M Dhoni) 32 30 1 1 106.67 Thissara Perera not out 22 9 3 1 244.44 Suraj Randiv Lasith Malinga Muttiah Muralitharan Extras: b - 1, w - 6, nb - 2, lb - 3 12 Total:(274 for 6 in 50 overs) 274 Run Rate: 5.48

Fall Of Wickets

1/17 (Upul Tharanga, 6.1 ov.), 2/60 (Tillakaratne Dilshan, 16.3 ov.), 3/122 (Kumar Sangakkara, 27.5 ov.), 4/179 (Thilan Samaraweera, 38.1 ov.), 5/182 (Chamara Kapugedera, 39.5 ov.), 6/248 (Nuwan Kulasekara, 48 ov.)

Bowling: India

Bowler O M R W Nb Wd ER Zaheer Khan 10 3 60 2 0 1 6.0 S Sreesanth 8 0 52 0 2 0 6.5 Munaf Patel 9 0 41 0 0 1 4.6 Harbhajan Singh 10 0 50 1 0 1 5.0 Yuvraj Singh 10 0 49 2 0 0 4.9 Sachin Tendulkar 2 0 12 0 0 3 6.0 Virat Kohli 1 0 6 0 0 0 6.0

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Batting: India Innings

Batsmen India (277/4 in 48.2 ovs) Runs Balls 4's 6's SR Virender Sehwag lbw b L Malinga 0 2 0 0 0.00 Sachin Tendulkar c K Sangakkara b L Malinga 18 14 2 0 128.57 Gautam Gambhir b T Perera 97 122 9 0 79.51 Virat Kohli c & b T Dilshan 35 49 4 0 71.43 MS Dhoni (c) (wk) not out 91 79 8 2 115.19 Yuvraj Singh not out 21 24 2 0 87.50 Suresh Raina Harbhajan Singh Zaheer Khan Munaf Patel S Sreesanth Extras: b - 1, w - 8, nb - 0, lb - 6 15 Total:(277 for 4 in 48.2 overs) 277 Run Rate: 5.73

Fall Of Wickets

1/0 (Virender Sehwag, 0.2 ov.), 2/31 (Sachin Tendulkar, 6.1 ov.), 3/114 (Virat Kohli, 21.4 ov.), 4/223 (Gautam Gambhir, 41.2 ov.)

Bowling: Sri Lanka

Bowler O M R W Nb Wd ER Lasith Malinga 9 0 42 2 0 2 4.7 Nuwan Kulasekara 8.2 0 64 0 0 0 7.7 Thissara Perera 9 0 55 1 0 2 6.1 Suraj Randiv 9 0 43 0 0 0 4.8 Tillakaratne Dilshan 5 0 27 1 0 1 5.4 Muttiah Muralitharan 8 0 39 0 0 1 4.9

                                

Result: India beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets Man of the Match: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Finally, Dhoni gets to have a chat. He says that there would have been plenty of questions like wy was Ashwin not taken and why did he come ahead of the in-form Yuvraj and that pushed him to perform well. Thanks the support staff and says that it is a huge relief. About his form in the tournament, he says that throughout the event, his role was only to play with the lower order but tonight, he had a point to prove, to himself than anyone else. Admits that the pressure was there when two early wickets were lost but some sensible batting helped them take advantage of the situation and also with the dew setting in, they could attack the spinners. About Gambhir's innings, he feels sorry for the left-hander, but adds that Gambhir himself is responsible for missing out on a ton. But praises him for his knock..

The noise in the crowd is deafening as Sachin Tendulkar receives his memento! At last, he can have a smile!.

And now, time for the Indian team to get their mementos. Ashwin's name is announced first but Sehwag pops out first and takes his memento!.

YUVRAJ SINGH HAS BEEN NAMED THE MAN-OF-THE-TOURNAMENT. Says that this is unbelievable. First the Under-19 World Cup, then the World T20 and now this. Adds that this one is for Tendulkar and thanks the people instrumental in his life for his success. Admits that a lot of things were learnt from the 2003 World Cup final against Australia. The fielding was excellent and the team was playing like champions. Credits Narendra Hirwani for working with his bowling and says picking up 2-3 wickets per match helps the team and that is why he is here. Asked about what else he would have wished for tonight, he jokingly says that he wished he could tell that on mike! Thanks the crowd, his team and the entire nation..

INDIAN SKIPPER MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI HAS BEEN NAMED THE MAN-OF-THE-MATCH. He gets across to have a chat but then Ravi Shastri says that he will have a chat later..

And now, the Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara gets ready to have a chat. He walks off after taking the medal but then gets back to chat. Says that he is very proud of his boys and specially of Mahela Jayawardena but adds that looking at the Indian line-up, anything less than 350 is not enough. Praises the Indian team for having played the cricket the way they did under the support of a massive crowd. Admits that India deserve to be called the World Champions but at the same time, is pleased of his own side. Agrees that 274 was par but lack of wickets dented their progress and Gambhir and Dhoni took the game away..

Now, the Sri Lankan team receive the medals and a special cheer goes around the crowd as tonight's centurion Mahela Jayawardena and also Lasith Malinga come up to the stage. More applause goesa round for the champion Muttiah Muralidaran..

Match referee Jeff Crowe and the Umpires receive their mementos. Simon Taufel receives a huge applause from the crowd and he is surprised!.

And now, it is the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh having a chat. Tendulkar says that it is never too late for anything and finally he gets featured in a World Cup-winning team. Adds that he could not control his tears but says that those are tears of joy. Zaheer smiles and says that this Cup has been won for Tendulkar. Adds that he told Yuvraj half-way that the left-hand batsman would win the trophy for India. Yuvi smiles and says that he just gave his best. Tendulkar credits the support staff for preparing the team mentally. Hang on, Sehwag comes to join the party as well. Says that a few months ago in Dambulla in Sri Lanka, the Indian players treated the final game of the series as though they would be playing the World Cup final on the second of April. Says that just to see a 38-year old Tendulkar dive across the field to stop the ball lifts the spirits up..

Harbhajan Singh and Virat Kohli have a chat. The former says that this means the World to him. Kohli thanks Tendulkar for shouldering the burden of the entire nation expectations..

Muralidaran and a few of his team-mates have a quiet chat. They look, very very disappointed..

"Like Dhoni's sense of occasion and innate humility. He's allowed Tendulkar to be the focus in the victory lap, choosing to bring up the rear. Might add here that I haven;t seen a better Indian team in 35 years. Of course, this is now the best team in the world too in Tests and ODIs" tweets Ayaz Memon..

Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Aleem Dar (PAK)
TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

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