Team India with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Trophy

It was a contest befitting of a World Cup finale, and a victory that a billion countrymen would cherish and relive for the rest of their lives. Sri Lanka played hard and tough – they were sublime at times (read Mahela Jayawardene) and at times deadly (read Lasith Malinga). Still, India managed to garner enough courage to recover from adversity even on the day that mattered the most en route to ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 glory. It will be a day that will be etched in the memory of cricket loving Indian public till time immemorial. Here’s a relook at the big moments that made the final.

Toss confusion

This had to make an appearance for it was the first instance in the World Cup final wherein the toss had to be held twice. Apparently, there was so much noise and buzz around the Wankhede Stadium that Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s call just couldn’t be heard. The second time around it almost needed a roar from Sangakkara to ensure that he was heard loud and clear. Lanka won it and, with it, augmented their chances of victory.

Zaheer Khan stands tall again

It was arguably the best spell in a Cricket World Cup final and erased the bad memories of an overenthusiastic Zaheer Khan’s atrocious opening burst in the 2003 final against Australia. The left-arm seamer, who ended up as the joint leading wicket-taker in the tournament alongside Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, was magnificent in his opening spell, bowling a perfect line and length and was duly rewarded with the wicket of Upul Tharanga. The pressure of the occasion clearly got to the in-form Lankan opener. But, to be fair to him, Zaheer was unplayable in his opening spell, and his figures of five overs for six runs with three maidens aptly reflected it. The ball was doing enough for Zaheer and, using all his experience, he kept the Lankans on a tight leash throughout. Thanks to Zaheer, round one clearly went to India.

Sangakkara-Jayawardene join forces

For the umpteenth time, it was Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara who rebuilt the innings amidst a mini crisis. Following Tharanga’s dismissal they seemed to have recovered well enough courtesy a good partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sangakkara and some wayward bowling by surprise choice S. Sreesanth. However, just when they seemed to be on the up, Harbhajan Singh struck. He was lucky to get Dilshan bowled round the wicket. From there onwards, Sri Lanka’s two most experienced batsmen took it upon themselves to do the repair job. And they did a wonderful job, rotating the strike at ease and managing to find the boundary whenever the opportunity presented itself. It wasn’t anything new for them as they had done it time and time again in the past. But, this was the World Cup final and they were rising to the occasion.

Yuvraj’s strikes bring India back

Yet again, it was Yuvraj Singh’s left arm spin that brought India back in the game when Lanka seemed to be getting the upper hand. He bowled an innocuous delivery outside the off stump, which managed to find the edge of Sangakkara’s bat, two short of the latter’s half-century. And when another partnership between Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera began to threaten, it was again Yuvraj who broke the threatening partnership, trapping Samaraweera in front of the wickets, URDS coming to India’s rescue again.

Jayawardene’s sublime counter attack

At the fall of Samaraweera’s wicket Lanka were back in a spot of bother. However, Jayawardene responded with a splendid counter attacking innings, finding the boundaries at will and striking two awesome partnerships, first with Nuwan Kulasekara and then Thisara Perera. Both the batsmen played their part too striking some crucial big blows even as Jayawardene was caressing the ball all around the park. The power play overs really saw Lanka take their game to a different level. Ironically, Zaheer who was exceptional in his opening spell, was the one who was taken to the cleaners as Lanka ended their innings on a marvelous high.

Malinga silences Wankhede

In spite of the Lankan counter attack, the large gathering of Indian fans at Wankhede Stadium were hopeful of some fireworks from the explosive Virender Sehwag and of course the master Sachin Tendulkar. However, all it took was two deliveries to silence the noisy crowd. Lasith Malinga trapped Sehwag plumb in front as the latter failed to get bat on a fast, inswinging delivery and was accompanied back to the dressing room by a second ball-duck. Sachin Tendulkar looked untroubled during his stay at the crease, but it was only a brief relief. The pressure seemed to get the better of the big man too as he flirted with an away going delivery from Malinga and nicked it behind the stumps. The ball only just carried to Sangakkara, but it was enough to spark off wild celebrations in the Lankan camp.

Delhi boys rebuild

Lanka were firm favourites once the two Ss departed. However, as Naseer Hussain had commented after the finale of the Natwest Trophy in 2002, “This Indian batting just keeps coming at you.” Nothing much has changed nearly a decade later as Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli went about their job brick by brick. It was partnership that has defined Indian cricket in recent years. The ‘never give up’ attitude of the Delhi boys kept India in the hunt. A striking feature of their partnership was the ease with which they rotated the strike under pressure and always ensured that the run rate stayed under control. However, just when they seemed to be getting on top, Kohli fell to a brilliant return catch by Dilshan to even out the game.

The captain takes it away

How often have we heard… ‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man.’ On Saturday, with the pressure reaching fever pitch, M S Dhoni walked into bat ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh to the surprise of many. But how well he played! In the company of a defiant Gambhir, Dhoni ran like a hare between wickets until both grabbed their backs and decided to take it a little easy. And once he got his eye in, Dhoni clubbed the bowlers like only the man from Ranchi can do. The ease with which Gambhir and Dhoni chased down the target saw the Lankan heads fall steadily, and the formalities were completed pretty soon. It was a fitting end to the game as Dhoni smacked Kulasekara out of the ground to clinch the trophy for India.

There were a couple of major disappointments on both sides. Jayawardene did everything right during his innings and yet ended up on the losing side. On the other hand, Gambhir fell tantalising short of a century. But, as Dhoni said post match, he had only himself to blame. Keeping personal glory aside though, it was a team that deserved to win the World Cup for the manner in which they overcame once challenge after the other.

Primarily, it is because India lost to Zimbabwe in the first match of the tournament, causing the tournament to be wide open. On the other hand, Sri Lanka would find this a perfect opportunity to make a winning start to their campaign, which could give them confidence to win more as the tournament progresses.

India needed to hit back. Pressure was intense on Suresh Raina, the stand-in captain. However, on a windy day and a slow pitch in Bulawayo, he won the toss and elected to field first. His Sri Lankan counterpart, Tillakratne Dilshan knows the conditions perhaps better than any other foreign cricketer playing in this tournament.

It is because he made his debut at the same venue back in 1999. He too got carried away about what happened at the toss and miraculously for India, Sri Lanka faltered. Upul Tharanga, Dilshan’s opening partner, got run out as early as the second over.

Sri Lanka further struggled with their captain playing a Test-match innings, and forgetting that he was playing an ODI. Dilshan seems to have lost his Midas touch that he possessed in 2009, despite scoring a more-or-less responsible 61, until he was also run-out as well.

Thilan Samaraweera, batting at No.3, also played an uncharacteristic shot, getting himself stumped for just 19 runs. Angelo Matthews batted extremely well in a tough situation at No.4, slamming 75 runs of 95 runs. He was the only bright spark of the Sri Lankan innings which suffered largely due to lack of partnerships, which meant Matthews wasn’t given any support at all.

Thissira Perera tried to up the ante with his 32 runs scored of just 23 balls. However, it was too late for Sri Lanka as they could manage a paltry 242 all out with one ball to spare in the innings.

India did everything right. Their bowling was outstanding in the powerplay overs, a rare sight indeed! Even their fielding could be called ‘decent’ enough with two run-outs in the entire innings.

Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja have yet again proved how their bowling can be crucial to India’s success in this format. However, India had to chase 243, which was not easy considering the Sri Lankan bowling attack having some experience.

India’s openers needed to start well, as the pitch was slowing down. Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay weren’t amongst the runs recently and thus to win it for India was an uphill task for them.

At 47/2 in the 10th over with both of them gone, it was huge pressure. It was then that the centurion of the last match, Rohit Sharma walked in to bat with Virat Kohli at the other end. And it was a counter-attack that would last long in every person’s memory who watched the match.

Kohli has a fascination for Sri Lanka and yet again he proved his increasing maturity with a fine 92-ball 82, with just four boundaries. His batting was outstanding considering how well he could find the gaps in a tight field set by Dilshan for his spinners to attack.

Kohli, the vice-captain on this tour, in fact helped Sharma get his second hundred on the trot, as it was he who looked to tear apart the opposition. Rohit Sharma has been in top form since the IPL this year.

His experience is what Raina has been banking on so far and he has repaid his faith by steering India to a comfortable win of 7 wickets with 7 overs to spare! Looking at the public displeasure in India after the defeat to Zimbabwe, this win was crucial in appeasing them and Raina too, who as captain has to face the heat the most.

Rohit Sharma was the man-of-the-match undoubtedly. Unlike India, it was Sri Lanka’s bowling which struggled. Apart from pacer Nuwan Kulasekara, none of the other bowlers impressed. Tillakratne Dilshan took a huge gamble by taking both Ajantha Mendis and Dilhara Fernando.

Mendis has become too predictable now and Fernando is not much of use on slow pitches. So like Raina, it is Dilshan who will be under the pump, ahead of the clash against Zimbabwe next up.

His experience will be a must for his young team, to help beat a confident Zimbabwe team, who are constantly improving. If Sri Lanka get their act right in the next game, the points table will get interesting further. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Zimbabwe might even beat Sri Lanka convincingly, which means that in my book, they are the favourites to win!

The bowlers from both sides, experienced and inexperienced, were at the receiving end. As such, if there was one factor that decided the fate of the series, it was the inability of the weak Lankan middle-order to capitalize on the great starts provided by the trio mentioned above.

Except for Mahela Jayawardene, they did not have much when it came to experience in the middle-order. Thilina Kandamby showed some spark when India visited Sri Lanka earlier in the year, but on this tour his deficiencies were clearly exposed.

In fact, he will be remembered more for his innumerable fielding lapses during the series more than anything else. Then, there is Chamara Kapugedara, who has been retaining his place in the side for reasons unknown.

He hasn’t registered a decent score in a while and it’s about time the Lankan selectors tell him to shape up for ship out. Among the others, Thilan Samaraweera is still finding his feet as an ODI batsman, while Sanath Jayasuriya has looked anything but comfortable while batting down the order. And so, Jayawardene’s failure proved all the more critical for the visitors.

Despite being on the losing side, it was great to see Dilshan in full flow. 2009 has been his watershed year and he can only get better from here on. The drives on the up, cuts, pulls and of course the Dilscoop have made him as devastating a batsman as Sehwag.

Like Dishan, Tharanga too was in ballistic form. He had lost his way after a sensational start to his career, but this series should set things right for him once again. And about Sangakkara, one can’t be effusive enough in praise of his batsmanship. The effortless ease with which he cleared the boundaries throughout series was in stark contrast to the power play on demonstration by Dilshan, yet equally effective.

However, if the Lankan trio was explosive, India were even more deadly. Sehwag carried his murderous form from the Tests into the ODIs and gave India some enthralling starts. And when Sehwag failed, Tendulkar was there to hold fort. Gambhir only made one major contribution in the series, but it was perhaps the most significant of all. Further, this series could end up being the turning point in rookie Kohli’s career. Prior to the series, he was not able to convert the 50s into bigger scores. But at Kolkata, in the company of Gambhir, he achieved it in an impressive manner, and more importantly under pressure.

In the other departments, it has to be said that India were the slightly better of the two bowling sides, while Lanka took the honours when it came to fielding, despite not being at their best. At the end of the day, however, their overall failure as a batting unit sealed their fate.

The way the Lankans began, they looked well on course to score over 350. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga slammed nearly each and every delivery out of sight as the partnership raised 65 in less than seven overs. Once again, the left-arm pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra were at the receiving. Ishant Sharma, who took the place of Praveen Kumar in the playing XI, wasn’t spared either. If anything, he was singled out for special treatment by the dynamic opening pair. The Indians once again were let down by their fielding. MS Dhoni’s keeping replacement Dinesh Karthik missed one of the easiest run out chances amidst the run carnage, Dilshan being the beneficiary. Luckily for India and Karthik, the slip-up did not prove too costly as Nehra snapped him up a few runs later, caught by none other than Karthik himself of a short, rising delivery which Dilshan (41) top-edged.

The troubles though were far from over for the Indians. Tharanga continued the good work in the company of skipper Kumar Sangakkara. Mixing caution and aggression perfectly, the two laid a solid foundation for Lanka. The pair had added exactly a hundred when Sangakkara’s charge down the track to his opposite number Virender Sehwag proved fatal. Sangakkara missed the ball and a fumbling Karthik somehow managed to get rid of the bails, giving India some much-needed respite. There was no looking back for India from thereon as they took firm control.

The left-arm spinner Jadeja began his demolition job by cleaning up the well-set Tharanga (73) from one which came back in sharply and breached his defence. Soon, he had Chamara Kapugedera bowled off an inside edge. At the other end, Harbhajan Singh was doing a wonderful job, strangling the runs. He was rewarded for his efforts with the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene. The former skipper fell to a tame dismissal when he lofted a long hop straight into the hands of a floating short mid-on. Sharma, who had a woeful first spell, then came back to dent the Lankans further with a double blow. He had the dangerous Thilina Kandamby bowled and Suraj Randiv caught behind off successive deliveries. Jadeja then continued his good work trapping Nuwan Kulasekara lbw and cleaning bowling Ajantha Mendis as the Lankan innings drew to a close. From 165/1, the visitors miraculously collapsed to 239 all out.

For the Lankans to stay in the game, early wickets were essential. However, a whirlwind start by stand-in skipper Sehwag (44) ensured the nerves were settled in the Indian dressing room. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh also made useful contributions, but it was Tendulkar who saw India through till the end in the company of Karthik (36*). On most days, such a performance would have been enough to earn Tendulkar the man of the match, but on this day it was undeniably Jadeja whose performance stood out.

Earlier, it was Tillakaratne Dilshan who once again set up the chase of 302 perfectly for Sri Lanka, notching up his second blistering ton in as many games and fifth overall. Like in the first game, he got excellent support from his opening partner Upul Tharanga. The duo batted as if they were continuing from where they finished at Rajkot. All the bowlers were taken to the cleaners from the very start of the innings. Zaheer Khan was pulverized, as were Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. Most of Dilshan’s big strokes came hitting on the up, either straight down on the ground or over mid-on and mid-off. It was a typical Dilshan effort which saw the Lankans race past fifty in the 7th over. At the other end, Tharanga played his part well, finding the boundaries every time width was offered to him as the duo registered their second century partnership in consecutive matches.

With the Lankan openers going great guns, MS Dhoni had to turn to Harbhajan Singh as early as the 8th over. But Dilshan took a liking to him as well, playing mind games with him. At times he trudged down the ground to the spinner and on other occasions, he stayed back and nudged or cut the bowler for boundaries behind square. Eventually though, it was Harbhajan who got the breakthrough, beating Tharanga in the flight and having him caught in the slips. Dilshan then helped India’s cause by running out his captain Kumar Sangakkara for 21.

The match continued to ebb and flow from there on with Nehra cleaning up Dilshan for a magnificent 123 with a perfectly-directed yorker. At the other end, Zaheer delivered three big strikes in his final spell to keep India in the hunt. Ironically, his erroneous fielding lapses in the penultimate over settled the matter in favour of the visitors.

Batting first after winning the toss, India rode on a lucky century from skipper Dhoni – he was let off on more than one occasion – and half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to post 301 for 7. This after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir fell cheaply and Sachin Tendulkar failed to convert a good start. The recall of Ajantha Mendis benefited Lanka while debutant spinner Suraj Randiv was more than impressive, picking up three crucial scalps. India still ended up with a fighting total. But the kind of form Dilshan is in, no total can be termed match-winning. He missed out on the man of the match award by a whisker at Rajkot, but at Nagpur there were no two choices.