Defending Champions Sri Lanka looking for a hat-trick title were castled by a spirited young India led by the legendary MS Dhoni to win the Asia Cup after 15 years.
India kept their nerves under testing conditions and regained their crown in Asian soil.
Journey to the Finals
Sri Lanka entered the final with a perfect record in the round robin phase of the tournament. Their combination of miserly finger spinners and dead-accurate pacers proved to be a vital cog in their armoury in defeating each opponent.
On the other hand, MS Dhoni’s young India had earlier faltered against their final opponents in the Group Stages of the Championship.
Team Lineups
Both teams opted for a similar brand of cricket as evident from their respective lineups. On a two-paced Dambulla surface, the sides were heavily dependent on their spinners.
The lineup for the match read as follows:
Sri Lanka: 1. Upul Tharanga 2. Tillekaratne Dilshan 3. Kumar Sangakkara © (WK) 4. Mahela Jayawardene 5. Angelo Mathews 6. Thilina Kandamby 7. Chamara Kapugedera 8. Farveez Maharoof 9. Muttiah Muralitharan 10. Nuwan Kulasekara 11. Lasith Malinga
India: 1. Gautam Gambhir 2. Dinesh Karthik 3. Virat Kohli 4. MS Dhoni 5. Rohit Sharma 6. Suresh Raina 7. Ravindra Jadeja 8. Harbhajan Singh 9. Praveen Kumar 10. Zaheer Khan 11. Ashish Nehra
Flying Start from the Openers
Winning the toss, Indian skipper MS Dhoni opted to bat first on a used wicket. Ace opener Gautam Gambhir & youngster Dinesh Karthik came out all guns blazing.
Their attacking approach took the seamers by surprise. But it was not to last too long as Gambhir perished with the score being 38/1 after 6 overs.
Sri Lanka Pull Things Back in the Middle
While Gambhir was dismissed inside the Powerplay, it was Karthik who took the role of an anchor in the innings.
He stitched crucial partnerships with the middle order to keep the scoreboard ticking.
But the unerring accuracy of the Sri Lankan spinners pulled the run-rate down to 5 an over. Their uncompromising line & length and discipline forced the batsmen to work hard for their runs.
As a result, an intense battle of skill and tenacity ensued.
Rohit-Raina Provide the Finishing Blows
Despite the precocious skillset of the spinners, the Indian middle order managed to survive as well as negotiate their way to scoring runs at a decent rate.
Coming in at number 4, Captain Cool MS Dhoni stitched a crucial partnership with Rohit Sharma to keep the scoreboard moving.
After his dismissal, Raina and Rohit took charge and provided finishing touches to the total of 268 runs amidst brilliant death over bowling from Malinga and co.
A Stuttering Start to the Chase
All of Sri Lanka had their eyes on the gun opener Tillekaratne Dilshan to give them a blistering start. But it was Zaheer Khan and his men who ran through their top-order in a magical spell.
Middle Order Woes
After the departure of the top-order in no time, Sangakkara and his middle order men were expected to steady the stumbling ship.
But their resistance was soon to be swept aside by the strike bowlers in the blink of an eye leaving the hosts reeling at 50/5.
Kandamby-Kapugedara Rise Tall
After cleaning up the top order quickly, the Indian contingent were hoping for a comfortable win.
Youngsters Thilina Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedara put their hands up. They played with incredible grit and character showing exceptional fortitude under trying conditions. Their vital partnership gave the Sri Lankan camp a glimmer of hope.
Seamers Run Through The Tail
While moving steadily towards the target, Kandamby was runout against the run of play.
The spin twin of Jadeja and Harbhajan kept chipping away with their overs in economical spells.
In continuation to this, Maharoof and Kandamby fell into their trap in a captivating phase of play.
The rest was up to the seamers, particularly Ashish Nehra who wrapped up the tail in an inspirational spell. His 4-wicket haul tore the backbone of the mighty batting lineup of the Lankan Lions.
Championship Delight for India
The Indian bowlers’ clinical display on the day bundled them out for just 187, well short of the target.
Indian players were jubilant after the momentous win. It was their record 5th title; making them the most successful team in the history of Asia Cup in the process.
Match-defining Moments
The focus is always on the openers for a brisk start in chases as challenging as this. One such batsman was Tillekaratne Dilshan.
But the dashing opener was uprooted before the storm could unleash. Praveen Kumar got this crucial scalp in his very first over causing a devastating collapse at the top.
His dismissal ensured that the Lankan innings never got going albeit valiant efforts from the lower-middle order.
The Aftermath: Legacy and Long-Term Impact
India carried on with the momentum gained from the remarkable feat. They built a fantastic team around those core set of players from the tournament.
Interestingly enough, it was Sri Lanka again who they defeated a year later in 2011 to clinch their 2nd World Cup title.
They also managed to win the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 with the same core and thus completed a historic set of International trophies.
In a Nutshell
A blockbuster clash, it’s a game that seldom fails to deliver.
The guile and mastery of subcontinental conditions coupled with their youthful exuberance helped India make light work of the defending champions on the day.
On the other side of the coin, despite having a wonderful tournament thus far Sri Lanka choked to the opponent’s early inroads and the magnanimity of the occasion to blow away their chances of retaining the title.
At the end of the day, it was India who prevailed in an incidentally significant face-off for both the nations as their contemporary history got a kickstart from that fateful final.
