India Beat Sri Lanka to Win The Cricket World Cup
India have beaten Sri Lanka in a dramatic final to win the 2011 Cricket World Cup in Mumbai, with 10 balls to spare and by 6 wickets.
MS Dhoni led the Indian team home with a unbeaten 91, signing off with a magnificent 6. This from a player who had struggled for any kind of consistent form. His previous high score at this tournament had been 34, yet here he stepped up to the mark as captain, promoted himself up the batting order and produced the goods when it was needed most.
Sri Lanka for their part, amassed a decent total of 274-6 with Jayawardene clocking a outstanding 103, he became the first player to hit a century in a final and still be on the losing side.
It was a sad end also to the career of one of the best bowlers in history, Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who now retires from international cricket. After a career which includes taking 800 test wickets, he failed to take a single wicket today.
India’s Tendulkar also failed to live up to high expectations in the final, he was looking to score his 100th international century in his hometown, but was dismissed for 18. Stunned silence was the reaction of the huge numbers of Indian supporters in the stadium.
Indeed, they had initially produced so much noise in the stadium that the coin toss to start the match had to be re-taken as the umpire couldn’t hear the call from Sangakkara.
However, destiny always seemed to be with India on their home turf and Guatam Gambhir led the fightback just failing short of a century himself, frustratingly dismissed for 97.
So it was to be India’s day, perhaps it was fated in their home country, one only has to think of the semi-final against Pakistan where Tendulkar was dropped 4 times. Whenever a country plays a world cup, in any sport, on their own turf it seems that there is some extra force at play.
India now join that select group which includes just Australia and the West Indies in winning the Cricket World Cup more than once. The party will no doubt go on long after the game has finished.
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