IN PICS: India's 2011 World Cup Victory: MS Dhoni's Team India Lift Their Second World Title
On April 2, India faced Sri Lanka in the finals of the 2011 World Cup.
Neighbouring country Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat in the finals of the 2011 World Cup. Captain Kumar Sangakkara had fielded a strong line-up including Muttiah Muralitharan. India had rested Ashish Nehra and brought on Munaf Patel, fielding two spinners and three pacers. Getty Images
Sri Lanka lost Upul Tharanga early as Zaheer Khan got the better of the opener. Tilakaratne Dilshan and skipper Kumar Sangakkara built a 43-run partnership and kept going till Harbhajan bowled out Dilshan for 33. The score read 60/2 in 16.3 overs. Getty Images
Taking charge, Jayawardene was a focused man and timed his shots. The Sri Lanka swashbuckler took his time to score runs but made the most of the opportunities. The Lankans lost Sangakkara after pitching in with a helpful 48. The score read 179/4 at Sangakkara’s dismissal. Getty Images
Thilan Samaraweera often gave strike to Jaywardene while being out in the middle, but all-rounder Yuvraj Singh had other plans. An LBW appeal was turned down by umprire Taufel and after consulting Dhoni, a review was taken. Going down leg, the ball was with angle and the third uprime gave it as out. Samaraweera had to walk back as the score read 182/5. Twitter
Jayawardene kept going strong and scored a sublime century (103*) to help Sri Lanka post 274/6 on the board. The onus was now on the hosts to chase the target of 275. Getty Images
In the second ball of the chase, Malinga’s delivery straight down to middle stump got Sehwag on the toes and was immediately given out. A review was taken and lost by India as it was a peach of a delivery by the Lankan pacer. Twitter
Sachin Tendulkar was in the middle along with Gautam Gambhir but even the Master Blaster couldn’t hang on long as Malinga saw off him for 18 and the score read 31/2. India were in trouble at that point of time. Reuters
Coming up early in the batting order, MS Dhoni took charge and it was thenthat India’s destiny was defined. Leading from the front by hammering bowlers, Gambhir and Dhoni were on fire and the fans went wild with every boundary scored. Getty Images
