Sri lanka beat India to clinch T20 World Cup
Mirpur: India’s quest for a historic treble ended in heartbreak as a gutsy Sri Lanka produced a clinical display to win their maiden ICC World T20 trophy with a convincing six-wicket victory on Sunday.
Sri Lanka faced a few anxious moments in the early stages of the chase but eventually overhauled the target with 13 balls to spare.
Mahela’s 24 was a sweet little innings which set the tempo while Sangakkara anchored it to perfection with an unbeaten 52. He again proved to be a thorn in the flesh for the Indians as he chose the final of the tournament to claw his way back to form after indifferent first five matches.
The match decisively swung in Sri Lanka’s favour in the 15th over in which Thisara Perera (17 no) chanced his arms to hit Amit Mishra over long-on while Sangakkara swept him fine to get a boundary. 15 runs came off that over and the match was as good as over by then.
In Mishra’s next over, Sangakkara hit him over extra cover for a boundary while Thisara again hit the portly leggie for a six. Mishra went for 32 from four overs and would like to forget his last two matches after a good start.
While Sangakkara made it a ‘Farewell to Remember’, Yuvraj Singh, may face the ire of Indian cricket fans as his slow batting completely upset the momentum for the Indians.
Sangakkara completed his 50 off 33 balls with a sweep and was egged on by the hero of 1996 World Cup Sanath Jayasuriya.
India though started their defence in right earnest when Kusal Perera (5) was removed in the second over by young Mohit.
However in his next over, Jayawardene got three boundaries as Lanka were finally up and running in their chase. The first was a cheeky upper cut, the second a tuck off his hips and the third a ‘lemon cut’ as 15 runs came off that Mohit over.
