Sri Lanka's recent record as one-day competition bridesmaids has finally been broken, but the T20 World Cup final was a low-scoring cagey affair. The India v Sri Lanka ODI history spans 35 years and 144 games, but this was only their sixth meeting in a 20-over thrash. Nevertheless, this was billed as a chance for revenge in the last 50-over world final and last summer's Champions Trophy semi. It was also the last opportunity to hold this trophy for all-time greats Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
Malinga won the toss and opted to field, and the decision looked correct as Rahane fell early, and both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were shackled during the opening overs. Nobody had scored more runs in this year's tournament than Kohli and he suddenly remembed how to launch an attack. Long on and extra cover were cleared brilliantly but when the strike switched to Yuvraj Singh, all momentum was lost. Malinga and Kulasekera delivered unplayable wide yorkers and when the ball came on straight, the former Indian master blaster could muster no more than the odd single worked to leg. Sad to watch, and MS Dhoni must have been relieved when Yuvi holed out for 11 in 21 balls. However, the Indian skipper also struggled and the 130 total looked flimsy. Kohli looked merely furious and frustrated!
Sri Lanka's response was measured. Why take risks when you need little more than a run a ball to win? India's four-man spin machine looked to have the upper hand until Sangakkara began to chance his arm. Boundaries started to flow, some superb, others streaky, but even the excellent Ashwin and Mishra were becoming rattled. Their variation produced some welcome dot balls but they had such a small score to defend that a few fours an over were too expensive. In the eighteenth over, two edged boundaries took the SL keeper past 50 for the 8th time in 56 T20Is, greeted by warm applause and a handshake from Kohli who by this time knew the game was over. A third big six from Perera merely confirmed it three balls later, and Sri Lanka had clinched their first global crown since the days of Aravinda De Silva, Muralitharan and Vaas.
T20 cricket is an unpredictable sport at any time, anywhere and between any teams. Much of the talk even in the semis was about India and the West Indies but in the end, superb 'death' bowling served up the foundation for a win for Sri Lanka. Poor Yuvraj Singh's desperate search for form when Kohli should have been pushing the total towards 150 may be blamed for India's defeat. However, Dhoni's similar travails in the final over proved that, for once, two seamers did the most to win the day. Sanga's 52 not out won him the Man of the Match award but the fact that none of the five SL bowlers each conceded more than 30 runs attested to the team effort.
Virat Kohli's 319 runs in six games made him the Player of the Tournament. His contribution to the competition in Bangladesh was immense but credit to the Sri Lankans for keeping things interesting. I look forward to seeing them in England this summer.
