India won the World Cup 2011 to script a major chapter in the history of Indian cricket. They also won the coveted trophy after a gap of 28 years and in the process joined the selected club of teams which have won the Cup more than once. The match was also only the 3rd instance in a WC final when a team chasing a total went on to win the game.
Toss: Sri lanka won the toss (amid some confusion) and expectedly decided to bat first. They made some wholesome changes to their playing XI and it is open to debate, now that SL lost the finals. India had to replace Nehra who suffered a fracture in his finger and did that by bringing in Sreesanth which won't be open to any debate since India won the game :).
SL innings: SL started quite slowly as Zaheer Khan bowled an impeccable line and length and was ably backed up by some marvelous fielding. This was in quite contrast with the way he started to bowl in the finals of the 2003 WC, and things looked quite good as he sent his first three overs without conceding a single run off the bat. He was rewarded by the wicket of Tharanga in his 4th over as SL limped to 17/1 in 7 overs with Dilshan and the SL captain Sangakkara at crease. Sreesanth did not exactly set things on fire with his bowling but still was OK by his standards, initially. Dilshan started to open up a bit as Zaheer went out of the attack while Sangakkara was willing to play a wait and watch game. Spin was introduced in the 14th over as Bhajji was given the ball. He started with a steady line and was rewarded with the prized wicket of Dilshan in his second over as he was bowled in a rather unfortunate manner (60/2 in 17th over). That brought Mahela Jaywardene (MJ) to the crease, and together with Sangakkara, this was the pair that could give Lankan innings an impetus, something they really lacked until that point. The duo got about their job in a very mature manner which involved minimal risk- look for singles/doubles but do not miss out on any loose delivery. Their approach was indeed very sensible and quite effective as the run rate started to rise. Yuvraj Singh, the star player for India, was given to bowl but his initial overs were quite ineffective. It was only in Yuvi's fourth over that Yuvraj could get another prized wicket of Sangakkara, but that was a case of Sangakkara gifting his wicket away than anything else (122/3 at the end of 28 over). Samarweera joined MJ (who was batting wonderfully at the other end) at the crease and the two again got about doing a rebuilding job. Meanwhile, Dhoni tried to get in a few overs from Sreesanth but MJ was in no mood to spare his former KXIP colleague and picked runs off him at will. Yuvraj Singh got a bit better with the ball, though, after he had a wicket but Dhoni eventually had to get rid of Sreesanth (who bowled 8 expensive overs) and had to ask Tendulkar to bowl 2 overs in order to fill Sreesanth's quota. MJ continued to bat in a sublime way and toyed with all the bowlers. Samarweera too settled in and even though he is more of a test batsman, he never felt any pressure as Mahela continued to find atleast one boundary per over. Yuvraj finally had a breakthrough courtesy of reviewed LBW decision (one of the rare occasions when Simon Taufel got it wrong ) and sent Samarweera back. Kapugadera was sent in but did not last long as he was immediately foxed by Zaheer who returned for a second spell. This was Zaheer's 21st wicket in the WC and made him the joint highest wicket keeper with Shahid Afridi. This is indeed a feat worth cherishing, considering the fact that this WC is (or rather was) held in the Indian subcontinent, a place where pitches are not supposed to be conducive to fast bowling. Kulasakera made way to the crease after the fall of Kapugadera's wicket and in company with MJ batted quite sensibly until they came to the end of 45th over. It was at this stage that the batting power play was enforced and the SL batsmen decided to cut loose. At the end of 45th over, SL were placed quite reasonably at 211/5 but a late assault during the batting PP overs, took them to 274, something that not many people could have imagined at the beginning. The assault was lead by MJ himself who completed a century in 84 balls (that was indeed a wonderful knock), a bit by Kulasekara while the final over was hit for 18 runs by Perera.
SL raced to 274, something that quite unfathomable, given the slow start they had. Indian bowling and fielding was wonderful at the start but the intensity dropped a bit at the end and Zaheer Khan's second spell was a huge letdown. It looked as if the ghosts of 2003 were back to haunt us.
Indian innings: A very slow over rate ensured that Sachin and Sehwag did not have much time to think about (there was only a 15 minute interval on either side of the two innings) how they are going to go about the target. Sehwag was trapped leg before off the second ball of Indian innings though he always finds it hard to believe that he is indeed out. A meaningless review that he asked for did not change the obvious and he had to make way to the dressing room (0/1 in the first over). Gambhir walked in and immediately got off to the mark as he clipped a fullish ball neatly off his legs. The duo of Gambhir and Sachin started by collecting a few singles and Sachin, in particular, started to look good as he hit Kulasekara for 2 fours in the 4th over of the innings. However, the joy was short lived as Malinga had the better of him in the 7th over (31/2). The two huge superstars of the Indian team were back in the hut and Wankhede was stunned into silence. Entered Kohli, the guy who had the experience of leading India to the under-19 WC win. Kohli and Gambhir initially found the going tough but then settled down as they began a rearguard action. At the end of the mandatory power play, India were placed at 41/2, not a great score if you are an Indian supporter. However, the pressure eased off a bit as Malinga had to be removed from the attack and the duo of Gambhir and Kohli found the pace of Kula and Perera to their liking. After a couple of expensive overs, Sangakkara brought the spin of Randiv in attack and Gambhir immediately had a let off when he was dropped at long-off in the 14th over. At the end of the first 15 overs, India had marched to 81/2 and it was a comeback of sorts after they were reduced to 31/2 at one stage. Sangakkara continued to attack with spin as Dilshan joined Randiv but the expiry of power play overs meant that the field was spread and this allowed the Indian batsmen to take singles and doubles quite easily. Muralitharan was finally brought into the attack in the 19th over but it appeared that the Indian batsmen had come up with a strategy of not trying to attack Murali and gift wickets to him in the process. The 100 came up for India in the 20th over and the Kohli-Gambhir duo had replied to the punches that Malinga had delivered in his opening spell. But just when everything looked to go India's way, Kohli (like he has done through most of this WC, doing the hard work and then throwing his wicket away) was brilliantly caught by Dilshan off his bowling (114/3 in 22nd over). Dhoni made way to the crease, which was unexpected given the fact that Yuvraj is in best of form while Dhoni had not been among the runs at all. The only logic that I saw behind the move was to maintain a left-right combination and not allow the SL off-spinners (Murali/Randiv/Dilshan) to dominate. Dhoni started quite slowly and Gambhir found the going tough as well and consequently the run rate fell a bit. Sangakkara employed different bowling combinations which including bowling a half-fit Murali, a short spell from Malinga besides a couple of overs from Perera and Kula but none could provide a breakthrough. Dhoni started to time the ball quite nicely and his back-foot punches through the cover region were an indication of the same. Gambhir, on the other hand, continued to play a very mature innings where he seldom played a false shot, stole singles and doubles and got occasional boundaries to ensure that the asking rate does not rise. India reached 200 in the 38th over and Dhoni also reached his 50 in the same over (though he did not really show any emotion at that stage). At this point, the match looked to be in India's grasp and if SL were to really get back into it, something dramatic needed to happen. Dhoni was struggling with his back and SL might have hoped that he could gift his wicket in an attempt to hit a big shot. However, in quite an anti-climax, just when Gambhir was about to reach his 100, he threw it away with a loose shot which resulted in his stumps being disturbed (223-4 in 42nd over, Perera being the benificar with India needing 52 off 52). Gambhir made 97 off 122 balls and the kind of fighter he is, deserved a century and his place in the record books with the likes of Ponting, Gilchrist and MJ. Entered Yuvraj Singh, the man who has not put a foot wrong in this WC. While the Lankan fielders and bowlers sniffed a chance, Yuvraj immediately shooed them away, with a boundary off the last ball of the same over. At the end of 42nd over, India neede 48 off 8 overs and with the batting PP still remaining, it was a question of how long will the match continue. Dhoni and Yuvi batted sensibly and kept their attacking instincts under check, to ensure that they see their side home safely. When the PP was enforced at the end of 45th over, India needed 30 off 5 overs. A tight over from Malinga (only 3 coming off it) could have given hopes to an SL supporter but Dhoni smacked Kula in the next over for 11 runs and the target was brought down to 16 needed off the last 3 overs. Dhoni then hit Malinga for 2 consecutive fours in the subsequent over and at the end of that over, India needed only 5 off 2 overs. It was Dhoni again who dispatched Kula over long on for a huge six as India reached the target with 10 balls to spare.
Dhoni finished with 91 not out while Yuvraj Singh was unbeaten at 20.
With this special win, India became the first host country to win the WC. While the fans were expectedly jubilant, the players were a bit emotional at the same time. Bhajji found it quite hard to control his tears but overall it was a celebration of triumph. Sachin Tendulkar was lifted on the shoulders by Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan and given a lap of honour. And then Gary Kirsten was given the same treatment. The celebrations were wonderful with almost each team member crediting the coach (Gary Kirsten) and the senior members of the team for the trophy. Before the WC began, there was this talk of younger players wanting to win the WC for Sachin. It is a matter of pride that they indeed did it. Sachin could not ask for a better parting gift if he does decide to retire from ODIs after the WC.
Once again, India were wonderfully lead by MS Dhoni, the guy with the unbelievable temperament. He remained calm and composed all the time and he chose the perfect occasion- the finals of the WC to find form and answer his critics. Not many people can come up with innings of such high quality to put a faltering run chase back on track in a WC final, and that too at home when the pressure is just so much. India also got back the Yuvraj Singh of old times, an asset to any team with his fearless batting, useful bowling and attacking fielding. It is no suprise at all that Yuvraj Singh won the player of the tournament award, no one else deserved it more.
SL played very well to reach the finals of the WC for the second consecutive time but India exposed their bowling inadequacies and exploited the same to the maximum. They had only one world class bowler in Malinga while Murali was half-fit and should not have played. Kula, Perera and Randiv are decent bowlers but definitely not the ones who could seriously challenge Indian batsmen. And I still wonder why people called India as the team with the weakest bowling attack.
More importantly, the WC was played in true spirit of the game and was never in the news for wrong reasons. It was also characterized by the absence of any off-field or on-field incidents and hence will always be etched in my memory. The famous Indian victory is also a MOKSHA for my blog. I only started to write this blog when India started to do really well. And now that the World Cup has been won in style, I am not sure if I will ever be thrilled so much so as to start writing things. I also assume that I will get more busy with my work and hence it may be hard to find time. But this moment is not about me, this is about the Men who came, saw and conquered.
Thank you very much MSD, Gary Kirsten and all the members of Indian team for bringing smiles to 1 billion (I heard its now 1.2 billion) people.
Jai Hind !!
Scorecard (courtesy: Cricinfo)
