India lift World Cup after 28 years

Updated at: 2223 PST,  Saturday, April 02, 2011

MUMBAI: India became the World Cup champions after 28 years, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in an interesting final of the tenth World Cup here at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.Chasing a challenging target of 275, India completed their long-awaited victory, with a huge six by captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni, with ten balls to spare in the day-night final of the mega event. It was for the first time that a host country won the final of the World Cup and India also became the first Asian country to become the champions twice.India were the third country to lift this title two or more times after Australia (four) and the West Indies (two).The architects of India’s historic win were Gautam Gambhir, who scored 97 off 122 balls with nine boundaries, and Dhoni, who remained unbeaten on 91, made from 79 balls with eight fours and two sixes.India's start was disastrous when Virender Sehwag was lbw for nought second ball to Lasith Malinga.Later, Sachin Tendulkar also departed after a brief, 14-ball innings of 18 runs when he steered fast bowler Lasith Malinga through the off-side only to be caught behind by Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara to leave India 31 for two.Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene reached his 14th one-day international century in 84 balls with 13 fours He remained not out on 103, made from 88 balls as Sri Lanka finished on 274 for six in their 50 overs after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first in the All-Asia final of the mega event. Jayawardene secured the unwanted record of becoming the first man to score a hundred in a World Cup final yet finish on the losing side.All five previous tons in the fixture -- by Clive Lloyd (West Indies, 1975), Vivian Richards (West Indies, 1979), Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka 1996), Ricky Ponting (Australia, 2003) and Adam Gilchrist (Australia 2007) had been made in winning causes.India's left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan dried up the flow of runs with three successive maiden overs at the start and his two wickets made him the tournament's leading bowler alongside Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi with 21 wickets each.

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World Cup final: J’wardene steers Sri Lanka to 274 against India

Updated at: 1816 PST,  Saturday, April 02, 2011

MUMBAI: Mahela Jayawardene hit a brilliant unbeaten century to help Sri Lanka set a challenging target of 275 runs for India to win the final of the ICC World Cup 2011 here at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.Jayawardene remained not out on 103, made from 88 balls as Sri Lanka finished on 274 for six in their 50 overs after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first in the All-Asia final of the mega event.It was Jayawardene's 14th one-day international hundred and it was laced with 13 fours.Tailenders Nuwan Kulasekara (32 off 30 balls) and Thisara Perera (22 off nine) helped Sri Lanka smash 63 runs in the last five overs of power-play to leave India chasing 5.50 runs an over under lights.Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will begin their reply knowing that seven of the previous nine World Cup finals have been lost by the team batting second.A sell-out crowd of 33,000, including Indian President Pratibha Patil and Sri Lanka's head of state Mahinda Rajapakse, watched an absorbing contest between bat and ball.India's left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan dried up the flow of runs at the start and his two wickets made him the tournament's leading bowler alongside Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi with 21 wickets each.Confusion reigned at the toss, which had to be performed twice after match referee Jeff Crowe did not hear Sangakkara's call when Dhoni threw up the coin.Zaheer opened with three successive maidens and then struck with the first ball of his fourth over when Virender Sehwag dived to his right in the slips to remove Upul Tharanga for two.Fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth lifted the pressure by conceding 15 runs in his fifth over that included a no-ball and a warning for running in the danger area in his follow-through.Sreesanth, who was preferred ahead of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin after Ashish Nehra was ruled out with a fractured finger, was thrashed for 52 runs in his eight overs.Tillakaratne Dilshan made 33 when he was bowled by off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to make Sri Lanka 60-2 in the 17th over. He became the first batsman to complete 500 runs in the tournament Sangakkara and Jayawardene put on 62 for the third wicket in 68 balls when Yuvraj Singh broke through by having the skipper caught behind by wicket-keeper Dhoni for 48.Thilan Samaraweera (21) added 57 for the fourth wicket with Jayawardene when he was given out leg-before through a TV referral after umpire Simon Taufel had negated bowler Yuvraj's appeal.India made one change, bringing in fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth in place of the injured Ashish Nehra while Sri Lanka made four changes. Batsman Chamara Kapugedera, all-rounder Thisara Perera, off-spinner Suraj Randiv and seamer Nuwan Kulasekera replaced Chamara Silva, the injured Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis.

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Two coin tosses in World Cup final

Updated at: 1553 PST,  Saturday, April 02, 2011

MUMBAI: Two coin tosses were necessary before the start of the World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka on Saturday when nobody including match referee Jeff Crowe appeared to hear Kumar Sangakkara's call the first time.Sri Lanka captain Sangakkara won the second toss and predictably elected to bat first in a good toss to win for the 1996 champions.After India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni spun the coin, it looked as if he thought he had won the toss.But Crowe did not hear a call from Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara who, as the visiting skipper was supposed to nominate 'heads' or 'tails' while the coin was in the air.There was a brief discussion between the two captains before former New Zealand skipper Crowe ordered a re-toss -- an almost unheard of event in any cricket match and certainly one of this importance.

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World Cup final: Sri Lanka win toss, bat against India

Updated at: 1334 PST,  Saturday, April 02, 2011

MUMBAI: Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has won the toss and elected to bat against India in the All-Asia final of the World Cup 2011 here at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.Both teams are chasing their second World Cup trophy.India made one change from the side that beat Pakistan in the semi-final bringing in fast bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth in place of the injured Ashish Nehra.Star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, despite niggling hamstring and knee injuries, was declared fit to play in the final, which will be the last match of his international careerSri Lanka made four changes after the semi-final against New Zealand.Batsman Chamara Kapugedera, all-rounder Thisara Perera, off-spinner Suraj Randiv and seamer Nuwan Kulasekera replaced Chamara Silva, the injured Angelo Mathews, Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis.Randiv had only been called into the squad on Thursday as cover.The toss had to take place twice after no one heard the call from Sangakkara first time around.Teams batting first have won seven of the nine finals since the inaugural World Cup in 1975.India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.Sri Lanka: Kumar Sangakkara (captain), Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan.Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Aleem Dar (PAK),TV umpire: Ian Gould (ENG)Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)

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India & S. Lanka eye second title in all-Asian final

Updated at: 0831 PST,  Saturday, April 02, 2011

MUMBAI: Co-hosts India and Sri Lanka will be gunning for their second World Cup title when they clash in the all-Asian final at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.The showdown will also be the last on-field duel between Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan -- the best batsman and the most successful bowler of the era. While Tendulkar, 37, has not yet indicated when he plans to retire, Muralitharan, who will turn 39 later this month, will play his last international match on Saturday. Muralitharan, the only survivor from Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup winning team, is determined to take the field despite battling hamstring and knee injuries. It will be Tendulkar's sixth and last shot at adding the only major trophy missing from his glittering cabinet and this time he has the backing of his home crowd at Wankhede Stadium. More than a billion Indians will hope that the master batsman gets to his hundredth ton and end the country's 28-yearwait for a second 50-over crown. Led by two stumper-batsmen in Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara, both the neighbours have lost only one match in their campaign so far. For Saturday's match, India are almost certain to miss seamer Ashish Nehra because of a fractured finger while Sri Lanka lost all-rounder Angelo Mathews to a thigh strain. If India beat Sri Lanka, they would have beaten all past world champions on their path to victory -- West Indies in their last group stage match, Australia in the quarter-finals and Pakistan in the semi-finals. (Reuters)

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Ajmal speaks against DRS

Updated at: 0229 PST,  Saturday, April 02, 2011

KARACHI: Spinner Pakistan cricket team Saeed Ajmal, expressing his anger over the reversal of Leg Before Wicket (LBW) decision of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, said that he had taken the latter’s wicket but Decision Review System (DRS) showed ball breaking more than what actually happened, Geo News reported.Meanwhile, Wahab Riaz, the star from Pakistan side in semifinal against India, said that he was flying over the moon after getting Yuvrag out however; team’s victory could have multiplied my happiness.Two Pakistani frontline bowlers said this while talking to media after arrival at Allama Iqbal airport.Saeed Ajmal said the ball that trapped Tendulkar before wickets was not spinning much instead it just held its straight trajectory but he was surprised to see the ball taking spin in DRS’s graphics.On the occasion, opening batsman Mohammed Hafeez said he is still regretting at his mistake to play such a lazy shot to be declared out against India but he seemed satisfied with his overall performance in mega event.Other players accompanied by Saeed Ajmal and Wahab Riaz were Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umer Akmal, Abdul Rehman, Asad Shafique but all declined to speak to media.

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