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Top 5 historic cricket matches of India v Sri Lanka

Cricadium Staff
By Cricadium Staff
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India v Sri Lanka
MS Dhoni
India vs srilanka : 5 historic matches
India v Sri Lanka

The rivalry between India and Sri Lanka goes back a long way. The first ever cricket match between the 2 countries was played way back in 1979. Since then, these two have been involved in some of the iconic matches in the game. Even though it does not hold the reputation of the Ashes or the India-Pakistan games, yet when you look back, there are so many matches involving these two that are etched in the history.

When it comes to the head to head record, India hold the lead in all the 3 formats of the game. Sri Lanka is not a huge country but it always punches above its weight and who would know that better than India. Unlike the recent years, the competition of the matches used to be fierce.

Let’s take a look at the top 5 historic matches of India and Sri Lanka

#5 India v Sri Lanka, 2008 Asia Cup Final

India vs Srilanka, 2008 Asia cup final
India vs Srilanka, 2008 Asia cup final (Image Source: YouTube)

It was the championship of the Asian heavyweights in the year 2006. India and Sri Lanka had made it to the final of the Asia Cup having pipped Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and UAE. The 2 teams had met in a game before the final having confirmed their berths for the summit clash. India chased down a massive 308 to prove their dominance.

In the final, Sri Lanka batted first and scored 273 courtesy a century from Sanath Jayasuriya. In those days, it was a good score but India, having chased down a bigger score in the previous game, were the favorites to lift the trophy. The Men in Blue made a blistering start and cruised past 70 in the 9 overs. Virender Sehwag was going all guns blazing and reached 60 in no time.

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But what the MS Dhoni-led side was not aware of was the hidden ace in the opposition pack. Mahela Jayawardene, the then skipper of Sri Lanka, had rested Ajantha Mendis in the previous game. Indians were not aware of what the spinner could do. The first of his kind bowler removed Sehwag in the 10th over.

What followed next was absolute mayhem at the National Stadium, Karachi. One by one, every batsman surrendered to the mystery of Mendis. He bagged as many as 6 wickets and finished with figures of 13/6 from 8 overs. From 76/1, India were bowled out for 173 in the 40th over which meant that Sri Lanka were crowned the Asian Champions.

Match Summary

India won the toss and opted to bowl first

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Sri Lanka: 273/10 in 49.5 overs

Sanath Jayasuriya 125 (114), Tillakaratne Dilshan 56 (74)

Ishant Sharma 52/3 (10), RP Singh 67/3 (9)

India: 173/10 in 39.3 overs

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Virender Sehwag 60 (36), MS Dhoni 49 (74)

Ajantha Mendis 13/6 (8), Chaminda Vaas 55/2 (9)

Sri Lanka won by 100 runs

Player of the Match: Ajantha Mendis

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India vs srilanka : 5 historic matches
India v Sri Lanka
The rivalry between India and Sri Lanka goes back a long way. The first ever cricket match between the 2 countries was played way back in 1979. Since then, these two have been involved in some of the iconic matches in the game. Even though it does not hold the reputation of the Ashes or the India-Pakistan games, yet when you look back, there are so many matches involving these two that are etched in the history. When it comes to the head to head record, India hold the lead in all the 3 formats of the game. Sri Lanka is not a huge country but it always punches above its weight and who would know that better than India. Unlike the recent years, the competition of the matches used to be fierce.

Let's take a look at the top 5 historic matches of India and Sri Lanka

#5 India v Sri Lanka, 2008 Asia Cup Final

India vs Srilanka, 2008 Asia cup final
India vs Srilanka, 2008 Asia cup final (Image Source: YouTube)
It was the championship of the Asian heavyweights in the year 2006. India and Sri Lanka had made it to the final of the Asia Cup having pipped Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and UAE. The 2 teams had met in a game before the final having confirmed their berths for the summit clash. India chased down a massive 308 to prove their dominance. In the final, Sri Lanka batted first and scored 273 courtesy a century from Sanath Jayasuriya. In those days, it was a good score but India, having chased down a bigger score in the previous game, were the favorites to lift the trophy. The Men in Blue made a blistering start and cruised past 70 in the 9 overs. Virender Sehwag was going all guns blazing and reached 60 in no time. But what the MS Dhoni-led side was not aware of was the hidden ace in the opposition pack. Mahela Jayawardene, the then skipper of Sri Lanka, had rested Ajantha Mendis in the previous game. Indians were not aware of what the spinner could do. The first of his kind bowler removed Sehwag in the 10th over. What followed next was absolute mayhem at the National Stadium, Karachi. One by one, every batsman surrendered to the mystery of Mendis. He bagged as many as 6 wickets and finished with figures of 13/6 from 8 overs. From 76/1, India were bowled out for 173 in the 40th over which meant that Sri Lanka were crowned the Asian Champions.

Match Summary

India won the toss and opted to bowl first Sri Lanka: 273/10 in 49.5 overs Sanath Jayasuriya 125 (114), Tillakaratne Dilshan 56 (74) Ishant Sharma 52/3 (10), RP Singh 67/3 (9) India: 173/10 in 39.3 overs Virender Sehwag 60 (36), MS Dhoni 49 (74) Ajantha Mendis 13/6 (8), Chaminda Vaas 55/2 (9) Sri Lanka won by 100 runs Player of the Match: Ajantha Mendis

#4 India v Sri Lanka, 2009 Rajkot ODI

India v Sri Lanka, 2009 Rajkot ODI
India v Sri Lanka, 2009 Rajkot ODI (Image Source: YouTube)
Sri Lanka were on the tour of India in 2009. The 2 teams clashed in the first ODI of the series in Rajkot. The venue has been famous for producing high scoring encounters and this one was no different. India batted first and made full use of the batting-friendly conditions. The opening partnership of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar added 153 runs from 117 balls. Tendulkar scored a half-century and MS Dhoni who batted at No.3 did the same. But the star of the Indian innings proved to be Sehwag who piled on 146 runs from 102 balls that included 17 fours and 6 sixes. India went on to score a huge 414/7 after 50 overs. It was the highest score for the nation in ODIs at that time. The Sri Lankan chase had a similar pattern to the Indian innings. The openers Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan got off to a solid start. India found the first breakthrough in the 24th over but the opening pair had added 188 runs. Kumar Sangakkara played a gem of a knock and the side was past 300 having lost only one wicket. With 14 overs to go, Sri Lanka needed less than 100 runs and were well on their way to create history. But Praveen Kumar removed Sangakkara for 90 off 43 balls and Harbhajan Singh sent back Dilshan for 160 off 124 balls. India struck at regular intervals but Sri Lanka kept knocking down the runs. The game went into the last over and Sri Lanka came agonizingly close but fell short by just 3 runs. It was a rare occasion when both teams scored in excess of 400.

Match Summary

India won the toss and opted to bat first India: 414/7 in 50 overs Virender Sehwag 146 (102), MS Dhoni 72 (53) Chanaka Welegedera 62/2 (10), Nuwan Kulasekara 65/2 (10) Sri Lanka: 411/8 in 50 overs Tillakaratne Dilshan 160 (124), Kumar Sangakkara 90 (43) Harbhajan Singh 58/2 (10), Suresh Raina 37/1 (3) India won by 3 runs Player of the Match: Virender Sehwag

#3 India v Sri Lanka, 2014 World T20 Final

India v Sri Lanka, 2014 World T20 Final
India v Sri Lanka, 2014 World T20 Final
In the years gone by, Sri Lanka had made a habit of reaching the finals of the ICC events. They made it to the final of the 2007 ODI World Cup but lost to Australia. They once again found themselves in the final of the event 4 years later but this time, it was India who pipped them to the trophy. In between those, Pakistan had got the better of them in the 2009 World T20 final. The proud cricketing nation had reached another final and this time, it was the stage of the World T20 in 2014. India, on the other hand, had progressed to the last step being unbeaten in the tournament. The Shere-e-Bangla Stadium of Mirpur hosted the iconic match in which India batted first after losing the toss. Virat Kohli was in a supreme form, who later won the Player of the Tournament award. Just like the entire tournament, he got going in the final as well. He scored 77 off 58 balls and gave hopes for a big score. But Yuvraj Singh played an uncharacteristic knock and mustered just 11 runs from 21 balls. The Sri Lankan pacers bowled beautifully at the death and restricted the opposition to 130/4. The Indian bowlers toiled hard for a large part of the game. But Sri Lanka kept themselves in the hunt and ran away with the game. When Thisara Perera lifted Ravichandran Ashwin's delivery over his head for a six, the nation erupted with joy as they won their first ever World T20.

Match Summary

India won the toss and opted to bowl first India: 130/4 in 20 overs Virat Kohli 77 (58), Rohit Sharma 29 (26) Rangana Herath 23/1 (4), Angelo Mathews 25/1 (4) Sri Lanka: 134/4 in 17.5 overs Kumar Sangakkara 50 (35), Mahela Jayawardene 24 (24) Mohit Sharma 18/1 (2), Suresh Raina 24/1 (4) Sri Lanka won by 6 wickets Player of the Match: Kumar Sangakkara

#2 India v Sri Lanka, 1996 ODI World Cup Semi-Final

India v Sri Lanka, 1996 ODI World Cup Semi-Final
India v Sri Lanka, 1996 ODI World Cup Semi-Final
The ODI World Cup of 1996 was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Team India was a very strong side and one of the favorites to lift the trophy. On the other hand, opposite to the expectations, Sri Lanka carried the tag of being the underdogs and made it to the semi-final. It was India v Sri Lanka in the first semi-final hosted by the Eden Gardens Kolkata. Sri Lanka were put into bat and Javagal Srinath pegged them back early by removing the top 3 for only 35 runs. Due to some gutsy batting by Aravinda de Silva and Roshan Mahanama, they kept themselves in the game. The captain Arjuna Ranatunga, supported by the tail-enders took his side to a respectable 251/8 from 50 overs. India lost an early wicket in the form of Navjot Singh Siddhu. But Sachin Tendulkar took the matters into his own hands gave the opposition a nightmare. He thrashed every bowler and single-handedly took the score close to the 3-figure mark. He had crossed his fifty and India looked well set to chase down the target. But Sanath Jayasuriya got him out stumped for 65 in the 23rd over. It proved to be a massive blow for India as the batsmen that followed showed no resistance. From 98/2, they crumbled to 120/8. The crowd could not take it and they put the stands on fire and there was absolute chaos. Bottles were thrown on the ground which forced the umpires to call off the match and Sri Lanka were declared the winners. Vinod Kambli, who was still at the crease, had to leave the ground in tears. As it turned out, Sri Lanka defeated Australia in the final and won their first ever World title.

Match Summary

India won the toss and opted to bowl first Sri Lanka: 251/8 in 50 overs Aravinda de Silva 66 (47), Roshan Mahanama 58 (101) Javagal Srinath 34/3 (7), Sachin Tendulkar 34/2 (10) India: 120/8 in 34.1 overs Sachin Tendulkar 65 (88), Sanjay Manjrekar 25 (48) Sanath Jayasuriya 12/3 (7), Aravinda de Silva 3/1 (2) Sri Lanka won by default Player of the Match: Aravinda de Silva

#1 India v Sri Lanka,  2011 ODI World Cup Final

India v Sri Lanka,  2011 ODI World Cup Final
India v Sri Lanka,  2011 ODI World Cup Final
When it comes to India v Sri Lanka, the most iconic clash has to be the final of the 2011 ODI World Cup. Once again, the 2 nations were the co-hosts along with Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both had done wonderfully well in the tournament thus far. On paper, the two were comparable and it could have been anyone's game on the day. The Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai witnessed Sri Lanka batting first after the skipper Kumar Sangakkara won the toss. Indian bowlers made it hard for the batsmen initially. The MS Dhoni-led side was in control of the game until Mahela Jayawardene took center stage. He slammed a magnificent 103 off just 88 balls and carried the team to 274/6. Even though the target doesn't look staggering now, in the context of the event, it was worth 30 more than the actual. Lasith Malinga trapped Virender Sehwag in front off just the 2nd ball of the innings. All eyes were on Sachin Tendulkar who was playing his last World Cup. He struck a couple of delightful boundaries but Malinga struck gold when he sent the Master Blaster back for just 18. Sachin's dream of winning a World Cup seemed to be crashing and Sri Lanka had their eyes firmly set on their second title. Gautam Gambhir rose to the occasion and along with Virat Kohli, brought some solidity to the chase. When Kohli departed after scoring 35, India were down to 114/3 in the 22nd over. The target was still afar but the man-in-form Yuvraj Singh was scheduled to come in next.

The Dhoni show

All of a sudden, instead of Yuvraj, it was MS Dhoni who walked out to bat. The tactic was to tackle Muttiah Muralitharan and absorb the pressure. He looked like a man on a mission and he did exactly what was needed. Gambhir went back after a superb 97 and brought India on the cusp of a famous win. But it was Dhoni who stole the show and sealed a historic victory for his side. The winning runs came off his bat when he smashed Nuwan Kulasekara over long-on for a maximum. India became the World Champions after 28 years and Dhoni's knock was perhaps the most important knock in India's cricketing history.

Match Summary

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first Sri Lanka: 274/6 in 50 overs Mahela Jayawardene 103 (88), Kumar Sangakkara 48 (67) Yuvraj Singh 49/2 (10), Zaheer Khan 60/2 (10) India: 277/4 in 48.2 overs Gautam Gambhir  97 (122), MS Dhoni 91* (79) Lasith Malinga 42/2 (9), Tillakaratne Dilshan 27/1 (5) India won by 6 wickets Player of the Match: MS Dhoni   For more such interesting cricketing content, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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