#3 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:Â 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:Â 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