 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Team India came up with a near-perfect performance to crush Sri Lanka by 81 runs and end their Asia Cup jinx, in Dambulla, on Thursday.
The visitors last won the tournament way back in 1995 and after the drubbing at the hands of Sri Lanka in the last league match on Tuesday it seemed that wait would continue.
But Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys produced a much-improved performance to make the final a one-sided contest.
Having won the toss, India never let the advantage slip as they posted a healthy 268 for six in their 50 overs. Sri Lanka's run chase never got going after Praveen Kumar scalped the wicket of the dangerous Tillakaratne Dilshan (0) in the very first over.
It went downhill for the hosts after Ashish Nehra grabbed three quick wickets, those of Mahela Jayawardene (11), Angelo Mathews (0) and Kumar Sangakkara (17).
Nehra finished with remarkable figures of four for 40 in nine overs, while Zaheer Khan claimed two for 36 to script one of India's most memorable triumphs in recent times.
The team faced a lot of flak after the poor showing in the ICC Champions Trophy and World Twenty20, but they made sure they broke that unfortunate sequence in the all-important Asia Cup.