Sri Lanka stunning win over India in the World T20 final underlines how success in hit-and-run cricket depends not on form, but on how a team performs over those 3 hours in the field.
MS Dhoni is Indians went into Sunday WT20 final in Dhaka as the only unbeaten team in the match, having coasted through 4 league matches and the semi-final against South Africa. But they faltered when it mattered most, their vaunted batting line-up managing just 130-4 in 20 overs against a disciplined Sri Lankan attack after being sent in to bat on a sluggish pitch.
Sri Lanka raced past the modest target with 13 balls to spare, with Sangakkara playing his last T20 international, like his long-time team-mate Jayawardene - leading the way with a glorious unbeaten 52.Sri Lanka had every reason to celebrate. They finally broke the habit of coming unstuck in title-deciding matches to record their first victory in 5 major limited-overs finals over the last 7 years.
The win was even sweeter for the 2 veterans. Jayawardene was captain when Sri Lanka lost the 50-over World Cup final to Australia in the Caribbean in 2007, and again when the West Indies won the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka.Sunday victory capped a successful 3-month tour of Bangladesh in which Sri Lanka won the bilateral Test, ODI and T20 series against the hosts, and lifted the Asia Cup one-day title in March.
The squad, which was led in the last 3 match by Lasith Malinga after T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal opted out due to poor form, Sri Lanka will return home on Tuesday richer by a million-dollar winning bonus announced by Sri Lanka Cricket before the final. It was a long wait for a title, but playing in five finals also showed we were a very good side, Jayawardene said after the win celebrations at the stadium.
This one means a lot to us. It's a nice way to sign off for both Kumar Sangakkara and me in T20 international cricket. But we are not going anywhere there are still Tests and one-day to play. Virat Kohli continued his stunning batting form with a well perfomence77 off 58 balls that earned him the player of theWT20-2014 tournament award for being the leading scorer with 319 runs.
But he found no support at the other end, with the normally-flamboyant Yuvraj Singh taking 21 deliveries to make a scratchy 11 that broke the tempo which Kohli had set. This from the same left-hander who smashed 6 sixes in one Stuart Broad over during India's victorious campaign in the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007. He was also the player of the tournament in the 2011 World Cup.
Yuvraj Singh inconsistent form, which has already seen the cancer survivor axed from the Test and ODI squad, could finally see the end of the gifted batsman's international career.
The 5th editions of the World Twenty20 have now produced 5 different winners, with India success in 2007 followed by Pakistan (2009), England (2010), the West Indies in 2012, and now Sri Lanka (2014).
