Cricket Update: India Regains Asia Cup, Dethroning Sri Lanka
In a final that failed to live up to expectations, India dethroned Sri Lanka as the Asia cup champions for the first time since 1995.
In the process, they avenged the defeat they sustained in the last Asia cup final that took place in Karachi in 2008, when Ajantha Mendis ran riot claiming six wickets, as the Indians were steamrolled in batting friendly conditions at the National Stadium.
In the final played at the Rangiri International Dambulla stadium, the Indians won a crucial toss and opted to bat first on a belter of a wicket. The Indians got off to a solid start with Gautam Gambhir and Danesh Karthik taking the attack to the opposition, the left handed Gambhir was the first one to go, he was run out for 15 while attempting a third run.
His departure brought Veerat Kohli and Karthik, who then joined hands for a 62 run stand that laid the foundations of a challenging Indian score, Kohli got out just at the time he looked set for a big innings, he was dismissed for 28 runs, by a rising delivery by pace man Lasith Malinga.
Dhoni and Karthik continued the good work, adding 46 runs for the third wicket, before the dismissal of Karthik, who played some delightful strokes in his 66 run knock that came off 84 balls and included 9 fours.
Dhoni followed Karthik soon afterwards and it looked like the good work put in by the top order might go to waste, this was the time when the Lankans tried to claw back in the game, but a fine performance by the Indian lower order helped them regain the initiative. Rohit Sharma, Ravendra Jadeja and Suresh Raina all made useful contributions towards the end, with Sharma scoring 41 runs.
The Indians finished at 268 for 6 in the allotted 50 overs, for the hosts Kadambay and Malinga claimed two wickets each. The Sri Lankans were expected to give the target a major shake, with their aggressive set of openers and top order batsmen. However, it was anything but a start for the hosts, as Dilshan fell to an atrocious pull short of the front foot, handing the easiest of catches to Harbhajjan Singh, positioned at mid-off, the right-hander was dismissed without scoring.
Upul Tharanga was the next one to go, he was cleaned up by Zaheer Khan for 16 runs, and the wheels came off for the Lankan Lions when skipper Sangakkara got out for 17, snapped by Ashish Nehra. Nehra took three wickets in an inspired spell that totally derailed the Sri Lankan chase, he also accounted for Mahela Jayawardene and Angelo Mathews in the same over. Mathews who was the hero with the bat in the opening match of the tournament could not contribute a single run in the big final.
The rest of the batting line-up performed better than the top order yet the asking rate was too high for their liking. Kandamby and Kapugedra tried to resurrect the lost cause, yet succeeded in only extending the contest. Kapugedra scored a half-century, while Kandamby made 31 runs. The Sri Lankans folded for 187 runs in the 45th over handing an 81 run win to the Indians, who won the tournament for a record 5th time.
The Sri Lankans have four Asia cup titles under their belt, while Pakistan who was knocked out this year after losing two closely fought matches, won the tournament in the year 2000. Danesh Karthik was named man of the match for his 66 runs knock, while Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, who made two whirlwind centuries in the tournament, besides capturing three wickets was named man of the series.
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