Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene guide Sri Lanka to T20 World Cup title

Yuvraj Singh of India looks on during the presentations after the Final of the ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 between India and Sri Lanka at Sher-e-Bangla Mirpur Stadium on April 4, 2014 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Mirpur (Bangladesh), April 6 (IANS) Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene signed off their Twenty20 international careers by guiding Sri Lanka to their maiden ICC World Twenty20 title, beating former champions India by six wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium here on Sunday.

India couldn’t stop the two Sri Lankan legends from ending their Twenty20 international careers on a high note despite the heroics from Virat Kohli, who starred again with a fine 77 off 58 balls as the 2007 champions finished their innings with a score of 130 for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs. Kohli was also adjudged Man-of-the-Tournament.

Sangakkara struck a match-winning 52 off 35 balls, while Jayawardene made a run-a-ball 24 as Sri Lanka cruised to 134 for four with 13 balls to spare. Thisara Perera, 23 not out from 14 balls, finished off the match in style with a four. Sangakkara was declared Man-of-the-Match.

The two Sri Lankan stalwarts were then given a grand farewell as they were carried on the shoulders of their team mates around the packed stadium.

It was an otherwise clinical performance by the Sri Lankans, and the win was a sweet revenge for their loss to India in the 2011 World Cup ODI final in Mumbai. It was also Sri Lanka’s first ICC World Cup win after a series of four losses in the finals. They lost the 2007 and the 2011 50-over World Cups and the 2009 and the 2012 Twenty20 World Cups.

Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Lasith Malinga was bang on target as he opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Indians were done in by their inability to rotate strike and some smart death bowling by Malinga (1/23) and Nuwan Kulasekara (1/29) as they surprisingly managed to give away just 19 runs in the last four overs.

Besides Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane (29) and Yuvraj Singh (10) were the only other Indian batsmen who could get to double figures. It was, however, a painstaking stay at the crease for Yuvraj, who took 21 balls for his 11, that tilted the match in favour of Sri Lanka.

Kohli, who had smashed Kulasekara for 16 runs with a four and two sixes in the 16th over, got just seven strikes in the last four overs to make matters worse for India.

Both Malinga and Kulasekara bowled full and wide making it tough for the Indian batsmen to reach for them. Malinga expectedly bowled a fine final over giving away a mere four runs to leave the Indians disappointed.

Scorecard:

India:

Rohit Sharma c Senanayake b Herath 29

Ajinkya Rahane b Mathews 3

Virat Kohli run out (Senanayake) 77

Yuvraj Singh c Perera b Kulasekara 11

Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 4

Extras (b 2, lb 2, w 2) 6

Total: (for four wickets in 20 overs) 130

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Rahane, 1.3 overs), 2-64 (Rohit, 10.3), 3-119 (Yuvraj, 18.1), 4-130 (Kohli, 19.6)

Bowling:

Nuwan Kulasekara 4-0-29-1

Angelo Mathews 4-0-25-1

Sachithra Senanayake 4-0-22-0

Lasith Malinga 4-0-27-0

Rangana Herath 4-0-23-1

Sri Lanka:

Kusal Perera c Jadeja b M Sharma 5

Tillakaratane Dilshan c Kohli b Ashwin 18

Mahela Jayawardene c Ashwin b Raina 24

Kumar Sangakkara not out 52

Lahiru Thirimanne c Dhoni b Mishra 7

Thisara Perera not out 23

Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5

Total: (for four wickets in 17.5 overs) 132

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Perera, 1.1 overs), 2-41 (Dilshan, 5.5), 3-65 (Jayawardene, 9.5), 4-78 (Thirimanne, 12.3)

Bowling:

Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-0-18-0

Mohit Sharma 2-0-18-1

Ravichandran Ashwin 3.5-0-27-1

Amit Mishra 4-0-32-1

Suresh Raina 4-0-24-1

Ravindra Jadeja 1-0-11-0

Match details:

Toss: Sri Lanka chose to field

Umpires: Ian Gould (England) and Richard Kettleborough (England)

TV umpire: Rod Tucker (Australia)

Match referee: David Boon (Australia)

Reserve umpire: Bruce Oxenford (Australia)