Top 5 Batting Performance In A World Cup Final

#5 Gautam Gambhir’s 97 at the Wankhede

The 2011 World Cup was hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Indians were in Group B with South Africa, England, West Indies and Bangladesh. They finished second in the group stage with 4 wins, 1 loss and a tie against England. They faced Aussies in the quarters at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad and ended their 5th world cup hopes by defeating them by 4 wickets. The semis was against the arch-rivals Pakistan in PCA stadium, Mohali and continued their undefeated record against Pak in the championships.

The finals were against the co-hosts Sri Lanka at the Wankhede stadium, Mumbai. They won the toss and opted to bat scoring a defendable 274 in 50 overs thanks to Jayawardene’s ton. The Indians didn’t start well with Sehwag falling for a nought and Sachin for a mere 18.

The chase seemed improbable by then. However, Gautam Gambhir shouldered the responsibility of getting the team out of trouble by building a partnership of 83 with Kohli who fell on 35. Then he was joined by MS Dhoni at the centre and they played the bowlers with calm and composure not taking too much of risk and keeping a check on the run rate. Gambhir was on 97 when he fell to Thisara Perera and missed out on an amazing hundred.

Nonetheless, it will go down as his career-defining knock and will be immortalized in every Indian heart. Though he couldn’t finish the match, his presence played a huge role that day along with Dhoni’s 91* that won India its second world cup. Gambhir had contributed 97 runs in 122 deliveries hitting 9 boundaries.