On this day in 2014, Sri Lanka won the first-ever T20 World Cup by defeating India by 4 wickets at Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium. Finally, Sri Lanka broke their drought of losing finals in ICC events. Prior to the 2014 T20 World Cup, Sri Lanka lost the 2007 Cricket World Cup, 2009 T20 World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, and the 2012 T20 World Cup.
Key points:
*It was Jayawardene and Sangakkara’s last T20 international match.
*Virat Kohli was the Man of the Series for notching up the most number of runs (319) in the 2014 T20 World Cup
Srilankan captain Lasith Malinga won the toss and invited India to bat first. India started the innings with opener Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane got castled by Mathews just after playing 8 balls. Rohit added 29 runs for the team. In-form batsman Virat Kohli, who was having a golden run with the bat didn’t disappoint fans in the finals, scoring 77 off 58 balls. Yuvraj Singh played a sluggish knock of 11 of 21, which cost India a lot in the end. Dhoni, who is known for hard-hitting managed to make 4 off 7 balls only and India could set a target of 131 runs only.
Srilanka began with Tilakaratne Dilshan and Kushal Perara, who added 23 runs together before going to the pavilion. Farewell getter Mahela Jayawardene made 24 runs in 24 balls in his last international T20. Then, wicket-keeper batsman, Kumar Sangakkara took the responsibility and remained not out until the chase (52 off 35 balls), along with Thisara Perara, who also scored 23 off 14 balls. Sri Lanka shattered the Indian dream of wearing the T20 crown for the 2nd time.
India was unbeaten throughout the tournament but, their batting made them dejected. If India could score 150, the match could have been different. Sri Lanka took their revenge for the 2011 World Cup final loss.
Kumar Sangakkara was bestowed the Man of the Match award for his unbeaten 52 runs.
Virat Kohli earned the Man of the Series award for his spectacular batting throughout the T20 World Cup.
Senior Cricket Content Editor at Skyblogs Cricket.
Contact me at info@skyblogs.in