India vs Sri Lanka ICC cricket World Cup 2011 Final Preview (SL vs Ind)

Tags: World Cup 2011, Final - India v Sri Lanka at Mumbai - Apr 02,2011, India, Sri Lanka, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Final

Published on: Apr 01, 2011

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

India won the World Cup once, 28 years ago, in 1983 at Lord’s when it beat West Indies. The Indians were beaten by Australia in 2003. They are favourites to be the first home side to win the competition.

India won the World Cup once, 28 years ago, in 1983 at Lord’s when it beat West Indies. The Indians were beaten by Australia in 2003. They are favourites to be the first home side to win the competition.

For Sachin Tendulkar, 37, it is his sixth and probably last chance to lift the trophy for India. He made his first World Cup appearance on Feb. 22 1992 in Perth aged 18. He is the leading runscorer in World Cup matches, with 2,260 runs at 57.94 from 44 games, including six hundreds.

He made his first-class debut at Wankhede Stadium in December 1988 for Bombay against Gujarat in the Ranji Trophy and scored an unbeaten hundred. He is one short of his 100th hundred in international cricket.

Sri Lanka has twice been involved in World Cup finals, beating Australia at Lahore in 1996 and losing to the Australians in the last edition in 2007. The Sri Lankans will hope that India has already played its “final” against Pakistan in the semifinal at Mohali.

Veteran spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, 39 on April 17, will play his last match for Sri Lanka, his 350th ODI. He has competed in five World Cups and is the only survivor from Sri Lanka’s 1996 final win. Despite injury he took two wickets in a full 10-over stint in the semifinal against New Zealand, including the wicket of Scott Styris off the last delivery he bowled in Sri Lanka.

India has only won the World Cup once, in 1983 at Lord’s when it beat the overwhelming favourites and holders West Indies by 43 runs in a low-scoring match. India was 183 all out, Kris Srikkanth top-scoring with 38. West Indies were dismissed for 140 with Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath taking three wickets each.

India was beaten by Australia in the final in Johannesburg in 2003 by 125 runs. Sourav Ganguly put Australia in to bat and the Aussies racked up 359-2, with Ricky Ponting scoring 140 off 121 balls. The first over of the match bowled by Zaheer Khan went for 15 runs and after nine overs Australia was 74-0. Tendulkar was out fifth ball for four and India subsided to 234 all out.

Sri Lanka has been involved in World Cup finals twice: In 1996 the Sri Lankans beat Australia at Lahore by seven wickets. Sri Lanka put the Australians in to bat in cool conditions and they made 241-7, losing six wickets to spinners with Mark Taylor scoring 74. In reply Sri Lanka lost both openers with 23 runs on the board before Asanka Gurusinha with 65 and Aravinda de Silva with 107 not out added 125 for the third wicket.

In 2007, Sri Lanka lost to Australia by 53 runs (D/L method) in a rain-affected match. Australia made 281-4 off 38 overs, Adam Gilchrist starring with 149 off 104 balls, the biggest hundred in a final. Sri Lanka made 215-8 off 36 overs. The game descended into farce because the match officials did not know that only 20 overs were needed to achieve a result using Duckworth/Lewis. It led to the players being instructed to go back onto the field in darkness at 6.16 p.m. to bowl three more overs having gone off for bad light minutes earlier. Jeff Crowe was the match referee. Crowe is again match referee for the Mumbai final.

ODIs: Played 128; India 67, Sri Lanka 50, NR 11

World Cup: Played 7; India 2, Sri Lanka 4, 4 NR 1

In India: Played 2; Sri Lanka 2

The teams met twice in 1996 and Tendulkar and Muralitharan played in both matches.

In a group stage match at Delhi, Sri Lanka won by six wickets. India scored 271-3, with Tendulkar run out for 137. Muralitharan’s figures were 10-1-42-0. For Sri Lanka, Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana launched a rampaging assault, scoring 42 off the first three overs. Tendulkar took 10-0-41-0.

In the semifinal at Calcutta, Sri Lanka won by default when the 100,000 strong crowd rioted. Sri Lanka scored 251-8 with Aravinda de Silva 66. Tendulkar returned 10-1-34-2. India was 120-8 off 34.1 overs when match referee Clive Lloyd took the teams off for 15 minutes and then abandoned the game when there was more trouble. Tendulkar top-scored with 65, no-one else in the side topped 25. Muralitharan returned figures of 7.1-0-29-1.

Of th 17 ODI matches played on this ground, 10 have been under lights. Tendulkar has played 10 ODIs here, more than any other player.

India’s record is: Played 14 for 8 wins and 6 losses. In floodlit games, India has won 5 of 9.

Sri Lanka record is: Played 4 for 2 wins and 2 losses. Sri Lanka has won both its floodlit games at the venue.

The average score batting first in floodlit games is 231.

In floodlit games, 6 out of 10 have been won by the side batting first.

Yuvraj Singh has been one of the best allrounders in the tournament with 341 runs at 85.25 and 13 wickets at 25.23, including a career best 5-31 against Ireland. His success has solved the problem of the fifth bowler for India. He has been man-of-the-match four times in this tournament, against Ireland, the Netherlands, West Indies and Australia.

Kumar Sangakkara will be hoping to emulate Arjuna Ranatunga and lead Sri Lanka to World Cup glory. Sangakkara has captained Sri Lanka 44 times and won 27, lost 13 ODI’s with four no results. He wins 61.36% of games, more than any other regular Sri Lankan captain.

Sangakkara is the fourth leading runscorer in this World Cup with 417 at 104.25, with one century and three 50s. He is equal top in the wicketkeeping stakes alongside Brad Haddin with 13 dismissals consisting of nine catches and four stumpings.

India has asked for 14 reviews resulting in three decisions being changed. Sri Lanka has had one decision out of nine altered on review.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni needs 42 for 6,000.

Gautam Gambhir needs 24 for 4,000.

Virat Kohli needs 81 for 2,000.

Tendulkar needs one hundred for 100 international hundreds.

Upul Tharanga needs 104 for 4,000.

Kumar Sangakkara needs 54 and Mahela Jayawardene 114 for 2,000 each against India.

Sangakkara needs 57 and Jayawardene 128 for 1,000 World Cup runs.

Muralitharan needs three wickets to equal, four to beat Glenn McGrath’s record of 71 World Cup wickets.

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