India win World Cup 2011 by beating Sri Lanka on April 2

India have beaten Sri Lanka with 6 wickets in hand while chasing a target of 275 runs to clinch the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

On the crucial day, Kumar Sangakkara, the Lankan skipper won the toss and elected to bat first. Zaheer Khan provided a perfect start for the Indians with 3 maidens and a wicket as he put the 2003 World Cup final behind him. Upul Tharanga perished after scoring 2 runs off 20 deliveries. Tillakaratne Dilshan too, failed to deliver at the biggest stage and the business had to be done by Sangakkara and his deputy Mahela Jayawardena, who smashed a brilliant unbeaten century (103*) to guide Sri Lanka to 274/6 in 50 overs.

Zaheer, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh got the breaks for India at the right moments were helped by a brilliant fielding display from their teammates.

Chasing 275 for a World Cup victory after 28 years since Kapil Dev’s India lifted the Cup in 1983, India faltered in the early stages as Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar (18) departed early on in the innings. Gautam Gambhir (97) and Virat Kohli (35) batted exceptionally well to get the chase back on track for the Indians. After Kohli’s dismissal, Captain Cool, MS Dhoni (91*) arrived at the center ahead of Yuvraj and shared a 109 run partnership for the fourth wicket with Gambhir.

The damage was already done when Gambhir departed to make way for Yuvraj (21*), who supported his skipper really well on the night. The winning blow was struck by the Captain – MSD – a huge six over long on, as India reached their target with 10 deliveries to spare.

MS Dhoni was adjudged to be the man of the match on the day while Yuvraj Singh was the man of the tournament for his outstanding all round display.

It is a huge moment for Indian cricket and a heart wrenching loss for the Sri Lankan’s who were quite exceptional throughout the tournament. In India, where cricket is a religion, the party has begun!

India beat Pakistan at Mohali on March 30

In what was billed as the “Mother of All Games” by cricketing experts, India have defeated Pakistan in the semi finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 by a margin of 29 runs at the PCA Stadium in Mohali to set up a clash against Sri Lanka in Mumbai for the Cup come Saturday.

Team India captain MS Dhoni won the toss today and opted to bat first. Virender Sehwag gave India a terrific start as he bludgeoned Umar Gul all around the park for his 38 off 25 deliveries. Sachin Tendulkar anchored yet another innings for India today as he made his way to a lucky 85 runs. Sachin was dropped four times during his stay at the centre and had an lbw decision reversed his way after a successful review. Gautam Gambhir (27), MS Dhoni (25), and Suresh Raina (36*) betted well in what was a tough wicket to bat on to help India post a total of 260/9 at the end of fifty overs.

Wahab Riaz claimed a 5 wicket haul today and was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan while spinners Saeed Ajmal bagged 2 scalps. The spinners bowled really well to restrict a good looking Indian batting line-up to 260 runs.

Chasing 261 for victory, Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals and never had a partnership going. It was a clever piece of bowling from Zaheer Khan to dismiss Kamran Akmal (19), who was looking good at the center. Mohammad Hafeez (43) got out to a leg cutter from Munaf. Yuvraj performed well yet again with the ball as he dismissed Younus Khan (13) as well as Asad Shafiq (30).

Harbhajan Singh got on to the act as he castled the dangerous Umar Akmal (29) and later dismissed Shahid Afridi. Pakistan eventually buckled under pressure on an uncharacteristically slow pitch at Mohali in spite of Misbah-ul-Haq’s (56) last gasp effort as they were bowled out for 231 in 49.5 overs.

Sachin Tendulkar, the little master, was adjudged the man of the match for his efforts with the bat today.