MS Dhoni And Gautam Gambhir Help India Win The 2011 World Cup Final. Check Detailed Match Report

The Indian team lifting the 2011 World Cup trophy after a massive gap of 28 years was arguably one of the greatest moments in the cricketing history. However, while counting the moments of glory, the 1983 World Cup victory under the captaincy of Kapil Dev will definitely remain the pinnacle achievement in the India cricket records. Team India came into the 2011 ODI World Cup final on the back of two sensational wins over arch-rivals Pakistan and Australia in the semi-final and quarter-final respectively. On the other hand, Sri Lanka had already lost the 2007 ODI World Cup final at the hands of Australia. In this blog piece, check out the detailed match report for the India vs Sri Lanka 2011 World Cup final hosted at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

India vs Sri Lanka 2011 World Cup Final Match Report

Sri Lanka came into the final after having managed to beat New Zealand by 5 wickets in the first semi-final in Colombo. Lankan captain Kumar Sangakarra won the toss and elected to bat first even after knowing that the dew factor will surely come into play during the second innings of the penultimate encounter. Sri Lanka did not had the best of starts in this game as they lost the wicket of their opening batsman Upul Tharanga in just the seventh over with only 17 runs on the scoreboard. The other experienced opener, Tilakaratne Dilshan was also sent back by Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh in the 17th over to reduce the Sri Lankan team at 60 for 2. 

The legendary pair of skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene then joined hands to bail their team out of trouble with a fine partnership of 62 runs. Sangakkara fell pray to left-arm spin bowling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh in the 28th over after having scored 48 runs off 67 deliveries. The Indian bowlers controlled the scoring-rate to a great extent during the middle-overs stage by taking wickets at regular intervals. India's senior left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan came up with an impressive performance in the crucial encounter as he bowled as many as three maiden overs. 

However, former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene continued to bat really well at the other end as he notched up a superlative unbeaten innings of 103 runs off just 88 balls that included a total of 13 boundaries. Towards the end, Nuwan Kulasekara scored 32 runs while Thisara Perera smashed a quick-fire cameo of 22 runs off only 9 deliveries to help Sri Lanka post a challenging total pf 274 for 6 in their quota of 50 overs. For India, the duo of Zaheer and Yuvraj ended up taking two wickets each. 

During the mid-innings break, the pressure was definitely on India as they needed to chase a record total of 275 runs to win the 2011 World Cup trophy that too in front of a jam-packed Wankhede crowd. The nervy run-chase started on a poor note having lost the big wicket of in-form opener Virender Sehwag in the very first over of the grand finale. Sri Lanka's premier speedster Lasith Malinga brought pin drop silence at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai by removing both the Indian opening batters, Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar reducing the hosts at 31 for 2 after 6.1 overs which went viral in the cricket news. 

The duo of Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli then got together to settle down things for the Indian cricket team with an excellent partnership of 83 runs for the third wicket before the latter was dismissed as Dilshan took a superb one-handed catch off his own bowling. Indian captain MS Dhoni did not had the best of tournaments with the bat untill that final, still he decided to promote himself in the batting order ahead of the an in-form Yuvraj Singh to counter legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. 

Both Gambhir and Dhoni batted amazingly well during the middle-overs stage scoring the boundaries and rotating the strike. These two batters added a brilliant match-winning partnership of 109 runs to give India the advantage in the big final. Gautam Gambhir stats cannot be forgotten as he played an exceptional knock of 97 runs that included 9 fours, however, he missed out on a well-deserved hundred that too in a World Cup final at home. On the other hand, MS Dhoni was playing one of his most career-defining innings at the grandest stage of all as the captain of the national team. 

MS Dhoni smashed a blistering unbeaten innings of 91 runs off only 79 deliveries that consisted of 8 fours and 2 sixes to help India win the match and the 2011 World Cup final with as many as 10 balls to spare. Yuvraj and Dhoni added an unbeaten stand of 54 runs to finish off the proceedings. MS Dhoni smashed Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara for a magnificent six over the long-on region that is still one of the most iconic moments in the history of Indian cricket as a World Cup was won after 28 years. However, this is one of the biggest cricket controversies surrounding MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir.