#ThisDayThatYear: Sri Lanka outclass India to win World T20 title
On April 6, 2014, Sri Lanka became the fifth nation to win the World T20. The Lasith Malinga-led side trounced India in a one-sided final to clinch their maiden title in the shortest format. Besides, India's undefeated campaign in the tournament was marred by Sri Lanka in the grand finale. Let us have a look at how the historic final panned out in Dhaka.
India lost Ajinkya Rahane early on after Sri Lanka put them in to bat. However, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma added 60 runs for the second wicket to put India in the driving seat. Although India did not lose many wickets, they managed to rack up only 130/4 after Kohli's 58-ball 77. Yuvraj Singh received backlash for his sluggish innings (11 off 21).
The Sri Lankans had a steady start, as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene propelled them to the 40-run mark in the power-play. Even though the spinners tried pulling back India into the contest, Sangakkara (52* off 35) played brilliantly with Thisara Perera complementing him well. The duo brought Sri Lanka home in the 18th over, sealing a comfortable victory.
Following Perera's match-winning six, the Sri Lankan camp was jubilant and ran frantically towards the ground. Both Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene were carried on shoulders as the legends bid adieu to T20I cricket in style. The former was adjudged Man of the Match, while Kohli's 319 runs in 6 matches made him grab the Player of the Series award.
Sri Lanka were soaring in the T20I format ahead of the 2014 World T20, having won eight out of the 11 previous games. Furthermore, they broke the World Cup final jinx (WC 2007, 2011 and WT20 2009, 2012) by winning the title.
