5 most memorable India-Sri Lanka ODIs in history

#4 2011 ODI World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on April 2, 2011

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 274/6; India 277/4 (48.2/50 overs)

Result: India won by 6 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)

The helicopter shot by Dhoni that sealed the 2011 World Cup for India

The 2011 ODI World Cup between India and Sri Lanka will forever be etched in the hearts of all Indian cricket fans across the globe with that image of skipper MS Dhoni finishing things off with that famous helicopter sixer being an everlasting memory.

Playing in front of their home crowd, India had a big advantage leading into the contest but the victory was far from easy. The hosts made a good start, containing the opposition scoring, and also got the prized wicket of Kumar Sangakkara two runs short of his half-century.

However, the other veteran stalwart in the Sri Lankan side, Mahela Jayawardene, played a superb knock, remaining unbeaten on 103 runs off 88 balls, and along with a late onslaught from Thisira Perera helped push the total to 274 in their 50 overs.

The pressure of chasing in a World Cup final is always something else and it showed as India lost both their openers - Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag - with just 31 runs on the board.

Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli steadied things along, but when the latter was dismissed for 35, India still needed 161 runs to win and while the whole crowd waited for Man-of-the-Tournament Yuvraj Singh to come into the middle, it was MS Dhoni who promoted himself up the order.

It was a decision that totally tilted the match's balance in India's favour but the role played by Gambhir cannot be counted out. He fell three runs short of a deserved century but it was a gutsy knock that played a huge role in the final outcome of the match.

Dhoni was simply outstanding on the day and controlled the pace of the match perfectly, maintaining his composure and waiting for the bad balls to dispatch to the boundary.

It was fitting that Dhoni finished things off with that spectacular shot with Yuvraj batting at the other end as billions of Indian spectators celebrated their first World Cup triumph since 2011.