5 precious World Cup final innings without a century

2. Gautam Gambhir 97 vs Sri Lanka, 2011 World Cup final

Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir had played one of the greatest innings in a World Cup final, soaking the pressure in a tremendous pressure among a high voltage Mumbai crowd. Chasing a competitive score of 275 in a final, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar both had been sent back in a little more than six overs. It was up to the middle order batsmen to take some calculated risk, build partnerships and get them the required stability.

Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir built a much-needed partnership in a brisk pace. The batsmen put on 83 for the third wicket. Tillakaratne Dilshan was brought into the attack and he dismissed Kohli for 35. Nevertheless, Gautam Gambhir was solid in his innings of 97 off 122 deliveries which included 9 boundaries. He was castled by Thisara Perera in the 42nd over almost before seeing his team home and winning the ultimate prize.

Earlier in the day, Mahela Jayawardene had scored a glorious century with Dilshan and Sangakkara making some useful contributions. Thisara Perera provided the much-needed arsenal of power hitting in the slog overs which got Sri Lanka to 274, which looked unassailable at that time.