India's one memorable win from each edition of the World Cup

India vs Sri Lanka, World Cup final at Mumbai in 2011

This six hit by Dhoni will forever be etched in memory

India and Sri Lanka, the co-hosts, were pitted against each other in the final of the World Cup 2011. The Sri Lankans had moved out of Sri Lanka for the first time in the tournament to face the other host India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The match started with confusion around the toss. Sangakkara won the re-toss and elected to bat. Zaheer started the innings with 3 consecutive maidens. Tharanga was caught by Sehwag in Zaheer Khan’s fourth over. Zaheer finished his first spell with figures of 5-3-6-1. This was in quite a contrast to his spell in the final of the World Cup 2003 where he leaked 30 runs in his first 3 overs.

For Sri Lanka, the two senior statesmen, Sangakkara and Jayawardene took over the proceedings in the final of a World Cup. Jayawardene finished with a fabulous hundred off 88 balls. Sri Lanka reached 274 after some lusty hits from Thisara Perera. The target set by Sri Lanka was a substantial one in the final of a World Cup.

Lasith Malinga gave Sri Lanka a flying start by taking Sehwag out of circulation off the second ball of the Indian innings. Malinga made his opening spell memorable with the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in his 4th over.

Gambhir yet again was playing a crucial knock in a crucial final. Gambhir was always India’s big match player and go-to man for the skipper. He was lucky to be dropped on 30 by Kulasekara. He got a second life on 47 when Sangakkara could not collect the throw from the deep cleanly to effect the run-out.

Gambhir reached his 50 off 56 balls and the Indian score crossed 100 in the 20th over for the loss of 2 wickets. Just when Muralidharan was brought into the attack, Kohli gave away his wicket to Dilshan.

When everyone was expecting the player of the tournament Yuvraj Singh to walk in at the fall of Kohli’s wicket, the Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni surprised all and sundry by bringing himself on to tackle Muralidharan.

But before facing Muralidharan, Dhoni got a second life on 0 when Sangakkara failed to gather the ball to complete a difficult stumping chance. That was the change in fortune that Dhoni was looking for, who otherwise had a poor World Cup outing until then.

Dhoni continued to struggle against Muralidharan and Dilshan and reached 12 off 21 balls. It was Gambhir who took the responsibility to score all the runs during Dhoni’s initial struggle. Gambhir moved into the 80s when Dhoni showed glimpses of coming back to form when he flashed Perera to cover fence. Dhoni slowly gained confidence and reached his 50 off 52 balls.

Gambhir and Dhoni added 109 runs for the fourth wicket before Gambhir charged down the wicket to lose his wicket for 97. Though he missed scoring a hundred in a World Cup final, he had done his job for his team. He was the unsung hero for India on the day of the final.

When Gambhir got out, India needed 52 off 52 balls. But Dhoni was in total control of the chase as Dhoni moved from 60 to 91 off a mere 18 balls. Kulasekara and Malinga were hit out of their attack in their final spells as India raced to the target in the 48th over.

Dhoni finished off the match in style, lifting Kulasekara over long-on for a six. India managed to triumph in a World Cup after a gap of 28 years. Dhoni, whose previous score in a World Cup match was 34, went on to play the most defining one-day innings ever played by an Indian in a final of a tournament.