Thursday, June 24, 2010

India Clinched Asia Cup 2010 Title after Defeating Sri Lanka by 81 Runs

India pulled off an enormous 81-run victory over Sri Lanka to win the Asia Cup 2010 title. Chasing a fighting total of 269, Sri Lankan batsmen agonizingly failed to show any resistance against the Indian pacers, more specifically Ashish Nehra. In reply to India’s 268 runs for 6, Sri Lanka got all out only for 187 runs with 32 balls remaining in their innings.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to bat first after winning the toss. However, India lost their in-form opener Gautam Gambhir at 38, but his opening partner Dinesh Karthik, who was deputizing for injured Sehwag, scored a well-played half century which turned out to be a match-winning innings and earned him the man of the match award.

However, small contributions from all the middle order batsmen guided India towards a 250-plus score. Most notably, Dhoni’s 50-ball 38 and Rohit Sharma’s 52-ball 41 kept India in the right track after the dismissal of Karthik. Kohli’s 28, Raina’s 29 and Jadeja’s 25 also proved to be handy for India.

Pacer Lasith Malinga and occasional spinner Thilina Kandamby shared 2 wickets each for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka did not have a good start in their chase as they lost 5 top order batsmen at 51. Kapugedera and Kandamby tried to build up a resistance, but all their efforts went in vain as no other Sri Lankan batsman could accompany them in their pursuit of a successful fight back.

Kapugedera remained not out at 55, while Kandamby got out for 35. The third highest score in Sri Lankan innings is 20 which came from Kulasekara.

Nehra, who has just returned after recovering from injury, was in dominating form in the game. The left arm pacer picked up 4 wickets including those of Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Matthews. Zaheer Khan and Jadeja bagged 2 wickets each.

In Asia Cup 2008, Sri Lankan defeated India by 100 runs in the tournament final to clinch the title. Now, India has taken a sweet revenge of their humiliating defeat and got back the Asia Cup title.

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