STATS CORNER – India ended 27-year title drought in World Cup by beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Saturday (April 2). It was India’s second title victory in World Cup. India’s first title win came under Kapil Dev when they beat West Indies in the final at Lord’s on June 25,1983.
The defeat was Sri Lanka’s second consecutive defeat in World Cup final. They also lost the 2007 World Cup final against Australia.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first wicket-keeper to led his team to title victory in World Cup.
Mahela Jayawardene became the second Sri Lanka after Aravinda de Silva and sixth batsman overall to score a hundred in the World Cup final. The right hand middle order batsman from Colombo achieved this feat by making an unbeaten 103 off 88 balls with 13 fours. Aravinda de Silva was the first Sri Lankan batsman to score a hundred in the final.
Zaheer Khan equalled Shahid Afridi’s record of most wickets in this World Cup by dismissing Chamara Kapugedera, caught by Suresh Raina. It was his 21st wicket at 18.76 in nine matches. Shahid Afridi claimed the same number of wickets at 12.85 in eight matches.
Tillakaratne Dilshan became the fifth batsman to score 500 or more runs in a single edition of World Cup. The Sri Lanka opening batsman scored exactly 500 runs at 62.50 in nine innings of as many matches in this World Cup. Sachin is the only batsman to score over 500 runs in a single WC twice.
