DHAKA: Sri Lanka beat India by six wickets in final to win World Twenty20 title.
India managed a below-par total of 130-4 against Sri Lanka despite a brilliant half-century by Virat Kohli in the final of World Twenty20 in Dhaka on Sunday.
Kohli scored a 58-ball 77 for his eighth Twenty20 half-century — his fourth in this tournament — after Sri Lanka sent India into bat at Shere Bangla stadium in a match delayed by 40 minutes due to rain.
The rain spiced up the pitch for bowlers but Kohli was at his best when he came to the crease after India lost Ajinkya Rahane (three) in Angelo Mathews’s second over of the innings.
Let off by Lasith Malinga at mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath’s first delivery when 11, Kohli took full advantage of the laspe by hitting five boundaries and four sixes before he was run out off the final delivery.
But apart from Kohli, none of the Indian batsmen could score at a faster pace against a disciplined Sri Lankan bowling attack.
Kohli added 60 for the second wicket with Rohit Sharma (29) and another 55 for the third with Yuvraj Singh who slowed down the tempo with a snail-paced 11 off 21 balls.
Sharma hit three boundaries during his 26-ball knock before he was caught off Herath who finished with 1-23 in his four overs.
India remained unchanged from the side which beat South Africa in the semi-final while Sri Lanka brought in Thisara Perera for Seekkuge Prasanna from the line-up which beat the West Indies in the first pre-final.
Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Lasith Malinga won the toss in the World Twenty20 final in Dhaka on Sunday and sent India in to bat.
The start was delayed by 40 minutes due to rain, but will be played over the full duration of 20-overs-a-side at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
If Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Indians win, they will become the first team to hold all three major limited-overs titles, having won the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy last year.
Sri Lanka will seek an end to an inexplicable losing streak in title matches, after being beaten twice in the World Cup finals in 2007 and 2011 and the World Twenty20 finals in 2009 and 2012.
Sri Lanka’s T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal once again opted out of the game, as he had done in Thursday’s semi-final against the West Indies, leaving Malinga to lead the Islanders.
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