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Sri Lanka lifted their fourth Asia Cup title on July 6, 2008, in Karachi, beating India by 100 runs in a final that, on the scorecard, appeared to be a fairly easy, one-sided affair. The two teams finished at the top of the Super 4s stage, finishing ahead of Pakistan and Bangladesh, who qualified from the group stages. The two teams played each other at the same venue on July 3, where India chased down a total of 309 with six wickets in hand.
India had made it to the final in the absence of the talismanic Sachin Tendulkar, who missed the series with a groin injury. Sri Lanka picked up results on the back of their spin duo of the great Muthiah Muralitharan and rookie mystery-spinner Ajantha Mendis, who at the time was classified as a slow-medium bowler. It was the two best teams going up against each other in the final.
Being put into bat, Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Kumar Sangakkara early in the second over and found themselves in further trouble after Ishant Sharma’s three-wicket burst, which left them at a score of 66 for 4. In all this chaos, the 39-year-old Sanath Jayasuriya, in all his experience, motored along, reaching his half-century off 49 balls. He was joined by Tilakaratne Dilshan, as the pair put on a stand of 131 runs for the fifth wicket. The veteran southpaw took the attack to the Indian bowlers as he reached his century off 79 balls. He finally fell for 125 off 114 balls, scoring nine fours and five sixes in his innings. Dilshan then fell for 56 off 74 balls, as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 274, with Nuwan Kulasekara adding vital runs in the back end.
India’s innings started in blistering fashion courtesy of Virender Sehwag, who took the attack to the Sri Lankan bowlers. The dashing opener raced to 60 off 35 balls, despite Gautam Gambhir falling to Chaminda Vaas in the fifth over. Captain Mahela Jayawardene then introduced his trump card in Mendis, who had missed the Super 4s game against India. Mendis created an immediate impact as Sehwag, who has expressed his disdain for off-spinners, was stumped after stepping out to a short delivery.
Mendis then removed Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh in quick succession, before dismissing Rohit Sharma to finish his first spell with figures of 4 for 8. At 97 for 5, skipper MS Dhoni and Robin Uthappa came together to stitch a much-needed partnership, but Uthappa fell to Muralitharan with the score at 135. The man of the hour, Mendis, returned to add two more wickets to finish with figures of 6 for 13, before Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara picked up the final two wickets to bowl India out for 173.
Mendis was named Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament, picking up 17 wickets across the competition. Bamboozling batters with his mystery spin, he saved his best performance for the final and established himself as a genuine threat as a spinner. Jayasuriya finished as the highest run-scroer in the tournament with 378 runs, just six runs ahead of Suresh Raina.
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