HomeLatest NewsOn this day in 2011: MS Dhoni finishes off in stlye to...

On this day in 2011: MS Dhoni finishes off in stlye to hand India second World Cup trophy  

Dhoni finishes it off in style:On this day in 2011, team India created history by winning the ODI World Cup for the second time under the great leadership of MS Dhoni.  

India’s victory over Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final match of the tournament at the Wankhede Stadium had the whole country in an uproar. 

The victory in the final match was made possible by outstanding efforts from several Indian sports stars, including Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, and others. 

Sri Lanka set a target of 275 in front of the Indian team while batting first, which, given the pressure of the World Cup final, was equivalent to a 400. 

After the early dismissals of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, Gambhir provided the much-needed stability to the effort, and Dhoni supported himself in the middle order to play an unbeaten knock of 91 runs to seal the victory. 

Gambhir also had the unfortunate misfortune of missing out on a fantastic century in a World Cup final. He was out after scoring 97 runs. Mahela Jayawardene of Sri Lanka hit the game’s lone hundred. 

The Dhoni show in 2011 World Cup final  

View below topics in this post

India was 31/2 and 114/3 against an excellent Sri Lankan bowling attack when captain MS Dhoni entered the field. Dhoni had a challenging World Cup, scoring just 150 runs in seven games, but he came ahead of the eventual Man of the Tournament Yuvraj Singh, who was scoring runs like crazy and grabbing wickets left, right, and centre in every game. 

Since Gautam Gambhir, a left-handed batsman, was already in the center, Dhoni moved ahead of Yuvraj to face Muttiah Muralitharan’s off-spin. He was up and moving as soon as he established shot a boundary towards the covers off Muralitharan. He played a thoughtful blow and kept the scoreboard going. In the event that Gambhir became stuck, Dhoni would smash a boundary to relieve pressure, and vice versa. 

However, his spectacular six off Thisara Perera over backward point marked the turning point of the game, and from that point on, it was Dhoni’s show. 

Dhoni eased his way to the last few seconds before he struck the decisive six over long-on to help India win the World Cup after 28 years. Dhoni scored 91 runs off 79 deliveries while remaining unbeaten, hitting eight boundaries and two sixes. 

India now has two World Cup trophies, having previously won the 1983 Cup under Kapil Dev’s leadership by beating the West Indies at the Lord’s. 

 

Vineet Vashisht
Vineet Vashisht
Experienced News-writer and presenter with a demonstrated history of working in the sports industry.

Most Popular

Recent Comments