An inspired India on Saturday night achieved the coveted World Cup after 28 years as they suppressed Sri Lankawith a six-wicket victory in a nerve-wrecking final to script a glorious newchapter in their cricketing history.
Chasing 275 for a historic win, theIndians held their nerves as they rode on Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir's 97 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unbeaten 91 to overhaul the target with 10 balls to spare and send the cricket-crazy nation into a frenzy.
The vociferous, jam-packed crowd at the Wankhede stadium erupted in wild celebrations as Dhoni hit the winning six runs to give India their biggest cricketing moment and crown themselves the ODI world champions, in addition to being the number one Test team.
The World Cup title triumph, coming as it did after more than two decades, was doubly special for Sachin Tendulkar since it was the only silverware missing from his collection.
It was also a fitting farewell to coach Gary Kirsten, for whom it was the last day in office as the Indian team coach.
It was a momentous Saturday night marked by highemotion and poignant scenes as India, for long the game's financial power,stamped their supremacy on the field as well, eight years after Sourav Ganguly's team had made an abortive attempt to scale the pinnacle.
The players, many of them with tears in their eyes, rushed to the ground to hug each other as Dhoni finished it off in style by hitting a six, as fire crackers lit up the evening sky to mark the moment.
The highlight of the Lankan innings was Mahela Jayawardene's rollicking 103 as Sri Lanka capitalised on the batting powerplay to post a decent 274 for six.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Jayawardene used his vast experience to good effect and supported the Lankan innings together.
The islanders, desperate toregain the coveted cup after nearly 15 years, lost wickets at regular intervals against the Indians, who were spurred on by a vociferous jam-packed crowd.
The Indian bowlers were disciplined in the first half of the innings but conceded as many as 63 runs in the batting powerplay to undo all the goodwork.
Apart from Jayawardene's 88-ball knock, captain KumarSangakkara (48) Tillakaratne Dilshan (33) and Nuwan Kulasekara (32) were theother notable performers.
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