Maharoof puts up a perfect dress-rehearsal for the final

A fifer from Farveez Maharoof which included a hat-trick saw Sri Lanka raise the alarm for India ahead of the finale.

After been asked to bat first, India got off to a decent start. The openers put up 58 for the first wicket when Gautam Gambhir fell to an outstanding catch from Suraj Randiv. They scored 47/0 in the Quick Start Overs which earned them a Quick Start Batting Index of value worth 113 while the Quick Start Bowling Index of the Sri Lankans suffered with a value of -23. Soon, Karthik fell too and a couple of more wickets saw Sri Lanka right back into the contest. However, the ever-reliable MS Dhoni put up 79 runs with Rohit Sharma for the 6th wicket. At one stage, India were on 189/4 in the 38th over and they could have gone on to score around 270-280 had a calamity not struck them. First MS Dhoni was run-out by a direct hit from Chamara Kapugedara and in the very next over, Farveez Maharoof cast his magic, picking up a hat-trick off the first three deliveries of his over which saw India losing 4 wickets in 4 balls and grounded down to 189/8 in the 39th over. Rohit Sharma saw this cataclysm from the opposite end, standing helplessly. He, however, tried to make the most by opting for the Power Play 3 but ran himself out in the pursuit to keep the strike away from the last man. India were shot down for 209 in the 43rd over. Rohit Sharma was the top-scorer of the innings scoring 68 runs with a Batting Momentum of 93 while MS Dhoni scored a gritty 41. The star for Sri Lanka was Farveez Maharoof who picked up five wickets from his 10 overs with a Bowling Efficiency of 357. As a result of the collapse, India’s Batting Momentum ended up at 255 while the overall Bowling Efficiency of the Sri Lankans ended up at 236.

Defending 210 with 2 key bowlers, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, rested for the game was not going to be easy and the Sri Lankan openers, as usual, came out with all guns firing. However, Zaheer Khan picked up Dilshan and that brought skipper Kumar Sangakkara to the crease. Sri Lankans scored 66/1 from  their Quick Start Overs which earned them a value of 77 for the Quick Start Batting Index. The Quick Start Bowling Index for India was a low, having a value of just 23. After Tharanga, playing his 100th ODI, departed, Sangakkara put up a 104-run stand with Mahela Jayawardena for the 3rd wicket and ensured that Maharoof’s efforts did not go in vain. This partnership sealed the game in their favor and Sri Lanka cruised home in the 38th over, after Sangakkara was dismissed towards the end and Jayawardena got to his fifty with the winning shot. Kumar Sangakkara was the top-scorer of the innings and of the match, scoring 73 runs and notching up a Batting Momentum of 94. Zaheer Khan picked up both the openers with a Bowling Efficiency of 100. Sri Lanka’s commanding chase saw them ending up with an overall Batting Momentum of 282 while India’s Bowling Efficiency suffered at a value of just 100. 

The overall Castrol Index value for team India was 105 while Sri Lanka had the same as 150. Farveez Maharoof was named the Man of the Match for his scintillating spell with the ball.