Sanath Jayasuriya smashed another superb century before Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner still classed as a slow-medium bowler, bamboozled a highly rated batting line-up to finish with astonishing figures of 6 for 13
The target, despite Jayasuriya's whirlwind thrilling ton, was 274. It didn't look too big and shrunk further when Sehwag went berserk at the top. Enter Ajantha Mendis. Finger-flicking good. The Indians were clueless, playing him like he had flicked hand grenades at them. They went down in a heap. Dhoni fought alone but he too fell. Game over. Sri Lankan fans could well chant now, If Murali doesn't get you, Mendis will. It will be a rather interesting series between these two teams next month. Indians would spend lots of time in front of the video to decipher his bowling code. Can they? Time will tell but in the here and now they were unable to crack the mystery.
President Musharraf is down there with both teams. Murali has a long chat with him. Now the president goes over to the Indian camp to shake hands.
Dhoni: Mendis bowled really well. Frankly speaking, none of us picked him. He bowled brilliantly. He was fantastic. It was his day. It's a good learning curve for us as we are playing Sri Lanka next month." On India's poor record in 22 finals." At least we reached those 22 finals! That's some positive to take away from." On Sri Lanka series." It will be a tough one. Not only Mendis but also Murali and the pitches help the spinners. Hopefully it will be a tough and exciting series."
Man of the Match Ajantha Mendis. Mahela joins in to translate for him. "It was a great experience; first big tournament and enjoyed it. I didn't think too much, just wanted to bowl to the field."
Man of the tournament Mendis again. 17 wickets.
Mahela: "We have played in lots of finals. we knew that in a final 270 would be a big score. We were in trouble when Sehwag went about his way. Mendis came in and bowled brilliantly. Every one else chipped in. But I think what turned around things today was Jayasuriya's brilliant innings. He did what he does best. We knew that if we pick up wickets we can control this batting line up. To win the Asia Cup away from home is a monkey back of us. We haven't had a good 2008, so this victory is good for us. We just have to enjoy this moment and re focus on the home series. All the guys are looking forward to it."
That's it from us. Good bye from me, Sriram Veera, and Binoy George, who was the scorer today. Hope you enjoyed our coverage of Asia Cup 2008. Alvida!
I Sharma b Kulasekara 8 (19m 18b 1x4 0x6) SR: 44.44
Kulasekara to bowl now
The mystery is now out in the open and every batsman is out to solve it. The real challenge for Ajantha Mendis, of uncertain categorisation, to maintain that secrecy, begins now
A great knock is one that can be seen independent of the situation, irrespective of the result, yet one that contributes to the team cause. Some times a great knock looks effortless compared to batsmen. Jayasuirya, today, satisfied all the above criteria
Match home for the 2008 Asia Cup final between India and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka equalled India's mark of four Asia Cup wins with their 100-run triumph in the final in Karachi. A few statistical highlights from the game
Dhoni was mesmerised even at the press-conference. For every question demanding explanations for the defeat, he the same answer: Mendis
