Chamara Kapugedera sparkles

Chamara Kapugedera knows the taste of defeat more than victory. Often in the past, especially in quite a few games against India, he has taken Sri Lanka close but has fallen short in the final lap. And so, this victory must taste extra sweet for Kapugedera. Sri Lanka needed three from the final delivery and he lashed a stunning six over covers. It was that close and dramatic. The captain and the inexperienced man he had backed heavily in the past had come through when it mattered at the big stage.

The final nail-biting moments panned out thus: Sri Lanka needed 25 runs from eight deliveries. Vinay Kumar, who had impressed until then in his first international outing, had the ball and Kapugedera was on strike. A nervy Vinay slipped a full toss on the fifth ball and Kapugedera heaved it just over the leaping fielder at the long-on boundary for a six that knocked out India. He then slammed the next delivery, a full-pitched one, over long-on to reduce the equation to 13 from the final over, bowled by Ashish Nehra.

Mathews collected a six first ball with a gorgeous on-the-up hit over long-off but Nehra hit the blockhole regularly and ran him out with a direct hit at the non-striker's end. Sri Lanka needed three from the final ball and Kapugedera carved the full delivery over the cover boundary for a stunning six. Game over. Sri Lanka celebrated in joy while many Indians would have remembered that Javed Miandad moment.