On this day in 2011, then India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni launched pacer Nuwan Kulasekara for a whacking six over the long-on to end India's 28-year-old wait and helped his team lift the coveted World Cup trophy in front of a jam-packed Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to lift their second World Cup title.
The spectacular victory sent the entire nation into a frenzy as people took to the streets to celebrate India’s victory.
Team India marched into the finals after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in semi-final. On the other hand, Kumar Sangakkara-led Sri Lanka went past New Zealand to set-up a summit clash with Dhoni and his men.
Winning the toss, Mahela Jayawardene (103*) scored an unbeaten century and captain Sangakkara chipped in with a 67-ball 48 to help Sri Lanka post 274/6 in their allotted 50 overs. For India, pacer Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh picked two wickets apiece.
Chasing 275 to create history, the Men in Blue were off to a terrible start as they lost openers Virender Sehwag (0) and Sachin Tendulkar (18) early. Gautam Gambhir played the role of a pivot as he scored a brilliant 97 off 122 and shared an 83-run stand with Virat Kohli (35) for the third wicket.
Dhoni had something else in mind as he decided to come up the order ahead of Yuvraj Singh after Kohli lost his wicket to Tillakaratne Dilshan. Dhoni (91*) and Gambhir stitched a partnership of 109 runs for the fourth wicket to take India to a comfortable position.
Dhoni won the match for India with his trademark six off Nuwan Kulasekara towards long-on region. "Dhoni finishes off in style. A magnificent strike into the crowd. India lift the World Cup after 28 years," Ravi Shastri marked the moment in his immortal voice.
With India celebrating the seventh anniversary of its World Cup 2011 triumph, cricketers recall that unforgettable night. BCCI also tweeted about the same.
Harbhajan Singh, member of that World Cup winning team wrote, "🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳World Cup champions 2011..Best day of my life..thank you everyone for ur love and support.. grateful 🙏🙏🙏."
🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳World Cup champions 2011..Best day of my life..thank you everyone for ur love and support.. grateful 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/eLdFXpoNs7
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 2, 2018
Whereas RP Singh wrote, "The thrill we felt after @msdhoni hit that wining SIX cannot be described in words. World Cup 2011 was certainly one of the proudestCricketing moment for the nation. Not to forget @YUVSTRONG12 's heroics in the tournament! 🙌."
The thrill we felt after @msdhoni hit that wining SIX cannot be described in words. World Cup 2011 was certainly one of the proudestCricketing moment for the nation. Not to forget @YUVSTRONG12 's heroics in the tournament! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/YHwHtX51Xr
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