Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan PapnaiMirpur: India will lock horns with another continental giant Sri Lanka in the final of World Twenty20 on Sunday at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur.
Indian team has reached the finals for the first time of the coveted tournament since 2007, when they went on to win the inaugural title. On the other hand, Sri Lanka have entered the finals for the third time. But the Lankans are still waiting for their maiden World Twenty20 title, as they failed to win the finals of 2009 and 2012 to Pakistan and West Indies, respectively.
Resurgent Indian team is in top form and is yet to be beaten in the fifth edition. They have played five matches so far and won all of them comprehensively. Men in Blue started off their campaign in style by beating arch-rivals Pakistan by seven wickets.
In the second encounter, India were up against the defending champions West Indies. Indian spinners bowled their heart out and restricted West Indies to a small total. Indian batsmen chased the total comfortably, as they won by seven wickets.
In their third game, India crushed the host nation Bangladesh by eight wickets to become the first team to book a berth in the semis of this edition. In their last league game, which was a dead rubber, India continued their good run and beat the Aussies by a huge margin of 73 runs.
In the second semifinal, India locked horns with South Africa, who elected to bat first after winning the toss. The strong batting line up of the Proteas put up a challenging total of 172 runs in front of India. But riding on the unbeaten 72-run knock by Virat Kohli, India beat South Africa by six wickets, with five balls to spare to enter the finals.
Now in the final, India have to face Sri Lanka, who can be a tricky team to beat. So it would interesting to see whether India remain unbeaten in the tournament, or will Sri Lanka end their unbeaten campaign, in the final, by winning their maiden title.
First Published: Saturday, April 5, 2014, 16:54
