World Cup: Presenting the iconic India-Sri Lanka matches
With six back-to-back wins, India continue to rule in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Men in Blue will next face Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 2. It will be a rematch of the 2011 World Cup final that took place at the same venue. Here we present the iconic World Cup encounters between the two sides.
India lift the World Cup after 28 years (2011)
The classic 2011 World Cup final at Wankhede occupies the top spot on this list. Batting first, Sri Lanka racked up 274/6 on the back of Mahela Jayawardene's unbeaten 103. India lost both Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar within the first 10 overs. However, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli took India past 100. Later, MS Dhoni drove India to their second World Cup title.
When SL knocked India out in 2007
India had one of their worst World Cup outings in 2007. Even with a world-class attack, they lost their opening fixture to Bangladesh. Although India thrashed Bermuda, a defeat against SL knocked them out of the Super Eights race. SL smashed 254/6, batting first. Upul Tharanga and Chamara Silva were among the runs. India perished for 185, with Muthiah Muralidaran taking three wickets.
The daunting 1996 semi-final, Kolkata
The daunting memories of the 1996 World Cup semi-final continue to haunt the Indian fans. India, who were playing at home, lost to eventual champions Sri Lanka in the semi-final. The match in Kolkata had to be abandoned after the crowd disrupted play. India, chasing 252, were suddenly down to 120/8 from 98/1 before the crowd got agitated. SL won the match by default.
India thrash SL in Johannesburg
The Sourav Ganguly-led Team India was all over Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup encounter. India smashed 292/6, with contributions from Tendulkar (97), Sehwag (66), and Ganguly (48). Ganguly used only three bowlers to dismantle the Lankans (109). Zaheer Khan (two), Javagal Srinath (four), and Ashish Nehra (four) took all 10 wickets. As many as five SL batters departed without scoring.
