Top 5 International Innings in a Tournament Final in a Losing Cause

1. Mahela Jayawardene 103* vs India (ICC World Cup, 2011):

The grandest stage of all – World Cup Final. Sri Lanka meets India to decide who will rule the ODI world for the next four years. Sri Lanka having won the toss decided to bat first. Sri Lanka posted 274/6 in their 50 overs. A brilliant century by Mahela Jayawardene set the tone for it. Jayawardene’s unbeaten innings of 103 was a flawless one. He struck boundaries and rotated the strike with ease, and was supported by Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera in the batting Powerplay.

Indian chase was hindered when they lost Sehwag on the second ball and Tendulkar in the 7th over. But run by run, over by over, minute by minute, India picked themselves up, dusted themselves down, and turned the screw on Sri Lanka with a determination that a lesser group of men could not have begun to muster, amid the sure knowledge that several billion countrymen were investing all their hopes in their actions. And though he himself played just a walk-on part in the wider drama, it was Tendulkar who was chaired from the field as the celebrations began in earnest. “He’s carried the burden of our nation for 21 years,” said the youngster Kohli. “It was time to carry him on our shoulders today.”

Twenty-eight years on from the match that transformed the history of world cricket, India recaptured the crown that Kapil Dev and his men first lifted at Lord’s in 1983, and this time they did so in their very own back yard.

Author’s Bio: Israr Ahmed Hashmi is a cricket writer and statistician based in Lahore. He has been following every cricket game since 2006 and writes for CricLens, Cricistan, CricketWorld, CricTracker and blogs for The Express Tribune Blogs Pakistan.