A veteran and a rookie steal the show

Sri Lanka equalled India's mark of four Asia Cup wins with their 100-run triumph in the final in Karachi. A few statistical highlights from the game

Cricinfo staff

06-Jul-2008

Sri Lanka equalled India's mark of four Asia Cup wins with their 100-run triumph in the final in Karachi. Here are a few statistical highlights from the game.

Sanath Jayasuriya's assault was more than enough for India with Ajantha Mendis bamboozling the batsmen © AFP

Sanath Jayasuriya's innings of 125 off 114 balls is the highest in an Asia Cup final, and came in his 25th appearance in the tournament, the most by any player.

Jayasuriya finished the tournament as the leading run-getter; his total of 378 runs is the most for an edition of the Asia Cup. He remains the highest run-scorer in the Asia Cup, with 1220 runs at an average of 53.04.

This was Jayasuriya's second hundred in tournament finals; in all, he has scored 1577 runs at an average of 43.80 and strike-rate of 97.88, of which 1160 have come in 20 wins, with an average of 61.05 and strike-rate of nearly 100. Both his hundreds have come in finals against India.

His hundred was only the second in a tournament final in Pakistan; the first was Aravinda de Silva's match-winning 107 not out in the 1996 World Cup final.

Jayasuriya held the record for most sixes in tournament finals, and with his nine fours in this innings, he went past Sachin Tendulkar's mark of 167 fours in finals.

Sri Lanka were struggling at 66 for 4 at one stage, but the fifth-wicket partnership between Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan pushed them towards a respectable total. The 131-run stand was the second-best for the fifth wicket in the Asia Cup.

Jayasuriya enjoyed batting against the fast bowlers, but slowed down against the spinners, and was dismissed by Virender Sehwag. He scored 88 off 60 balls off the fast bowlers, but was pegged back by the spinners, managing just 37 off 54. His fifty came off 43 balls, and he then took 26 off an over from RP Singh to move to 87 off 58. He needed a further 21 balls to reach his hundred, and his final 25 runs came off 35 deliveries.

Jayasuriya v India's bowlers
Bowler	Runs scored	Balls faced
RP Singh	40	15
Irfan Pathan	23	18
Ishant Sharma	25	27
Pragyan Ojha	17	24
Virender Sehwag	15	20
Rohit Sharma	5	10

Ajantha Mendis, playing his eighth ODI, picked up the first six-wicket haul in the Asia Cup. His 6 for 13 is the third-best bowling performance in a tournament final, and the third-best for a spinner in ODIs.

Mendis' figures are among the most economical for a five-wicket haul.

His 17 wickets is the best for an edition of the Asia Cup, and he bagged those wickets at an astounding average of 8.52.

Sehwag's 60 came at a strike-rate of 166.66, finding a place in the most quickfire 50-plus scores in tournament finals and in the Asia Cup. Sehwag fell while trying to give Mendis the charge: this was only the second time that he had been stumped in an ODI.

Sehwag's brisk start ensured India had reached 76 for 1 in nine overs, before Mendis derailed the chase, striking twice in the tenth over. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, made slow progress in the first ten overs before Jayasuriya teed off.

Over comparison
Overs	Runs scored by Sri Lanka	Run-rate	Average per wicket	India	Run-rate	Average per wicket
1-10	50	5.00	25.00	78	7.80	26.00
11-20	87	8.70	43.50	33	3.30	16.50
21-30	43	4.30	-	37	3.70	37.00
31-40	36	3.60	18.00	25	2.63	6.25
41-50	57	5.79	14.25	-	-	-

India's woeful run in tournament finals continued. They have now lost 18 of 25 finals since 1999, with four no-results. They haven't won a final against Sri Lanka since 1998.

Ajantha Mendis Sanath Jayasuriya Sri Lanka India Sri Lanka vs India Asia Cup

Inputs provided by HR Gopalakrishna, a Bangalore-based statistician