The Final: Mahela shows India batting powerplay,Lanka 274

Zaheer Khan8217;s last over gave away 18 runs and Sri Lanka made 63 in the batting powerplay of 5 overs.

Earlier,Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara won a good toss but the team kept losing wickets at crucial moments.

India for its part produced an impressive bowling and fielding display but could not hold on to that advantage in the last 10 overs when they got beat all over the field by Jayawardene.

The sixth wicket to fall was Kulusekara,run out to M S Dhoni for 30 off 32 balls.

Before him,Chamara Kapugedera went for 1,bowled Zaheer Khan and caught in the cover by Suresh Raina.

Zaheer8217;s experience came into play as he took the pace off the ball,pitched a gentle length delivery and lured Kapugedera forward. Kapugedera was early into the shot and ended up chipping a dolly to Raina at short cover.

With Kapugedera8217;s wicket,Zaheer also equalled Shahid Afridi as leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 21 scalps.

The fourth batsman to walk back to the pavilion was Thilan Samaraweera at 21,trapped leg before to a Yuvraj Singh delivery. The original decision of umpire Simon Tauffel was not out which the third umpire overruled after the Indians went for a review.

Yuvraj Singh also picked up Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara who was looking dangerous at 48.

After losing opener Upal Tharanga with just 17 on the board,Tillakaratne Dilshan and captain Kumar Sangakkara put on 43 for the second wicket before Dilshan was bowled around his legs for 33 by offspinner Harbhajan Singh.

Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara then put on 62 runs off 68 balls and were looking to break free when Yuvraj Singh picked up Sangakkara. He was caught behind by Dhoni.

Seamer Zaheer Khan set the trend with a flawless spell of bowling,taking 1 for 6 runs from his first five overs.

Khan8217;s first three overs were maidens and he got a ball to straighten to start his fourth over. Tharanga edged the delivery to Virender Sehwag at slip and was dismissed for 2.

Sri Lanka had managed only nine runs in the first five overs.

Dilshan was gaining in confidence when Harbhajan made the most of the bounce in the Wankhede Stadium wicket. His legside delivery struck Dilshan on his hand and the ball bounced onto his leg before hitting the stumps.

On 33,Dilshan reached 500 runs for the World Cup tournament. He is currently the top scorer but could be passed later in the day by Sachin Tendulkar.

Earlier,Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara won a bizarre toss in his second attempt at the start of the final match against India at the Wankhede stadium,Mumbai.

Two coin tosses were necessary before the start of match when nobody including match referee Jeff Crowe appeared to hear Kumar Sangakkara8217;s call the first time. Sangakkara8217;s voice was drowned by the roar of the 32,000-strong crowd watching the match.

The Sri Lanka captain won the second toss and predictably elected to bat first.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in temperamental seamer S Sreesanth in place of the injured Ashish Nehra,laying to rest incessant speculation whether offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin would get a look in for the final.

But Dhoni had hinted he preferred a seamer in the pre-match press conference when he said the wicket will have initial bounce and pace and will later assist some reverse swing.

The rest of the Indian team is the same as the semifinal squad.

Veteran Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan has overcome all niggling injuries and will play the final against India,his 350th outing in the middle and his last.

The Sri Lankan eleven also sees the inclusion of Chamara Kapugedera,Nuwan Kulasekara,Thisara Perera and Suraj Randiv,in place of the injured Angelo Mathews.

Ajantha Mendes,Rangana Herath and Chamara Silva are out.

The country grounded to a halt on Saturday for one of its biggest days,with cricket fans willing the team to overcome Sri Lanka and lift the World Cup trophy in Mumbai8217;s Wankhede Stadium.

Co-hosts India and Sri Lanka will be gunning for their second World Cup title. The showdown will also be the last on-field duel between Sachin Tendulkar and Muttiah Muralitharan 8212; the best batsman and the most successful bowler of the era. Muralitharan,the only survivor from Sri Lanka8217;s 1996 World Cup winning team,is determined to take the field despite battling hamstring and knee injuries.

It will be Tendulkar8217;s sixth and last shot at adding the only major trophy missing from his glittering cabinet and this time he has the backing of his home crowd at Wankhede Stadium.

More than a billion Indians will hope that the master batsman gets to his hundredth ton and end the country8217;s 28-year wait for a second 50-over crown.

Led by two stumper-batsmen in M S Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara,both the neighbours have lost only one match in their campaign so far.

If India beat Sri Lanka,they would have beaten all past world champions on their path to victory 8212; West Indies in their last group stage match,Australia in the quarter-finals and Pakistan in the semi-finals.

Struck by cricket fever

In a city struck by terrorism in 2008,security was tight,especially around the downtown stadium where 32,000 fans were due to watch the game. More than 3,000 police officers and paramilitaries were on duty to prevent a repeat of the November 2008 attack by Islamist militants on several targets in the western city,which killed 166 people.

Both teams were staying in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel,rebuilt after it was partially destroyed in gun fights involving the attackers in 2008.

Police with bamboo sticks were patrolling with armed paramilitaries around the stadium and newspapers reported a no-fly zone had been imposed over south Mumbai.

Local media reported tickets,sold out for months,were selling on the black market for more than Rs 1 lakh.

A city tabloid reported that International Cricket Council ICC officials bringing a silver replica of the World Cup trophy to India were allegedly stopped at Mumbai Airport by customs officials who demanded tickets for the final in exchange for a waiver on taxes and duties. With the trophy safely already at Wankhede Stadium,the story continues,the unnamed ICC official reportedly told the customs officers the trophy would be collected on departure.

The leaders of both countries were expected to attend Saturday8217;s final and most businesses closed for the day.

Any roads around the stadium that weren8217;t closed were teeming with fans by 10 am,more than four hours before the start. Most were wearing India shirts with the name 8221;Tendulkar8221; on the back after the nation8217;s most famous citizen,batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

Confidence is high among the team8217;s millions of fans that India can end its 28-year wait for a World Cup win.

ICC president Sharad Pawar on Friday warned spectators that they should arrive at the stadium in plenty of time before the game,which begins at 2.30 pm local time.

By mid morning,only a scattering of ticket-holders were in the stadium after negotiating multiple and very hands-on security checks on the way.

Facts and figures

Head-to-head record:

India lead 67-50 NR: 11

In the World Cups: Sri Lanka lead 4-2

In the sub-continent: India lead 59-46 NR: 9

Results in last five head-to-head ODIs

22 Jun 2010 Dambulla: Sri Lanka won by seven wickets

24 Jun 2010 Dambulla: India won by 81 runs

16 Aug 2010 Dambulla: India won by six wickets

22 Aug 2010 Dambulla: Sri Lanka won by eight wickets

28 Aug 2010 Dambulla: Sri Lanka won by 74 runs

At the Wankhede,they are tied at 1-1. India won the first encounter by 10 runs in 1987. In 1997 Sri Lanka beat India by five wickets.

Both teams finished second in their respective groups. Sri Lanka WWWW,NR,WLW lost to Pakistan and had a washed out tie against Australia. India WWWLWWTW lost to South Africa and tied against England.

Besides the hiccup against Pakistan,Sri Lanka beat Canada by 210 runs,Kenya by nine wickets,Zimbabwe by 139 runs and New Zealand by 112 runs. They thumped England by 10 wickets in the last eight before defeating New Zealand again in the semi-finals by five wickets.

India have had a more bumpy ride as they enjoyed two comfortable wins 8212; beating Bangladesh by 87 runs and West Indies by 80 runs 8212; were stretched before beating second tier teams Ireland and Netherlands by five wickets,tied with England and suffered a three-wicket loss to South Africa. However,a five-wicket win over four-times champions Australia and a 29-run win against Pakistan in the knockout rounds will have boosted them.

As the Indians have been tested,they are likely to withstand pressure better than Sri Lanka,whose middle order,till the semi-finals,had faced a total of 29 balls in six games.

The top order of both the teams dominate the run scoring charts. Sri Lanka have their top three batsmen in the Top 5 run scorers of this World Cup,with Tillakaratne Dilshan 467 runs leading the tally. Kumar Sangakkara 417 runs and Upul Tharanga 393 runs at numbers four and five respectively.

For India,Sachin Tendulkar is once close to being the leading run scorer as he is three runs behind Dilshan 464 runs. India have two more batsmen in the Top 10,with Virender Sehwag 380 runs and Yuvraj Singh 341 runs at numbers six and eight respectively.

India have two more batsmen,Gautam Gambhir 296 runs and Virat Kohli 247 runs at numbers 15 and 20 respectively,they have no other batsmen in the Top 30.

India will need to take wickets as the Sri Lankan top order have stunning averages 8212; Sangakkara topping the league with 104.25,and Dilshan 66.71 and Tharanga 65.50 not doing badly either.

Sri Lanka will have to curb the rate of run flow at the top of the batting order with Sehwag scoring at a strike rate of 123.37.

On the bowling front,Zaheer Khan 19 wickets and Yuvraj Singh 13 wickets have led the way for India. Muttiah Muralitharan 15 wickets and Lasith Malinga 11 wickets have provided Sri Lanka the breakthroughs when they needed it. Dilshan seven wickets at an average of 14.14 has bowled very well in the last few matches

Where Sri Lanka seem to have a distinctive edge is in the economy of their bowling figures. Ajantha Mendis at 3.14 RPO,Dilshan at 3.80,Muralitharan at 4.00,Rangana Herath at 4.27. Harbhajan Singh with an economy of 4.41,heads the list for India but is at a lowly 36th ranked place.

More teams batting first 11-6 have emerged victorious at the Wankhede.