Gautam Gambhir led the Indian run chase of 275 but fell three run short of his maiden World Cup century in the final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Virat Kohli's wicket gave Sri Lanka an opening to claw their way back in the game after the young Indian batsman, along with Gautam Gambhir, propped up India in the World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Kohli, after hitting Tillakaratne Dilshan for a boundary, was caught by the off spinner in the same over.
Malinga gave India two big blows early on in their innings as the Sri Lankan pacer first trapped Sehwag right in front of the wickets and then followed it up with getting the master caught behind the wickets.
Quick wickets - Thilan Samaraweera (21) and Chamara Kapugedera (1) - gave India an opening to restrict Sri Lanka before 250 in the World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
First Yuvraj trapped Samaraweera right in front, while Zaheer Khan deceived Kapugedera with a slower delivery.
Sri Lankan opener Kumar Sangakkara and hard-hitting Tillakaratne Dilshan cut loose after Zaheer Khan provided India the first breakthrough in the World Cup final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
The 43-day event has reached its finale as the two Asian giants geared up for the last battle to achieve the ultimate glory at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, where Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sagakkara won the toss and elected to bat first.
Again Indian captain MS Dhoni pulled a rabit out of his hat as he picked S Sreesanth in place of Ashish Nehra in the playing eleven.
Sri Lanka got a bigger jolt among the two sides as their key all-rounder Angelo Mathews was ruled out due to a hamstring injury. It changed their team composition altogether, which had four changes in the playing XI.
Chamara Kapugedara came in place of Chamara Silva, Suraj Randiv for Ajantha Mendis, Nuwan Kulasekara for Rangana Herath and Thissara Perera for Angelo Mathews.
Both teams, except a hiccup or two, have had a smooth journey upto the final, with India going through sterner tests against Australia and Pakistan as compared to Sri Lanka, who had smooth sailing against England and New Zealand in the last eight and last four respectively.
Though they were beaten by Pakistan in the round robin-format, it just gave them the necessary fillip to perform in the rest of the tournament.
