It was another India/Sri Lanka encounter, and another final between these two teams, but India reversed the recent trend by thumping the home team to lift the Asia Cup for the fifth time. In what was ultimately a one-sided contest, all of India's guns finally clicked simultaneously, and Sri Lanka were left to rue errant shot selection against a brilliant Indian seam attack, led by Ashish Nehra, who ripped through the upper middle order and never gave Sri Lanka a chance to chase down a challenging Indian total.
Batting first, India started well. Dinesh Karthik did most of the scoring, while Gautam Ghambir was run out going for a non-existent third to leave India at 38/1 in the 6th over. It didn't stop Karthik, who took 12 runs from the next over, as he and Virat Kohli continued. Kohli was caught behind off Malinga for a brisk 28, and Karthik murdered a teasing full toss from part-timer Thilina Kandamby, only to be caught at the deep square leg boundary by Mahela Jayawardene for 66. But the steady run-accumulation by the Indians put pressure on the Sri Lankans. Farveez Maharoof, the hero of the last game for Sri Lanka, conceded two boundaries in fielding errors, and lots of return throws were wild and allowed the Indian batsmen to take risky runs. Kandamby struck again to remove Dhoni, who fell to a good catch from Nuwan Kulasekera for 38. India were in tricky waters at 170/4, but more ordinary fielding allowed Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina to rebuild the innings with a 50-run partnership. Malinga accounted for Raina with a deadly yorker for 29, and Maharoof actually held onto a catch to get Sharma for 41, but Ravindra Jadeja survived what Hawk-eye thought was a straightforward shout from Muttiah Muralitharan to spur India to 268/6.
Things went wrong for Sri Lanka in the 1st over, as Tillekeratne Dilshan miscued a pull off Zaheer Khan to Harbhajan Singh for 0. Khan, Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra kept Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara tied up. Tharanga left one from Khan that nipped back in to pop the off-stump, and Mahela Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews and Sangakkara were dismissed in quick succession to knock the teeth out of the Sri Lankan chase. Only Chamara Kapugedera stuck around, but his 55 from 81 spoke more of the control the Indian bowlers exercised than it did anything about the Sri Lankan batting. He was unbeaten and watched the procession of wickets, which ended with Murali edging Ravindra Jadeja to Dhoni. Sri Lanka folded for 187, giving victory, and the Asia Cup, to India.
So after a disappointing run in limited-overs tournament (the Twenty20 World Cup and the Micromax Cup in Zimbabwe), India arrested the decline with a convincing victory over their island neighbors. Nobody made a big score, but batting partnerships of 38, 62, 46, 21, 50 and 32 meant that Sri Lanka had to fight for every wicket, a job that their lackluster fielding made difficult. The pace attack removed Sri Lanka's trump card in Dilshan, and ensured that the now-solid middle order of Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Mathews joined him. With the 2011 World Cup drawing closer, India will feel confident of a better showing than what they delivered in the 2007 tournament, but first they have another series against Sri Lanka to contend with. As Asia Cup champions, though, they probably won't mind.