2014 T20 World Cup

Result

Player of the Match (Final)

Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka

Tournament format

16 teams: an 8-team qualifying "First Round" (the lowest-ranked sides) fed 2 survivors into a 10-team "Super 10" stage alongside the 8 highest-ranked full members and the host nation. Two Super 10 groups of 5, then semi-finals and a final.

Full match archive

Every match of the 2014 tournament, not just the final — all 34 group-stage, Super 8 and semi-final matches. See all 34 matches →

Final: match context

Sri Lanka won their first World Twenty20 title at the third attempt, beating India by 6 wickets in Dhaka in a final that doubled as a golden send-off for two of the sport's modern greats. Batting first, India were carried by Virat Kohli, who made 77 off 58 balls -- five fours and four sixes at a strike rate above 130 -- in another standout tournament innings from a player already establishing himself as the format's most consistent run-scorer. Rohit Sharma supported with 29, but a subdued 11 off 21 balls from the usually explosive Yuvraj Singh drew heavy criticism afterwards for slowing India's momentum in the closing overs; India finished on 130 for 4; a total that, in hindsight, always looked at least 15-20 runs short of a match-winning score on that surface. Sri Lanka's reply was steered from the outset by captain Kumar Sangakkara, who batted through the innings for an unbeaten 52 off 35 balls -- six fours and a six -- anchoring the chase with the calm authority that had defined his career. A crucial late cameo of 23 off 14 balls from Thisara Perera provided the acceleration needed to close out the target, and Sri Lanka completed the chase with more than two overs to spare, sparking jubilant celebrations among the Sri Lankan players and travelling fans. The result carried deep emotional resonance: the final doubled as the international Twenty20 retirement match for both Sangakkara and his long-time batting partner and former captain Mahela Jayawardene, drawing the curtain on one of the format's most celebrated partnerships. Jayawardene became the first batsman in the format's history to reach 1,000 career runs in World Twenty20 cricket during the tournament, adding a personal milestone to the occasion. For Sri Lanka as a team, the title was a case of third time lucky, having lost finals in 2009 and 2012 -- the same "nearly men" frustration Sangakkara's own generation had repeatedly experienced at ICC finals across formats finally being answered on home soil in the region, in front of one of the format's most passionate fanbases. For India, it was a second runner-up finish in the competition (after 2007's triumph), continuing a run of agonisingly close finishes in major ICC white-ball finals during this period of the sport. Sangakkara's player-of-the-match innings, delivered in the final act of an illustrious career, remains one of the format's most fitting individual farewells.

Sources

• Wikipedia: 2014 World Twenty20 final
• Wikipedia: 2014 ICC World Twenty20