On this day in 2008: Sri Lanka lift Asia Cup in Karachi

July 6, 2008 was the day when Sri Lanka rewrote history and won the Asia Cup in Karachi after defeating the mighty India. Both teams fought long and hard to make it to the summit clash of the tournament and the day finally arrived when they faced off against one another.

Coming in to bat after losing the toss, Sri Lanka got off to the best of starts as opener Sanath Jayasuriya hit a magnificent ton. Scoring 125 runs in 114 balls, Jayasuriya played one of the most memorable innings in the match when his side needed it the most. However, apart from Jayasuriya, none of the other top-order batters were able to make a significant contribution to the score, barring Tilakratne Dilshan, whose 56 off 74 helped propel Sri Lanka to a total of 273 runs in the first innings.

RP Singh and Ishant Sharma were the highest wicket takers for India as both pacers took three wickets each. Furthermore, Irfan Pathan took two wickets, whereas Virender Sehwag struck once.

Aiming to chase down a target of 274 runs, the Indian batting lineup was unable to make an impact. Gautam Gambhir was sent packing for just six runs as India got off to a horrid start. Virender Sehwag was the highest run-getter during the run chase as he amassed 60 runs in 36 deliveries.

Suresh Raina scored just 16 runs while Yuvraj Singh was dismissed for a duck. Skipper MS Dhoni did attempt to get India over the line, scoring 49 runs, however, it was not enough. Robin Uthappa’s late push of 20 runs ended up being in vain too as Sri Lanka won the game by 100 runs after bundling India out for just 173 runs.