Gautam Gambhir (97) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (91) led India to its second World Cup victory, and denied Sri Lanka a repeat of its 1996 win.
“Every loose ball they make it count and unfortunately we bowled too many today,” captain Sangakkara said. “This is probably the one off day for our bowling attack and India made us pay.”
Co-host Sri Lanka relied on one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament on it way to its second consecutive World Cup final, spinners Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis combining with seamers Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews.
Mathews was ruled out of the final with a thigh strain, which Sangakkara described as a “huge setback,” while Mendis was dropped as Sri Lanka looked to strengthen its batting lineup in the absence of all-rounder Mathews.
Muralitharan appeared to be slowed by the succession of injuries he picked up through his final international tournament — although Sangakkara denied it.
It meant Sri Lanka was unable to keep the pressure on after Mahela Jayawardene led the team to a competitive 274, and Malinga removed India's openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar cheaply.
To add to Sri Lanka's woes, Nuwan Kulasekara dropped a difficult chance in the deep when Gambhir was on 30.
“People don't try to miss catches but you've got to take those half chances in crucial games,” Sangakkara said.
“274 was great. In a final, runs on the board is very important. Then again, you also have to penetrate with our bowling attack. Lasith Malinga did a great job with the first two wickets but with that India batting lineup, you need to take at least three or four in the first 20 overs.” Sangakkara stressed that victory was always going to be a difficult task against “the best top seven in ODI cricket.”
“Where we lost the game is how Gautam Gambhir and M.S. Dhoni batted,” he said. “They were absolutely fantastic and when you have such an awesome batting lineup sometimes you realize 270, 300 is not enough.” Sri Lanka has now lost three limited-over finals in a row after defeats in the 2007 World Cup final and the 2009 World Twenty20.
“We can be very proud of the way we played our cricket,” Sangakkara said. “Unfortunately we couldn't convert. It doesn't make the tournament a bad one.
“We've got to three finals. We've lost three finals. We need to lift ourselves a bit more, playing in finals is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we didn't grab the opportunity today.”
