#OTD in 2008: Ajantha Mendis ran down the Indian batting unit to help SL Win Asia Cup

On this day in 2008, the lesser-known spinner Ajantha Mendis wreaked havoc with his extraordinary exhibition of spin bowling to stun the Indian batting unit and help Sri Lanka to win the Asia Cup at Karachi. 

Both had two wins in the Super four stage and qualified for the finals. However, India were too good for the Lankans in the last fixture of the Super four. 

MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first, which turned out to be a great decision, as Sri Lanka lost four wickets in the first 12 overs of the innings. The key players, Kumar Sangakkara (4) and Mahela Jayawardene (11), failed to score enough runs in the all-important match. 

However, Sanath Jayasuriya was at his lethal best to hit 125 from 114, with nine fours and five sixes. At the other end, he got support from Tillakaratne Dilshan (56). In the lower order, Nuwan Kulasekara remained unbeaten on 29, which propelled Sri Lanka to post 273 on the board. 

The pacers RP Singh and Ishant Sharma scalped three wickets each, while Irfan Pathan picked two wickets for India. 

Vaas dismissed Gautam Gambhir (6) in the fifth over. However, Virender Sehwag played his natural game and hit boundaries all over the park. Sehwag’s partnership with Suresh Raina had fetched 40 off 25 balls, and the MS Dhoni-led side were cruising well. 

Jayawardene introduced Mendis into the attack, which did the trick for them. In the second ball of the 10th over, Sehwag tried to charge towards Mendis, but the spinner was intelligent with his variations to dart in a half-pitched ball to make the experienced opener stumped for a well-made 60 off 36. 

Then the vice-captain Yuvraj Singh made his way back to the pavilion for a duck after being bowled in the fourth ball of the over. A couple of overs later, Raina (16) was dismissed similarly. 

Looking at the youngster’s rhythm, skipper Jayawardene continued him at one end, which got another wicket in the form of Rohit Sharma (3), who was adjudged LBW after failing to read the line of the ball correctly. 

The talented spinner dismissed the likes of Irfan Pathan and RP Singh as well and finished with terrific figures of 6/13 in eight overs. 

MS Dhoni (49) and Robin Uthappa (20) tried well but could not take the team home, as India were bundled out for 173. This was the fourth Asia Cup title for the Sri Lankan team. 

Mendis was awarded as Player of the Series for contributing 17 wickets and 46 runs.