It almost seemed a night of salvation for the big boys - Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Three years after their side faced a crushing defeat to India in the final of the 2011 World Cup -- seven years after they were thoroughly outclassed by an Australian side led by Ricky Ponting in the 2007 World Cup final, they were finally at the podium with the trophy they so richly deserved.
Sri Lanka defeated India in the final of the 2014 T20 World Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium. Sangakkara played a match-winning innings of 52* in a low-scoring match, thanks to India's rather below-par performance with the bat.
Winning the toss and inviting the Indians to bat, Sri Lanka were able to create pressure early on in the innings, dismissing Ajinkya Rahane on 3. Virat Kohli, who shined throughout the tournament, once again played the anchor role in the Indian innings.
It almost seemed Virat was playing on a different pitch as he was able to make runs with ease. He scored 77 off 58 deliveries in an innings where only one other batsman had a strike-rate of over 100.
Yuvraj Singh, who had been the star of India's glorious World Cup triumphs in 2007 and 2011, failed miserably with the bat, scoring only 11 off 21 deliveries. India's T20 specialist batsman at the time, Suresh Raina didn't get an opportunity to bat as the Indians were restricted to 130/4.
Sri Lanka, too, faced an early setback in the innings as Kusal Perera was dismissed on 5. Tillakaratne Dilshan, too, could score only 18 before handing the catch to Virat at deep square leg.
Sangakkara, then, held one end as Jayawardene (24) and Thisara Perera (24*) played handy knocks to steer Sri Lanka to their first-ever T20 World Cup title.
Virat Kohli was named the Man of the Tournament -- a feat he would go on to repeat in the 2016 edition of the tournament as well. However, India's campaign in 2016 ended in the semifinals to eventual champions West Indies.
The 2020 T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in Australia later this year.
