#Champions

I've been meaning to write this post for 5 days now and today I finally am blessed with the time to do it! 5 days has it been since we earned the T20 world cup... Woah what a night that was! After failing in 5 world cup finals since 1996, we finally have succeeded. I have never felt any prouder than I was that moment to be Sri Lankan.

I was lucky enough to attend a must win match against New Zealand which turned out to be an absolutely insane cricketing experience of all time. We were made to bat first and were limited to 119 runs. 119 in general is not considered a winning total yet the Lions stood strong and confident, we cheered on as our heroes fought. It was Rangana Herath who spearheaded the Lankan counterattack; taking 5 wickets giving away just 3 runs. We bowled the Kiwis out for 60 runs. It by far is the best victory that I've ever witnessed in the Lankan cricket history.

That match ensured our entry into the semi finals which was against the fierce West Indians. It was yet another tough game for they were the defending champions. But that did not stop the Lions from going forth in the tournament. Finally we had to face the mighty cricketing giants, India in a final which would yield us the piece of silverware that 20 million hearts had been yearning for for the last decade and a half!

I will not forget that great night of fun. My friends and I gathered on the 6th of April 2014 to watch the match together. It was a nervous encounter for both parties. We won the toss and chose to field. India did well with the bat up until the 15th over but the whole situation changed in the last 5 overs. We were able to limit them to 130 runs and from then on it was Sri Lanka all the way. That was an emotional match not only because its a world cup final, but also because it would be the last T20 international of two of the worlds best cricketers of all time and my most favorite players, Sangakkara and Mahela! The whole country wanted so badly to see them leave the T20 stage in style which they did and did very well. Sangakkara's glorious knock of 52 from 39 balls crushed the Indian dreams earning Sri Lanka her first and well deserved T20 world cup. Now that its ours, we do not want to let go :D.