Firsts in World Cup 2011 final

Mumbai,April 3: It has been a first on a few fronts in the World Cup 2011 and there have been some heavy odds challenged and some jinxes broken on others as well.
For one, India, by winning the coveted trophy in its own backyard of Wankhede stadium, has become the first host country in the history of the tournament to take home the Cup. England came close in 1979 when they lost to the West Indies in the final. Since then no other host team has come near to winning the culminating match of a World Cup.Then, this is the first time ever that the captains of opposing teams contesting the final were wicket-keepers - Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India.

Thirdly, perhaps the oddest occurence this World Cup and something which generated a lot of controversy was the fact that the toss prior to the final match was conducted twice! Sangakkara apparently either forgot to call "heads" or "tails" as Dhoni flipped the coin or was too soft. But either way, it had to be done again with Sangakkara calling "tails" and winning.

Furthermore, only two teams batting second in the final have won the World Cup. Sri Lanka did it in 1996, beating Australia by 7 wickets with 22 balls remaining while Australia overhauled Pakistan's paltry total of 132 with 9 wickets remaining in 1999.

Oneindia Cricket