Asia Cup 2008: Sri Lanka Win Fourth Title by 100 Runs at Karachi — Ajantha Mendis 6/13 and Jayasuriya 125 Beat India at National Stadium

Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup 2008 on 6 July 2008 at National Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan, defeating India by 100 runs. Sri Lanka scored 273 all out in 49.5 overs, Sanath Jayasuriya top-scoring with 125 off 114 balls. India, chasing 274, were bowled out for 173 in 39.3 overs. Ajantha Mendis took 6/13 — winning both Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament, Mendis taking 17 wickets across the competition. Mahela Jayawardene captained Sri Lanka; MS Dhoni captained India. It was Sri Lanka's fourth Asia Cup title.

Ajantha Mendis 6/13: The Most Destructive Spell in an Asia Cup Final

Ajantha Mendis' 6/13 — India's innings collapsing from a 274-run chase to 173 all out in 39.3 overs — gave the 2008 Asia Cup final one of the most destructive individual bowling performances in the competition's history. Mendis, the right-arm mystery spinner from Sri Lanka who had announced himself to world cricket in 2008 with a series of unplayable deliveries against batters who could not read his carrom-ball and seam-spin variations, taking 6/13 in a 50-over final in Karachi gave the 2008 edition a definitive match-within-a-match narrative: India chasing 274 (manageable against standard bowling) but dismantled by 6 Mendis wickets that reduced their chase to 173 all out, 100 runs short. Mendis' 6/13 in the final, combined with 17 wickets across the entire 2008 Asia Cup tournament (both awards — Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament — going to the same bowler), reflected how comprehensively Mendis had dominated Asia Cup 2008 as a bowling force.

Sanath Jayasuriya 125 Off 114: The Batting Anchor That Built Sri Lanka's 273

Sanath Jayasuriya's 125 off 114 balls — Sri Lanka's 273 all out in 49.5 overs giving India the 274-run target that Mendis' 6/13 made impossible to chase — was the batting counterpart to Mendis' bowling dominance in the 2008 Asia Cup final. Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka's left-handed opening batter and one of the most destructive ODI openers of the 1990s and 2000s, scoring 125 off 114 at Karachi in what was one of his final years as a consistent Sri Lanka first-choice ODI batter, gave Sri Lanka's 273/10 the first-innings total that set up Mendis' 6/13 to win the title. The combination of Jayasuriya's 125 (building the total) and Mendis' 6/13 (dismantling the chase) gave the 2008 Asia Cup final two performances at opposite ends of the cricket skillset — attacking opening batting and mystery spin bowling — that together produced Sri Lanka's 100-run win in Karachi.

Asia Cup 2008 in Context

The Asia Cup 2008 — played in Pakistan in June-July 2008 — was the 9th edition of the competition. Sri Lanka's 100-run win over India — Jayasuriya 125 off 114 building 273/10, Mendis 6/13 collapsing India's chase to 173 all out — gave Sri Lanka their fourth Asia Cup title (previous: 1986, 1997, 2004) and confirmed Mahela Jayawardene's Sri Lanka team as the dominant force in 50-over Asian cricket across the mid-2000s period. Ajantha Mendis' 17 tournament wickets (Player of the Tournament) and 6/13 final performance (Player of the Match) — both awards to the same player — gave the 2008 Asia Cup the most complete individual bowling tournament in the competition's history. India, under MS Dhoni (in the early months of his India captaincy that would go on to win the 2011 World Cup), were the runners-up in Karachi, bowled out 100 runs short on a final where Mendis' spin proved unplayable.