( CNN ) -- Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni guided India to a second Cricket World Cup title on Saturday as his team beat tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final in Mumbai . Dhoni , the world 's highest-paid player , produced his best performance of the six-week-long event when it mattered most as India passed Sri Lanka 's total of 274-6 with 10 balls of the allotted 50 overs to spare . The 29-year-old smashed the winning runs with a huge six over the boundary ropes to finish the innings unbeaten on 91 off only 79 balls faced . He set up victory with his fourth-wicket partnership of 109 with Gautam Gambhir , who top-scored with an invaluable 97 , after coming to the batting crease at 114-3 in the 22nd over . Duel of the cricket demi-gods . Sri Lanka , winners of the tournament in 1996 and runners-up in the last staging four years ago , set a potentially testing target for India thanks to an unbeaten 103 from captain Mahela Jayawardene . With the victory , India -- the top-ranked team in cricket 's five-day Test format -- assumed the No . 1 position in the limited-overs game ahead of previous champions Australia . It was a successful farewell for India 's South African coach Gary Kirsten , who is ending his four-year tenure . The final , the first between two Asian teams in the tournament 's 36-year history , was billed as a battle between two of the game 's greatest players : India batsman Sachin Tendulkar and his fellow record-setter , bowler Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka . When cricket means more than just a match . However , the 37-year-old Tendulkar made only 18 after opening the Indian innings , meaning that the world 's highest run-scorer in all formats of the game finished second in this tournament behind Sri Lanka 's Tillakaratne Dilshan -- who added 33 for an overall total of 500 runs from nine innings . However , he had the satisfaction of earning his first World Cup win in his sixth appearance at the tournament since 1992 , playing on his home ground where he made his first-class debut for Bombay with a century at the age of 15 . `` I could n't have asked for more , '' Tendulkar told the crowd after being carried around the Wankhede Stadium on the shoulders of his teammates . `` Winning the World Cup is the ultimate thing . It is the proudest moment of my life . It shows it is never too late . I thank my teammates , who were fabulous . I could not really hold back my tears . These are happy tears so I do n't mind crying . '' Muralitharan , playing his final match before retiring , was unable to add to his 15 wickets in the tournament as he was visibly hampered by the injuries that threatened to rule him out of the match . Murali , who turns 39 next month , ended his career with a record 800 Test and 534 one-day wickets . India 's Zaheer Khan picked up two more wickets to join Shahid Afridi as the tournament 's leading bowler on 21 , having played one more match after his team beat Pakistan in the semifinals on Wednesday . Sri Lanka won the pre-match toss of the coin and chose to bat first , but needed late fireworks from Jayawardene -- who scored his runs off only 88 balls -- plus Nuwan Kulasekara ( 32 ) and Thisara Perera ( 22 ) after a mid-innings dip . Fast bowler Lasith Malinga gave Sri Lanka hope when he dismissed both Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag ( 0 ) but Gambhir added 83 with Virat Kohli ( 35 ) to steady the run chase . Dhoni then upped the scoring rate , and India appeared to be cruising until Gambhir attempted a rash shot in sight of his 10th one-day century and was bowled by Perera . That left India needing 52 to win off 54 balls , but Dhoni turned the tide again when he hit the first six of India 's innings off Perera -- and then survived an appeal for a run out that required several replays before the video umpire made his ruling . Dhoni was given able assistance by Yuvraj Singh , who ended the game unbeaten on 21 from 24 balls and was later named man of the tournament for his consistent displays with bat and ball .
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smashes winning runs for India with huge six . Dhoni scores an unbeaten 91 runs as India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in Mumbai . Co-hosts Sri Lanka had posted a total of 274-6 after batting first in the final . - The Indian cricket team wins its second consecutive World Cup title beating Pakistan by five wickets at Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh.