Sri Lanka won their third title at Sharjah, and easily their most convincing, with an unbeaten record that culminated with a record-shattering performance in the final. They demolished India by 245 runs, the biggest winning margin in any one-day international; India were all out for a miserable 54. Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya symbolised his team's dominance, winning the match award in the final for an innings of 189, five short of the one-day record. He also collected the series award – he had an overall aggregate of 413 runs at 82.60 – and picked up individual prizes for best batsman and best fielder. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan shared the limelight with 15 wickets at 9.06, including a world one-day international record of seven for 30 in the last qualifying game. Five days before the tournament, India had lost a far more closely contested final, to New Zealand, in the ICC Knockout at Nairobi, so they arrived with high hopes of continuing their Kenyan form. But despite individual successes – another hundred for Sachin Tendulkar, 85 for Rahul Dravid, further encouraging signs from the left-arm seamer, Zaheer Khan – they managed only two narrow wins over Zimbabwe. Assorted injuries and an apparent dispute between captain Sourav Ganguly and coach Anshuman Gaekwad about whether Ganguly should open the batting (he preferred to drop down the order) did not help. Zimbabwe lost all four games, though they were seriously embarrassed only once, in a 123-run defeat by Sri Lanka. There were centuries for Andy Flower and Alistair Campbell, while Travis Friend, a 19-year-old pace bowler, claimed nine wickets, a return bettered only by the Sri Lankans, Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas. . With all matches starting in the afternoon and finishing under floodlights, the evening dew made it difficult for bowlers to grip the ball. After the first round of qualifiers was completed, tournament officials agreed to amend the regulations so that the ball could be changed more frequently. Note: Matches in this section were not first-class. .

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