Not without controversy or melodrama, the Indian dream came true. In the euphoric atmosphere of the Wankhede Stadium India won the 10th World Cup final by six wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Ultimately, in the battle of the captains Mahendra Dhoni, after a dodgy start to the day, prevailed in a pulsating climax to the tournament. There were suggestions that Dhoni had been hoodwinked at the toss by Kumar Sangakkara, but it was the India captain who had the last laugh when the fireworks exploded into the night sky of Mumbai.

Dhoni took the responsibility for winning the match with a brilliant innings of 91 from 79 balls. He has not been in great form in this tournament so what did he do? He promoted himself to No5 when the third wicket fell at 114 for 3, ahead of the man deemed to be the player of the tournament, Yuvraj Singh. The target of 275 seemed a long way off.

Dhoni settled in leisurely fashion, or so it seemed, happy to pat the ball back in defence and to let Gautam Gambhir do most of the scoring. But, imperceptibly, it was Dhoni who took charge. Forget the fairytale finish that had Sachin Tendulkar or Muttiah Muralitharan contriving a tear-stained swan song. The epitome of new India dominated the match. Dhoni is young enough to lead India to the next World Cup when he will be quite a rich man.

Tendulkar could only contribute the briefest of cameos in his home town, 18 in 14 balls. As for Muralitharan, initially he was treated with respect, but towards the end Dhoni punched him through the covers with awesome power. By the standards of old, Murali was bowling donkey drops and with his body creaking, he could not muster any more venom. Towards the end he held out his hands in exasperation at the wet ball, at the mis-fields, but the true cause of his despair was the realisation that he was impotent to stem the Indian tide. Sangakkara did not even turn to him when the position was dire.

Meanwhile, Dhoni alongside Gambhir, the artisan within the India team, paced the chase with few frills. They added a crucial 109 together for the fourth wicket after Gambhir was bowled by Thisara Perera three short of his century. Out came Yuvraj, so much later than expected, but it was Dhoni, the most chilled man in Mumbai, who led his side to victory in a masterful innings. He finished it with a six.

It may be that Sri Lanka tried to be too clever by half. They shuffled their side dramatically, making four changes from the semi-final, only one of them forced after Angelo Mathews's injury. Ajantha Mendis, the unorthodox spinner, was omitted on the basis that the Indians play him rather well. In this tournament Mendis has been bowling rather well, but that was not deemed to be sufficiently relevant.

Who knows whether Sangakkara was trying too cute half an hour before the start as well? It is not often that the toss is a remarkable event in a cricket match, but it was here. With microphone in hand the host Ravi Shastri was his usual ebullient self, saying something along the lines of "this is the greatest match in the history of mankind".

Mahendra Dhoni tossed the coin. No one quite heard what Sangakkara called. Shastri announced that the coin, specially minted (and soon available from the ICC via auction – they try not to miss any opportunity for making a bit more dosh) had come down displaying a head. Then there was confusion since Sangakkara was certainly not volunteering that he had called "tails". Briefly the captains stared at one another.

Swiftly the match referee, Jeff Crowe, demanded another toss, which was undoubtedly won by Sangakkara. The whole episode was an embarrassment to the affable Crowe. In the final between Australia and Sri Lanka four years ago in Barbados he did not know when the game should finish. Here he could not get the final under way properly.

So had Sangakkara pulled a fast one? One snippet for the prosecution: if Sangakkara had called heads the first time around surely he would have made much more of a fuss when there was the suggestion of another toss? He, like Dhoni, was very keen, to bat first. Instead, he was all equivocation. Being a lawyer, Sangakkara will have an articulate defence, albeit a soft-spoken one, I suppose.

Steadily, Sri Lanka with their top-heavy batting line-up laid their foundations with Mahela Jayawardene to the fore. Immediately he suggested he was in sublime form and more than equal to the occasion. Singles were tapped from the middle of his bat. Then he began tapping the ball effortlessly to the boundary. There was never a crude shot.

Sangakkara was caught behind off Yuvraj for 48 but Jayawardene's composure never wavered alongside handy allies Thilan Samaraweera, Numan Kulasekera and Perera, who walloped 22 from nine balls at the end.

Sri Lanka caused mayhem in the final overs. In the batting power play, taken by necessity in the 46th over, they cracked 63 runs. Jayawardene cruised to his century in 84 balls. Zaheer Khan, who yielded six runs in his first five overs, gave away 54 in his next five, 18 off his last over.

Virender Sehwag can shrink a target in no time, but he was lbw to Lasith Malinga's second ball. Arrogantly he wasted one of India's reviews. No matter; there was still Tendulkar. The man for whom this tournament seemed to be designed began in sublime form, stroking boundaries off Kulasekera. But Malinga soon destroyed that fairytale. At the start of his fourth over Tendulkar drove and edged and departed in an eerie silence.

On 30, Gambhir was dropped at long-off from the bowling of Suraj Randiv, one of the startling Sri Lanka selections. Three days ago the lofty off-spinner was relaxing peacefully back at home. Now summoned as a replacement for Mathews he was thrust into a World Cup final.

Gambhir and Virat Kohli had added 83 together when Dilshan, bowling his unassuming off-breaks, held a brilliant return catch. Dhoni appeared. For a while it looked an odd decision. By the end it seemed like a stroke of genius.