The all Asian clash in the prestigious 12-team event looked set for an exciting finish before steady drizzle, followed by thunder and lightning, forced play to be halted and later called off.
India, losing finalists in Nairobi two years ago, and Sri Lanka shared the trophy and a winners purse of $300,000.
The match had been forced into Monday’s reserve day after Sunday’s final was abandoned because of rain.
The anti-climax at the end of the 18-day tournament left a sell-out home crowd and millions of Indian fans disappointed and debating what might have been in the clash of familiar rivals.
India were 38 for one in 8.4 overs chasing a modest but challenging target of 223 when players were forced off the field in the day-night game at the Premadasa Stadium.
Opener Virender Sehwag had hit 25 from 22 balls, including a stunning six over backward point against paceman Chaminda Vaas, and Sachin Tendulkar was seven not out after opener Dinesh Mongia was out for nought.
Saurav Ganguly’s side once again had reason to feel more disappointed after another fighting display by their bowlers had restricted Sri Lanka to 222 for seven.
India had restricted the hosts to 244 for five and reached 14 for none in two overs when Sunday’s play was washed out.
Home captain Sanath Jayasuriya once again won the toss and chose to take strike on a slow pitch being used for the second day running.
But left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan bowled Jayasuriya first ball before the slow bowlers took over to reduce Sri Lanka to 71 for four in the 17th over.
Mahela Jayawardena top-scored with 77 and Russel Arnold remained 56 not out, the pair reviving the innings with a 118-run sixth wicket stand to lift Sri Lanka past the 200-run mark.
Jayawardena, who completed his 15th one-day fifty, hit six fours in his 99-ball knock. Arnold faced 101 balls and hit three fours for his 17th fifty.
Indian spinners Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar bowled to their field as Sri Lankan batsmen once again found boundaries hard to come by in the later overs.
But the poor weather kept Sri Lanka’s spin response, led by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, under the wraps.
The 23-year-old Zaheer Khan finished with three for 44 from nine overs to finish with eight wickets in the tournament.
The rain-drenched finale was also the last home appearance for Sri Lankan veteran Aravinda de Silva, who has left it to the national selectors to decide his international future.
The 36-year-old, who has scored a record 8,803 one-day runs from 288 matches, said he would continue until next year’s World Cup in South Africa if his services were required.
The diminutive batsman plundered five fours in one over by paceman Ajit Agarkar which went for 23 runs. He made 27 from 24 balls before being out trying a slog against Kumble.
Ganguly was disappointed his team did not have the chance to win the title outright.
“I am disappointed,” he told reporters after the game.
Jayasuriya said it was “unfortunate” that rain had intervened, but felt his slow bowlers would have had a good chance of bowling India out to win the game.
“Both teams wanted to play, but unfortunately weather intervened,” he said. “220 was a manageable score.”
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA:
S.T. Jayasuriya b Zaheer 0
K.C. Sangakkara run out 26
M.S. Atapattu c Mongia b Agarkar 10
P.A. de Silva c Kaif b Kumble 27
M. Jayawardena c Ganguly b Zaheer 77
R.P. Arnold not out 56
U.D.U. Chandana c Kaif b Harbhajan 1
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas c Kumble b Zaheer 17
M. Muralitharan not out 0
EXTRAS (W-7, NB-1) 8
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 222
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-24, 3-63, 4-71, 5-189, 6-193, 7-215.
DID NOT BAT: H.D.P.K. Dharmasena, C.R.D. Fernando.
BOWLING: Zaheer Khan 9-1-44-3 (1nb, 2w); Agarkar 5-1-36-1 (3w); Harbhajan Singh
10-0-34-1; Kumble 10-1-41-1 (1w); Sehwag
8-0-31-0; Tendulkar 8-0-36-0 (1w).
INDIA:
D. Mongia c Jayawardena b Vaas 0
V. Sehwag not out 25
S.R. Tendulkar not out 7
EXTRAS (B-1, W-4, NB-1) 6
TOTAL (for one wkt, 8.4 overs) 38
FALL OF WKT: 1-6.
DID NOT BAT: S.C. Ganguly, R.S. Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, A.B. Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, A.R. Kumble.
BOWLING: Vaas 4.4-1-24-1; Fernando 4-0-13-0 (1nb, 4w).
RESULT: Match abandoned because of rain. India and Sri Lanka share trophy.
UMPIRES: S.A. Bucknor (West Indies) and D.R. Shepherd (England).
TV UMPIRE: D.J. Harper (Australia).
MATCH REFEREE: C.H. Lloyd (West Indies). — Reuters