Jayasuriya, Dilshan overpower WI

Jayasuriya, Dilshan overpower WI

NOTTINGHAM: Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillekeratne Dilshan hammered an opening stand of 124 as Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by 15 runs in the World Twenty20 here on Wednesday. The duo lifted Sri Lanka to 192-5, a total the West Indies chased bravely despite the absence of explosive opener and captain Chris Gayle, who missed the Group C match due to a knee injury. The West Indians ended at 177-5, fired by a spectacular counter-attack by Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who put on 77 off 59 balls for the fifth wicket.

Bravo hit a 38-ball 51 that included five fours and two sixes, while Sarwan remained unbeaten on 28. The match, watched by a sell-out crowd at Trent Bridge, held only academic interest since both teams had already qualified for the Super Eights at Australia’s expense. Sri Lanka, who thumped Australia by six wickets in their first match, are hot favourites to make the semifinals from Super Eights Group F which includes Pakistan, Ireland and New Zealand. The West Indies are drawn in the tougher Group E which also has defending champions India, South Africa and hosts England. Two teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. Left-handed Jayasuriya, at 39 the oldest player in the 12-nation tournament, smashed 81 off 47 balls that was studded with 10 boundaries and three sixes. Dilshan, who contributed just 38 in the century partnership, went on to make 74 off 47 balls before he became one of seamer Lendl Simmons’ four victims. All-rounder Kieron Pollard bore the brunt of the Sri Lankan assault, conceding 45 runs from his three overs. The West Indies made a spirited reply, reaching 70-1 by the seventh over before losing three wickets in the space of as many runs. Two of those wickets fell in one over from spinner Ajantha Mendis, who had Xavier Marshall caught in the deep before bowling danger man Shivnarine Chanderpaul for one. Score board West Indies won toss Sri Lanka S T Jayasuriya lbw b Simmons 81 T M Dilshan c Benn b Simmons 74 *†K C Sangakkara c Fletcher b Simmons 5 D P M D Jayawardene c Ramdin b Simmons 4 L P C Silva c Ramdin b Taylor 7 J Mubarak not out 8 A D Mathew not out 3 Extras (lb5, w4, nb1) 10 Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 192 Did not bat: M Muralitharan, B A W Mendis, S L Malinga, I Udana Fall: 1-124, 2-147, 3-168, 4-172, 5-189 Bowling: Taylor 4-0-32-1 (1nb); Edwards 2-0-37-0; Bravo 4-0-29-0 (3w); Benn 4-0-25-0; Pollard 3-0-45-0 (1w); Simmons 3-0-19-4 West Indies L M P Simmons c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 29 A D S Fletcher b Malinga 13 X M Marshall c Silva b Mendis 14 S Chanderpaul b Mendis 1 R R Sarwan not out 28 D J Bravo c Mubarak b Malinga 51 K A Pollard not out 19 Extras (lb4, w17, nb1) 22 Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 177 Did not bat: *†D Ramdin, S J Benn, F H Edwards, J E Taylor Fall: 1-38, 2-70, 3-71, 4-73, 5-150 Bowling: Jayasuriya 3-0-34-0 (1w); Malinga 4-0-45-2 (6w); Udana 4-0-36-0 (8w); Mendis 4-0-25-2; Muralitharan 4-0-21-1 (1w); Mathew 1-0-12-0 (1nb, 1w) Result: Sri Lanka won by 15 runs Man of the match: Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand) and S J A Taufel (Australia). TV umpire: I J Gould (England). Match referee: B C Broad (England)