Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Sri Lanka crush Windies to top group
BBC Sport – Sri Lanka are on the brink of the World Twenty20 semi-finals after thrashing the West Indies by nine wickets to go top of their Super Eights group.
The Windies limped to 20-2 in the six-over powerplay and only posted 129-5.
Spinner Ajantha Mendis was the pick of the home side’s bowlers as he finished with figures of 2-16.
The run chase was turned into a procession by Mahela Jayawardene (65) and Kumar Sangakkara (39), who put on 108 to wrap up an
Ajantha Mendis bowled an impressive spell against West Indies to contribute to a comprehensive win for Sri Lanka in Pallekele (Getty Images)
easy victory. The veteran duo were at their supreme best as they paced themselves through the innings and finished the job with 28 balls to spare in a flurry of fours.
After an off-colour display in a rain-shortened defeat by South Africa and a nerve-jangling ‘super over’ victory over New Zealand in their first Super Eights match, Sri Lanka appear to be peaking at the right time. If they can avoid a heavy defeat by England on Monday, they will be through to the semi-finals as they seek to capture the title for the first time on home soil.
The Windies, on the other hand, looked a shadow of the side which overcame England on Thursday and will now face New Zealand on Monday with a semi-final place on the line.
Under the lights at a packed Pallekele, Darren Sammy’s side never recovered from a dreadful start in which they lost both their big-hitting openers cheaply and slumped to 20-2 after six overs, the lowest powerplay score of the tournament.
Johnson Charles failed to read Ajantha Mendis’s googly and was stumped for 12 and Chris Gayle was caught behind for two off slashing wildly at a Nuwan Kulasekara ball well outside off stump. Dwayne Bravo and Marlon Samuels did their best to get the Windies back into the match with a partnership of 65, but the Sri Lanka spinners wrestled back the initiative.
Bravo holed out to long-on off Jeevan Mendis for 40 and Kieron Pollard was bowled by the brilliant Ajantha, who took his tournament-leading wicket tally to nine.
Samuels continued to carry the fight, spanking the longest six of the tournament at 102 metres as the Windies plundered 21 runs off Kulasekara’s last over. But they could only add 10 more from the final 12 balls as Malinga and Mathews rounded off a superb bowling performance.
Tillakaratne Dilshan set the tone for a routine run chase as he steered three consecutive balls from Fidel Edwards to the boundary.
His dismissal to Ravi Rampaul was of little consequence as Jayawardene and Sangakkara effortlessly steered their side home. Captain Jayawardene scored heavily over the infield on the off side to reach his sixth Twenty20 fifty, while Sangakkara contented himself with a supporting role.
With the end in sight, Jaywardene cracked Rampaul for four boundaries in the 15th over.
And a forgettable day for the Windies was complete when an overthrow gifted Sri Lanka the winning run.
Scores: Sri Lanka 130 for 1 (Jayawardene 65*, Sangakkara 39*) beat West Indies 129 for 5 (Samuels 50, Bravo 40, A Mendis 2-12) by nine wickets.
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