Mahela Jayawardene hit 65 off 49 balls
Riding on skipper Mahela Jayawardene’s sparkling half-century Sri Lanka crushed West Indies by nine wickets in the crucial match of ICC World Twenty20 Super Eights in Pallekele on Saturday.
Mahela Jayawardene (65 off 49) shared 108-run second-wicket stand with Kumar Sangakkara (39 off 34) as Sri Lanka overhauled the modest 131-run stand with 28 deliveries to spare. It was Sri Lanka’s biggest victory in terms of balls left.
Sri Lanka lost Tillakaratne Dilshan (13) early in chase but never looked beyond thereafter and mauled helpless West Indian bowlers with flamboyant shots all over the park.
Mahela Jayawardene hit 10 boundaries and a six in his blistering vigil, while Sangakkara’s knock was studded with five fours. In the process, Mahela Jayawardene equalled Chris Gayle’s record of six fifties.
“Overall it’s a very good team effort,” Mahela Jayawardene said. “When they were going after our bowlers I just kept changing the bowlers and it worked well.”
Earlier, electing to bat West Indies struggled against the disciplined spin attack of Sri Lanka and lost failed to build momentum.
Off-spinner Ajantha Mendis finished with 2-12 in his four overs while his namesake Jeeven took 1-12.
Marlon Samuels (50 off 35) and Dwayne Bravo (40 off 34) were the main contributors for West Indies. They lifted their team with a 65-run third-wicket partnership after Chris Gayle (2) and Johnson Charles (12) departed cheaply.
Earlier the day defending champions England, who lost their opening Super Eight game to West Indies, bounced back to register a six-wicket win over New Zealand.
West Indies now need to beat the New Zealand with a heavy margin in their last game while Sri Lanka must avoid the defeat in their last match against England to remain in contention for a semi-final berth.
