Dashing Dilshan, Mathews propel Lanka to Lord's

Gayle ploughs lone furrow as Windies plunge to massive 57-run defeat

 Sri Lanka will take on Pakistan in the title round at Lord’s on Sunday. Sri Lanka made a par-for-the-course 158 for five in their 20 overs after they were asked to bat first, with Tillakaratne Dilshan making a flowing unbeaten 96.

West Indies, in reply, could not gather steam after those crippling strikes by Mathews and ended up with 101 to concede a 57-run defeat.

West Indies needed a strong start to hunt down the competitive Sri Lankan total. But their hopes lasted only six balls as Mathews produced a dream over. The Lankan youngster dismissed Xavier Marshall, Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Bravo as West Indies tottered like a rudderless boat.

Skipper Chris Gayle, still not entirely free from the clutches of a knee injury, played a lone hand, hitting a half-century while remaining a helpless spectator for the carnage at the other end.

There were some powerful strokes from the West Indian skipper, but the task was beyond the reach of even the bruising willow of the Jamaican, who was the only batsman to reach double digits from the Caribbean line-up.

Before Mathews produced that unusual over, it was Dilshan who spearheaded the Lankan charge with a blistering knock.

Dilshan and Sanatha Jayasuriya, who looked out of touch as he struggled to connect the ball properly, added 73 runs for the opening wicket. With his senior partner woefully out of rhythm, Dilshan had to do the bulk of scoring, and the elegant right-hander did his job with aplomb, amassing runs with ease.

Jayasuriya’s struggle finally ended when he chipped Bravo to Jerome Taylor at short fine-leg while attempting a chip over the fielder’s head.

Sri Lanka suffered a couple of quick blows soon after Jayasuriya returned to the pavilion with skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene making their exit in the space of four balls to push them to 77 for three.

Chamara Silva, however, gave Dilshan staunch support and he did not have to worry about his lack of touch as his senior was in rampaging form. They added 50 runs off just 35 balls with Dilshan stroking 39 off them.

Dilshan has been in awesome touch throughout this tournament, stacking up runs at will. In the previous matches, Dilshan has employed the scooping over the wicket-keeper’s head to telling effect, but runs leaked on the day even without such outrageous innovations.

Jerome Taylor suffered the brunt of Dilshan’s aggression as the Lankan batsman swept the Jamaican paceman for a huge six and later vented his fury on Bravo, smacking him for three consecutive boundaries.

At that stage, Windies might have badly felt the absence of pacer Fidel Edwards, who missed the game due to a back injury he had suffered prior to the Super Eight tie against England.

Dilshan, however, could not complete a richly deserved hundred as Mathews made the final over his very own with some meaty hits to power Sri Lanka well beyond the reach of West Indies.

Score board

SRI LANKA
Jayasuriya c Taylor b Bravo 24
(37b, 3x4)
Dilshan (not out) 96
(57b, 12x4, 2x6)
Sangakkara c Pollard b Bravo 0
(2b)
Jayawardene c C’paul b Pollard 2
(3b)
Silva c Ramdin b Benn 11
(12b, 2x4)
Mubarak c Sammy b Taylor 7
(5b, 1x4)
Mathews (not out) 12
(4b, 1x4, 1x6)
Extras (LB-3, W-3) 6
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 158
Fall of wickets: 1-73 (Jayasuriya), 2-73 (Sangakkara), 3-77 (Jayawardene), 4-127 (Silva), 5-134 (Mubarak).
Bowling: Sammy 4-0-19-0, Taylor 4-0-31-1, Bravo 3-0-32-2, Benn 4-0-24-1, Gayle 3-0-35-0 (w-2), Pollard 2-0-14-1 (w-1).
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 36/0, 10: 72/0, 15: 98/3, end of innings: 158/5 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6: 44/0.

WEST INDIES
Gayle (not out) 63
(50b, 8x4, 2x6)
Marshall b Mathews 0
(1b)
Simmons b Mathews 0
(2b)
Bravo b Mathews 0
(2b)
Chanderpaul lbw Mendis 7
(15b)
Sarwan c Mathews b M’tharan 5
(12b)
Pollard st Sangakkara b M’tharan 3
(10b)
Ramdin c Jayawardene b Udana 9
(5b, 2x4)
Taylor c (sub) b Muralitharan 2
(2b)
Sammy c Mubarak b Mendis 1
(4b)
Benn b Malinga 0
(4b)
Extras (B-1, LB-2, W-7, NB-1) 11
Total (all out, 17.4 overs) 101
Bowling: Mathews 4-0-16-3, Udana 3-0-20-1 (w-1), Malinga 2.4-0-24-1 (w-3), Mendis 4-0-9-2 (w-1, nb-1), Muralitharan 4-0-29-3 (w-2).
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Marshall), 2-1 (Simmons), 3-1 (Bravo), 4-43 (Chanderpaul), 5-64 (Sarwan), 6-75 (Pollard), 7-86 (Ramdin), 8-95 (Taylor), 9-97 (Sammy).
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 21/3, 10: 54/4, 15: 88/7, end of innings: 101 all out in 17.4 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6: 29/3.