Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 57 runs
Published:Friday | May 7, 2010 | 6:09 PM
Hosts West Indies received a major setback in their quest to win the World 20/Twenty Championship after going down by 57 runs to Sri Lanka in their opening Super Eights Group ‘A’ match at Kensington Oval in Barbados today.
Set a victory target of 194, West Indies were restricted to 138 for eight off their allotted 20 overs against the bowling of Ajantha Mendis three for 24 and Lasith Malinga three for 28.
Ramnaresh Sarwan top scored for West Indies with 28 from 33 deliveries. Dwayne Bravo chipped in with a run-a-ball 23, Andre Fletcher scored 16 from 18 deliveries, Jerome Taylor, scored an undefeated 16 from nine balls and Shivnarine Chanderpaul got 11 from 9 balls.
Earlier, Mahela Jayawardee slammed an unbeaten 98 off 56 balls to help Sri Lanka to 195 for three off their allotted 20 overs, the highest total of the tournament.
He got sound support from Captain Kumar Sangakkara, who supplied 68 off 49 deliveries.
Kemar Roach was West Indies most successful bowler with two for 27 off his allotted four overs, while Dwayne Bravo had one for 36 off three overs.
A disappointed West Indies captain Chris Gayle says his team is now under pressure to win their remaining two games. He believes West Indies lost as a result of sloppy fielding.
Sri Lanka’s captain Kumar Sangakkara credited his batsmen for setting up today’s victory.