West Indies v Sri Lanka

Lankan Tigers Roar
Hosts West Indies clashed with Sri Lanka on the 1st of April at the Providence Stadium. It was a crucial encounter for both the teams, more so for the Caribbeans to make a place in the semifinal. The West Indies had lost their first two matches against Australia and New Zealand respectively and hence had to win this match to remain in the contention for the semifinals.

Hosts Win the Toss
West Indies won the toss and elected to field first on a pitch that was termed, as a sporting wicket assisting both the batsmen and the bowlers. West Indian Captain, Brian Lara hoped that his bowlers would be able to take advantage of the early morning freshness and moisture in the wicket and restrict Sri Lanka to a low total. However, Sri Lankan batting stalwart, Sanath Jayasuriya had other plans.

Jayasuriya on Song
Sunday witnessed yet another brilliant innings from the Lankan batting maestro, Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya slammed an exquisite innings of 115 from 101 deliveries that powered Sri Lanka in setting up a huge total before the Caribbeans. He put on a partnership with Sri Lankan skipper, Mahela Jayawardene of 183 that laid the foundation of a big total for the islanders. Jayawardene scored 82 runs from 113 deliveries. However, the day belonged to Sanath Jayasuriya. He once again displayed a fine example of flamboyant and explosive batting that delighted the Sri Lankan fans tremendously. His innings of 115 comprised of 10 classic hits to the boundary and 4 towering sixes.

The Sri Lankans did not begin positively and lost two early wickets. Opener Upul Tharanga was bowled to an excellent delivery by Daren Powell when he was on 8 while Kumar Sangakkara was lured into a wrong shot by Ian Bradshaw with Sangakkara on 7. The Sri Lankan ship seemed unsteady with the score showing 35 for the fall of 2 wickets. However, thereafter, Jayasuriya and Captain Jayawardene displayed a great example of experienced and skilful batting to rescue their team from trouble and guide it to a safe total. It was Tillekeratne Dilshan who scored a useful innings of 39 runs from 22 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes that helped Sri Lanka in crossing the 300 run mark. The islanders finished their innings on 303 for the loss of 5 wickets from their 50 overs. The West Indian bowling looked lackluster as none of the bowlers could restrict the Lankan run charge and the most successful bowler for the hosts was Darren Powell with 2 wickets.

With Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan at crease, the West Indian fans still had some hope. Though Chanderpaul scored 76 runs, it was not enough to lead his team to victory. The West Indian batting soon crashed and the team was all out for 190 runs in the 45th over. The last 7 wickets were dismissed for only 56 runs.