Sri Lanka regain winning momentum

KARACHI: Sri Lanka barely broke sweat as they demolished West Indies with a brilliant batting display followed by an inspired bowling performance. Mahela Jayawardene, who has had a dream tournament so far batting up the order with 279 runs in three matches, must have been disappointed to have missed out on his second century of the tournament but he did lead his side to the highest total of the tournament so far.

Jayawardene owed his 98, in part, to West Indies fielders who dropped him twice and missed six catches in the entire match, including one when Kumar Sangakkara was on nought. The pair made them pay dearly as they put on the second best partnership in Twenty20 internationals - a 166-run second wicket stand. West Indies captain Chris Gayle, who dropped his opposite number, was at a loss while explaining his team’s inept fielding. “We had our chances, but we put them down.

I can’t say why our fielding was so bad even though we have worked extremely hard on it,” said Gayle. “We are in a must-win situation now. I hope we can lift our game.” West Indies need an improved performance with the bat, especially after their highest score in the tournament has been 138. Their match against England was reduced due to rain that left them with a 60-run target. While the hosts face their batting concerns, Sri Lanka have been over dependent on one man — Jayawardene.