It was time for Calypso in Colombo as a collective dream of the cricketing world that revolved around tagging the word ‘champion’ to the West Indies team, finally bore fruit under a warm night sky, amidst a stunned crowd and a shocked host.
The West Indies defeated Sri Lanka by 36 runs in the ICC World Twenty20 final at the R. Premadasa Stadium here on Sunday night. Chasing the West Indies’ 137 for six, Sri Lanka was a nervous-wreck and finished with a measly 101.
If the West Indies weaved a fairytale finish, it was a heart-break for the Sri Lankans as this was their fourth failure in a World Cup (both 50 overs and Twenty20) summit clash.
The diverse challenges that a small target strangely evoke, were in full force once Ravi Rampaul cleaned up Tillakaratne Dilshan’s stumps. Mahela Jayawardene (33) had the onerous task of keeping his head and anchoring the chase while his nation, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa, watched with bated breath.
Scoreboard
West Indies: J. Charles c Kulasekara b Mathews 0 (5b), C. Gayle lbw b A. Mendis 3 (16b), M. Samuels c J. Mendis b Dananjaya 78 (56b, 3x4, 6x6), D. Bravo lbw b A. Mendis 19 (19b, 1x6), K. Pollard c Dananjaya b A. Mendis 2 (4b), A. Russell lbw b A. Mendis 0 (1b), D. Sammy (not out) 26 (15b, 3x4), D. Ramdin (not out) 4 (4b); Extras (lb-2, w-3): 5; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 137.
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Charles), 2-14 (Gayle), 3-73 (Bravo), 4-87 (Pollard), 5-87 (Russell), 6-108 (Samuels).
Sri Lanka bowling: Mathews 4-1-11-1, Kulasekara 3-0-22-0, Malinga 4-0-54-0, A. Mendis 4-0-12-4, Dananjaya 3-0-16-1, J. Mendis 2-0-20-0.
Sri Lanka: M. Jayawardene c Sammy b Narine 33 (36b, 2x4), T. Dilshan b Rampaul 0 (3b), K. Sangakkara c Pollard b Badree 22 (26b, 2x4), A. Mathews b Sammy 1 (5b), J. Mendis (run out) 3 (3b), T. Perera (run out) 3 (5b), L. Thirimanne c Charles b Sammy 4 (7b), N. Kulasekara c Badree b Narine 26 (13b, 3x4, 1x6), L. Malinga c Bravo b Narine 5 (13b), A. Mendis c Bravo b Samuels 1 (2b), A. Dananjaya (not out) 0; Extras (lb-2, nb-1) 3; Total (in 18.4 overs): 101.
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Dilshan), 2-48 (Sangakkara), 3-51 (Mathews), 4-60 (Jayawardene), 5-61 (J. Mendis), 6-64 (Perera), 7-69 (Thirimanne), 8-96 (Kulasekara), 9-100 (A. Mendis).
West Indies bowling: Badree 4-0-24-1, Rampaul 3-0-31-1, Samuels 4-0-15-1, Gayle 2-0-14-0, Narine 3.4-0-9-3, Sammy 2-0-6-2.
Man-of-the-match: Marlon Samuels.
Player-of-the-tournament: Shane Watson.
Keywords: ICC World Twenty20
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