SRI LANKA SUFFERED home heartbreak as the West Indies cruised to a 36-run win in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 in Colombo on Sunday.
Electing to bat, West Indies could only manage 137-6 against some clinical bowling from Sri Lanka with Marlon Samuels (78 off 56 balls) and Darren Sammy (26 off 15) helping the team recover from early setbacks.
Sri Lanka were expected to chase down the total in front of a partisan crowd to claim their first World title since 1996 but some disciplined bowling from West Indies saw them dismissed for 101 in 18.4 overs.
Skipper Mahela Jayawardene made 33 from 36 balls at the top of the order and Kumar Sangakkara scored a 26-ball 22 but a middle order collapse meant they could never recover from the slow start.
Nuwan Kulasekara made 26 off 13 balls at the death but it only helped in reducing the margin of defeat.
Sunil Narine (3-9) and Darren Sammy (2-6) were the main wicket-takers while Ravi Rampaul, Samuel Badree and Samuels chipped in with a wicket each.
Rampaul got the defence off to a perfect start sending the off stump flying with the first delivery of the second over as Tillakaratne Dilshan fell for a four-ball duck.
Against some tight spin bowling, Jayawardene and Sangakkara struggled to get runs but kept Sri Lanka in the game with a 42-run partnership in 8.2 overs.
But Sangakkara’s dismissal to a good diving catch from Kieron Pollard in the deep off Badree led to a Sri Lanka collapse.
Angelo Mathews (one) was cleaned bowled off Sammy while trying to paddle the ball over short fine leg and Jayawardene, who was already dropped twice, fell nine runs later to Narine with the score reading 60-4 in the 13th over.
Behind on the Duckworth/Lewis par score under a drizzle, pressure seemed to be telling on the inexperienced Sri Lankan middle order as Jeevan Mendis (three) and Thisara Perera (three) were run out going for suicidal runs and the West Indies looked to have clinched the cup when Lahiru Thirimanne (four) fell to Sammy.
Kulasekara briefly raised the crowd’s hopes hitting three boundaries and a six but the West Indies had the match under wraps when he holed out to Badree off Narine.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan bowlers were on top of their game against Chris Gayle (three off 16) and Samuels after Mathews dismissed Johnson Charles (0) in the first over.
Gayle was patient early on and fell lbw to Ajantha Mendis (4-12) before Samuels and Darren Bravo (19) were involved in a 59-run partnership.
Once Bravo fell to Mendis, Samuels was left to wage a lone battle, hitting six sixes and three fours in the innings and Sammy hit some lusty blows at the death to give the Windies a total to defend – and they did so successfully.
