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Dilshan, Mathews power Lanka to Twenty20 World Cup final

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  • Kumar Sangakkara with team mates
    Kumar Sangakkara with team mates walks off the field after winning their semi final match against West Indies at The Oval , London

    The Sri Lankan juggernaut crushed West Indies by 57 runs in tonight's lop-sided semifinal to set up a summit clash with Pakistan in the final of the Twenty20 World Cup at Lord's on Sunday.

    Put into bat, run-machine Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a sublime unbeaten 96 to help the Lankans overcome a mid-innings collapse and post 158 for five. And when they returned to defend the total, Angelo Mathews sent down a sensational first over, claiming three crucial wickets, and West Indies could never really recover from the setbacks.

    For them, Chris Gayle (63 not out off 50 balls) waged a lonely battle but none of his teammates could manage double digit score as West Indies eventually folded for 101 in 17.4 overs.

    Opening the attack for Sri Lanka, Mathews emerged as the man with the golden arm with every second ball of his first over managing a deflection before crashing into the stumps.

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    Xavier Marshall's tentative bottom edge brought his peril, Lendl Simmons lost his leg stump after the ball had clipped his thigh pad and Dwayne Bravo became the third scoreless batsman, caught in two minds whether to play or leave before dragging it onto his stumps.

    The long and the short of it was that West Indies had to pay with three top order wickets for their first run.

    Gayle realised the futility of pottering around and came down hard on Lasith Malinga, hitting him for two fours before treating Mathews the same way.

    In between, Isuru Udana was tonked over long on ropes but for the West Indies, the writing was clear on the wall when Ajantha Mendis trapped Shivnarine Chanderpaul (7) and his spin mentor Muttiah Muralitharan (3/29) removed Ramnaresh Sarwan (5) and Kieron Pollard (3).

    ... contd.

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    SriLanka WinBy: Anant | 21-Jun-2009 Reply | Forward Congratulations to SriLanka. God bless. Now go and win the final.
    well done DilshanBy: padmanaban s | 20-Jun-2009 Reply | Forward Dilshan has continued his skill and ability in this tournament since from the T20 match from S.Africa. Congrats Lanka players for reaching final T20 2009. Hope they will grab the cup.
    Mathew made all the difference !By: Dr. Cajetan Coelho | 20-Jun-2009 Reply | Forward Sri Lankan cricketers are playing intelligent cricket. Their bowling, batting, fielding and organization look sound. Dilshan missed a good century. Great innings though.
    Pak vs SLBy: M.V.Muthu | 20-Jun-2009 Reply | Forward As Pakistan and Sri Lanka are set to play the final for the Championship, it could well be said the tournament is Twenty 20 All Asia Cup!
    Dilshan's Gain from IPLBy: Aravinth | 20-Jun-2009 Reply | Forward Once again the two asian teams are back in the hunt for the big finals.. Dilshan's gain from the IPL benefited his team for making into the final. Hats Off to srilanka for the way they shown their character towards the game.. Now both the finalist teams deserve to get a win on the final. From here on everything depends on whose day is going to be tomorrow to decide the champs.
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