LANKAN TIGERS demolish the Caribbeans.

The second semi final between Sri Lanka and West Indies will be remembered for the master innings played by Tilakratne Dilshan. The man has been in such sublime form since IPL that he reminds of the kind of form Lance Klusener was in World Cup 2007. The Lankan tigers came in to bat first and with some sensible batting Sri Lanka reached 72 runs at the end of 10 overs. Dilshan who now looks unstoppable in this T20 format scored a flurry of boundaries and had scored 46 out of 24 balls by the end of 10 overs. Jayasuriya who struggled throughout his innings got out scoring 24 off 37 balls. Two balls later Bravo struck again when Sangakara got out playing a risky shot.

13 dot balls that Jayasuriya played had certainly created pressure, it also affected Mahela Jayawardane who got out scoring 2 runs. From 73/0 the scoreboard soon read 73/3 from where Chamara Silva and Dilshan reconstructed the innings and they scored 50 runs off 34 balls. Dilshan single handedly hammered the Caribbean bowlers and no matter how many partnerships took place from the Lankan Side it was Dilshan who led from the front and had he got out early Sri Lankan would have even struggled to reach 100 to defend as a total. He remained not out after playing a brilliant knock of 96* off just 57 balls. Now for a side that had the lethal bowling attack with four M’s- Murali, Mendis, Mathews, Malinga 158 was too much a total to defend.

In one word the West Indies innings was a ‘disaster’. 1, W, 0, W, 0, W-This was the magical first over bowled by Mathews. Gayle took a single off the first ball of the innings and then Marshall, Simmon and the big man Bravo all three of them fell scoring ducks in the next 5 balls. After these three major blows in the very first over the West Indian side knew that this was the end of their journey for this T20 World Cup. Captain Chris Gayle returned not out on 63* as his team collapsed like a pile of cards. It was because of Gayle that the Caribbean’s were able to go pass the 100 mark. They all got out on 101 runs.

The Sri Lankan side looks like the one without any flaws. Their middle order failed in this particular match but that is a rare scenario. Whenever they score above 140 runs their M4 (Mathew, Mendis, Murli, Malinga) pace attack seems to be very lethal for the opponents. If Pakistan plan to entertain any chances of winning the tournament they will have to play the best cricket they have played in the past as this Sri Lankan tigers seem to be desperate about the trophy!