NOTTINGHAM, England, CMC – Sloppiness in the field undermined spirited batting and conspired to send West Indies sliding to a 15-run defeat against Sri Lanka in the final Group-C match in the ICC World Twenty20 Championship yesterday.
A target of 193 from their allocation of 20 overs was always going to be challenging for West Indies especially with their talismanic regular captain Chris Gayle sidelined with a bruised right knee.
But Dwayne Bravo hit the top score of 51 from 38 balls, Lendl Simmons scored 29, and Ramnaresh Sarwan finished on 28 not out to help them make a fist of their unsuccessful chase.
But West Indies only had themselves to blame, after another miserable performance in the field marked by a couple of missed chances, poor ground fielding, and thoughtless bowling.
This slackness from West Indies allowed Sanath Jayasuriya 81 from 47 balls, Tillkaratne Dilshan 74 from 47 balls, and an opening stand of 124 between the two to give Sri Lanka the platform for a total of 192 for five from their 20 overs.
Simmons was the only West Indian to distinguish himself in the field with a remarkable four wickets for 19 runs from three overs with his modest medium-paced bowling.
But he too, succeeded in making fielding look difficult, when he missed a low chance off Fidel Edwards at deep mid-wicket, when Jayasuriya was 64.
Fortunately for West Indies, the match held little or no value, since both sides have already qualified for the next stage of the competition, after they condemned mighty Australia – the other side in the group – to an early exit with sound victories.
Choosing to field, West Indies had an early indication that Jayasuriya meant business, when he leant into an extra cover drive off Edwards for the first of his 11 fours.
Edwards, possibly for the first time in six months, showed signs of being overworked, and could only convince stand-in captain Denesh Ramdin that he was good enough for two overs which cost 37 – and in which Jayasuriya was his main protagonist smashing five fours and his only six.
An upper-cut at a short, rising ball from Bravo to backward point for two brought Jayasuriya his 50 from 29 balls, and a swing to deep mid-wicket for a single carried Dilshan to his 50 from 35 balls, as they seemed to be running away with things.
Ramdin however, turned to his compatriot Simmons, after his main bowlers to make the breakthrough, and was rewarded almost immediately with the scalp of Jayasuriya adjudged lbw missing a reverse sweep in the 13th over
Simmons also struck in the 15th over, when Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara lofted a delivery to long-on, and twice in the 18th over, when he removed Mahela Jayawardene for four caught by wicketkeeper Ramdin running from behind the stumps to mid-wicket, and Dilshan caught at backward point essaying a reverse sweep.
Bravo and Jerome Taylor, in particular, restricted the Sri Lankans to 17 in the last two overs and spared West Indies the ignominy of being the first side to concede a total of 200 in the competition.
Simmons returned with Andre Fletcher to give West Indies a rousing start, but it was all too brief.
Fletcher was bowled for 13, when Lasith Malinga cleverly deceived him with a slow full-toss in the fourth over.
Simmons however, continued to push the issue before he was caught at slip off Muttiah Muralitharan in the seventh over to trigger a period of instability in the West Indies batting from which they could not fully recover.
With Muralitharan and mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis in operation, West Indies were starved of quick runs, and also lost three wickets in the space of seven balls.
Xavier Marshall was caught at deep mid-off off Mendis, who four balls later, had Shivnarine Chanderpaul bowled dragging a delivery into the stumps off the inside edge to leave West Indies 73 for four in the eighth over.
Bravo joined Sarwan, and for the next 10 overs, they kept West Indies hopes alive in a stand of 77 for the fifth wicket.
Bravo reached his 50 from 37 balls, when he swung Malinga over mid-wicket for his second six before he was caught at mid-on off the same bowler next ball trying to repeat the stroke leaving West Indies needing a highly improbable, if not impossible 43 from the last 15 balls of the match.
Mendis was the pick of the Sri Lanka bowlers with two for 25 from his allotment of four overs, and Malinga snared two for 45 from his four overs.
West Indies have advanced to Group-E in the Super Eight stage of the competition, where they will face reigning champions India, recent rivals England, and efficient South Africa.
They open the Super Eights against India on Friday at Lord’s to be followed by South Africa the next day at The Oval, and complete the round against England on Monday at The Oval.
The top two sides from each of the two Super Eights group will advance to the semifinals.
