Sri Lanka 1-130 (Mahela Jayawardene 65*, Kumar Sangakkara 39*, Ravi Rampaul 1-39) beat West Indies 5-129 (Marlon Samuels 50, Dwayne Bravo 40, Ajantha Mendis 2-26) by nine wickets.

The powerful batting display led by Mahela Jayawardene disgraced the mighty West Indies by a huge margin as Sri Lanka flew towards the semi-final of the event.

West Indies scored 129 runs with five wickets in hand at the end of the scheduled 20 overs and Sri Lanka thrashed 130 runs for the loss of one mere wicket in 15.2 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his commanding unbeaten innings of 65 from 49 balls.

The 18^th match of the ICC World Twenty20 was held at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, on Saturday, September 29, 2012.

The toss was won by Darren Sammy, the West Indian skipper, and the Windies had a dismal start as both their in-form openers were dismissed for 16 runs in 5.1 overs. Johnson Charles was gone for 12 runs and the hard hitting, Chris Gayle, could add just two runs to his record after facing nine balls.

Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Bravo held the innings together in a bold way and they added 13 runs in the seventh over with two fours. Bravo hit the first six of the innings in the 10^th over and the fifty of the innings was also attained. The duo reached 81 after 14.3 overs when Dwayne Bravo was caught at long-on by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Jeevan Mendis for 40 off 34 balls with two sixes and 4 fours.

Marlon Samuels carried on with his assertive knock with some resistance from the other end. He penalised Nuwan Kulasekara for 14 runs in the 18^th over with 1 six and 2 fours and completed his fourth T20 fifty in the next over. Samuels was finally caught superbly by Dilshan off Angelo Matthews for 50 off 35 deliveries with 2 huge sixes and 4 fours. The Windies scored 129 runs with half of their side back in the pavilion after 20 overs.

Ajantha Mendis was the top wicket taker with two whereas Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara and Jeevan Mendis held one wicket each.

The Lankan Lions opened the innings with great authority with Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan. The latter dispatched three consecutive fours in the second over off Fidel Edwards but was caught behind by the wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin off Ravi Rampaul for 13 runs. The prominent batsman of the Islanders, Kumar Sangakkara, walked in next to replace Dilshan as Jayawardene hit a couple of fours in the fifth over.

The half century of the innings was attained in the next over and both batsmen steadied the run rate as the ball travelled to the boundary line regularly. Jayawardene got his 7^th T20 fifty on the first ball of the 14^th over followed by the only six of the innings three balls later. Sangakkara kept himself busy at the other end and hit three back to back fours in the 15^th over. Mahela Jayawardene remained unbeaten for 65 off just 49 balls with 1 six and 10 fours and Kumar Sangakkara secured his end with solid 39 from 34 deliveries with 5 fours as Sri Lanka achieved the target by smashing 130 runs with nine wickets in hand and 28 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka beat West Indies with a huge margin of nine wickets and has qualified for the semi-final spot after winning their two Super Eight games.  They have yet to play another pool against England on Oct 1, 2012, at the same venue.