Sri Lanka carry away Twenty20 title

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Sri Lanka lifted the Four Nation Twenty20 title when they defeated Ireland by five wickets in their final match of the tournament worked off at the SSC ground in Maitland Place yesterday.

Sri Lanka remained unbeaten throughout the tournament having earlier defeated Canada and Afghanistan respectively.

However Ireland had the satisfaction of putting up a good batting performance as they hit up 174 for 6 from their 20 overs after having won the toss and elected to bat first.

Opener N.J. Brien led the way with his second successive half century from 38 deliveries inclusive of two sixes and half a dozen of boundaries.

Together with P.R. Stirling the pair put on 104 runs for the first wicket from 11.4 overs. Stirling made 43 from 34 balls with one six and five boundaries.

Sri Lanka in reply reached their target with ten balls to spare mainly due to an unfinished sixth wicket stand of 68 runs in 9.4 overs between Chinthaka Jayasinghe and Jeevan Mendis.

All-rounder Jayasinghe hit an unbeaten 41 from 27 deliveries with the help of one six and four boundaries while Mendis hit a run a ball 29 not out with three boundaries.

Ireland: 174 for 6 in 20 overs (P.R. Stirling 43, N.J. Brien 59, G.C. Wilson 25 n.o, C. Vidanapathirana 2 for 25).

Sri Lanka: 178 for 5 in 18.2 overs (T. Paranavithana 21, M. Siriwardena 27, G. Rupasinghe 28, J. Mendis 29 n.o, C. Jayasinghe 41 n.o, A. R. Cusack 2 for 43).

Stunning performance

Afghanistan put up a stunning performance to beat Canada by five wickets with one ball to spare in their Four Nation Twenty20 cricket tournament match worked off at the SSC ground in Maitland Place yesterday.

After restricting Canada to 140 for 6 from 20 overs, Afghanistan went on to make 143 for 5 in 19.5 overs and register their first win of the tournament.

The openers Kabeer Sadiq and Noor Ali led the run chase with an opening stand of 66 runs from 9.3 overs.

Earlier skipper Ashish Bagai hit a top score of 53 from 42 balls with seven boundaries to help Canada reach a competitive 140 for 6 from their 20 overs after they had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Canada: 140 for 6 in 20 overs (A. M. Samad 26, A. Bagai 53, H. Hasan 2 for 27).

Afghanistan: 143 for 5 in 19.5 overs (K. Sadiq 42, N. Ali 31, M. Nabi 23, H. S. Baidwan 3 for 23).