Dilshan named player of World Twenty20

Sri Lanka batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan was on Sunday named as the player of the tournament at the World Twenty20 despite being dismissed for nought in the eight-wicket final defeat to Pakistan.
Opening the innings throughout the tournament, Dilshan scored a total of 317 runs at a strike-rate of 144.74 and an average above 52.
He scored three half-centuries in the tournament and his unbeaten 96 in the semi-final against the West Indies was the highest individual total of the tournament.
That innings almost single-handedly dragged Sri Lanka to a score that it was then able to defend and it caused his captain Kumar Sangakkara to hail Dilshan as "a pioneer stroke-maker in Twenty20".
Dilshan also hit more boundaries than any other player, his 46 fours and three sixes well clear of the next biggest tally of hits both to and over the ropes, 28 fours and four sixes by South Africa's Jacques Kallis.
And his batting was talked about not only for its excellence but also for its innovation, with his ability to flip fast and medium-paced bowlers past his nose and over the wicketkeeper's head to the boundary one of the enduring memories of the action for all that saw it.
Former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee and himself a two-time World Cup winner at Lord's, said: "Tillakaratne has been a tower of strength for Sri Lanka throughout this tournament. He has impressed us all with his improvisation, courage out in the middle and wonderful range of shots.
"I'm not sure how he manages to play that scoop shot - if I had tried that when I played I think I would have ended up with a mouth full of ball - but it was wonderful entertainment and his contribution really gave the tournament a boost."

Younus Khan retires from T20 after world final win

Pakistan captain Younus Khan announced his retirement from T20 internationals after leading his side to victory in the 2009 Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka at Lord's here on Sunday.
"This is my last Twenty20 game (for Pakistan), so I am retiring from T20 internationals," Younus said after Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets.
"I am now 34, I am old for this kind of cricket. The good thing is we have a couple of good youngsters like Shahzaib (Hasan) and Ahmad Shahzad."
However, gifted batsman Younus - who has appeared in 60 Tests and 186 one-day internationals - is set to continue his international career in the longer formats of the game.

Fired-up Pakistan lift World Twenty20 title

Pakistan won their first major title in 17 years when they stunned Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 final at a sell-out Lord's here on Sunday.
Seamer Abdul Razzaq claimed three wickets as Pakistan bowled and fielded aggressively to restrict Sri Lanka to 138-6, then coasted home easily with eight deliveries to spare.
Shahid Afridi hit an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, his second consecutive half-century, and former captain Shoaib Malik made 24 not out during a match-winning partnership of 76 for the undefeated third wicket.
Pakistan, runners-up to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, ended Sri Lanka's unbeaten run in the tournament with style.
Pakistan last won an official multi-nation tournament in 1992 when Imran Khan's team lifted the World Cup by beating England in the final at the Melbourne cricket ground in Australia.
Sunday's win by Younus Khan's team gave Pakistanis back home reason to cheer as the cricket-mad nation has been deprived of international tours due to security concerns in the volatile nation.
The International Cricket Council has already ruled out holding World Cup matches in Pakistan in 2011 following the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3.
Pakistani openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan ensured there were no early scares as they put on 48 for the first wicket in seven overs.
Sanath Jayasuriya broke through with his first delivery in the next over when he beat Akmal in the air with his left-arm spin and had him stumped for 37 off 28 balls.
Jayasuriya then took a catch to get rid of Shahzaib off Muttiah Muralitharan for 19, but Afridi and Malik took Pakistan home amid loud celebrations from their fans in the stands.
Sri Lanka were dealt quick blows after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to take first strike on a slow wicket.
The Lankans slumped to 2-2 in the first nine balls and that became 34-4 before Sangakkara himself led the rescue act with a defiant unbeaten 64 from 52 balls.
Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews put on 68 for the unbroken seventh wicket as Sri Lanka plundered 59 runs in the final five overs.
Mathews returned unbeaten on 35 off 24 balls.
Pakistan got off to a sensational start when teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamir sent back the in-form Tillekaratne Dilshan with the fifth ball of the match.
Dilshan, the tournament's leading scorer with 317 runs, miscued a pull shot off the speedy left-armer and was caught at backward square-leg by Shahzaib Hasan for zero.
Four balls later, Shahzaib grabbed his second catch at mid-off as Jehan Mubarak skied a leading edge off Razzaq, who shared the new ball with Aamir.
Jayasuriya counter-attacked with a six and four in Razzaq's second over, but the bowler hit back two balls later as the left-handed veteran edged a ball on to his stumps after making 17.
Razzaq, who replaced the injured Yasir Arafat after ending his links with the rebel Indian Cricket League, struck again in his third over when Misbah-ul Haq dived to his right at slip to remove Mahela Jayawardene for one.

Sangakkara hails 'pioneer' Dilshan

Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara hailed Tillekaratne Dilshan as a "pioneer" on Friday after the opener hit an unbeaten 96 to lead his side past West Indies and into the World Twenty20 final.
Sri Lanka cruised to a comfortable 57-run win at the Oval and will now take on Pakistan in the final at Lord's on Sunday.
"I have run out of superlatives for Dilshan. He is a pioneer stroke-maker in Twenty20," said Sangakkara.
"The best thing is that he understands his role and has become very responsible and mature. He has finally understood how good he is."
Dilshan's knock was the centrepiece of Sri Lanka's 158 for five with his 57-ball innings, which featured two sixes and 12 fours, the equal third-best in Twenty20 international history.
Fellow opener Sanath Jayasuriya (24) and Angelo Mathews (12 not out) were the only other Sri Lankan batsmen to reach double figures.
Mathews then took three wickets in the first over of the West Indies reply and the Caribbean side never recovered as they finished on 101 all out with captain Chris Gayle carrying his bat for 63 not out.
"It's Mathews's first major international tour and you can't ask for much more than three wickets in the first over," added Sangakkara.
"To get three top order batsmen out is a great start. We have a great bowling attack, they are all thinking cricketers.
"Now we will take this confidence into the final against Pakistan. We'll concentrate on getting our basics right, we'll be responsible and execute our game plan."
Dilshan said he was learning all the time in the international arena.
"I got the start I wanted. I've been in good form in the last six months in the IPL and in international cricket," said the opener, who was named man of the match.
Gayle said the defeat was a bitter pill to swallow after his bowlers had limited the flamboyant Sri Lankans to 158-5.
"I'm very disappointed. I thought batting was our strength," said Gayle.
"Dilshan took the game away from us. But we have struggled to get a start and get runs on the board.
"We'll come back as a better unit and learn things from this."

Sri Lankan novelty lights up T20

After Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene had reversed-swept him off the back of the bat during their World Twenty20 Super Eights win over New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, Jacob Oram smiled.
The all-rounder's expression, a mixture of bewilderment and admiration, neatly summed up the reaction of many people watching the match and was just the latest example of Sri Lanka's enduring penchant for cricket unorthodoxy.
Jaywardene's team-mate Tillekaratne Dilshan has wowed crowds at the tournament with the 'Dillscoop', an extraordinary shot where he goes down on one knee as if to sweep only to lever the ball past the wicket-keeper's head.
But there is nothing new about Sri Lanka changing the way cricket is played. It is now more than a decade since opener Sanath Jayasuriya revolutionised the approach to batting at the start of the one-day innings by lofting the ball over the infield and even carving the ball for sixes square of the wicket on the offside.
Jayasuriya's dynamism helped Sri Lanka win the 1996 World Cup and was an example of how the island's players were allowed to remain true to their natural style.
The most obvious example is in the array of unorthodox bowlers who've taken the field for Sri Lanka be they prodigious off-break star Muttiah Muralitharan, mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and round-arm pace bowler Lasith Malinga.
But thought, as well as talent, plays a part.
Jayawardene, best known as a classically elegant batsman, was not the first man to reverse sweep a bowler off the back of the bat.
Australia's Andrew Symonds has been seen playing the shot but, according to Jayawardene, it was one of the all-rounder's compatriots, the former Test opener John Dyson, now the coach of the West Indies, who ought to be credited with the creation of the stroke.
"This is something I've worked with (Sri Lanka coach) Trevor Bayliss on.
"He was saying that Dyson used to do that in Australia. He used to tap it with the other side because he couldn't sweep.
"A lot of teams bring third man up these days and I thought I'll give it a go. Hopefully it will keep working.
But there is another Sri Lankan who, in his own quiet way, has also helped the side into a World Twenty20 semi-finals against the West Indies at the Oval on Friday.
Pace bowler Isuru Udana, who took two for 17 on Tusday, has outbowled the quicker and more highly regarded Nuwan Kulasekara at this tournament by deceiving several batsmen with the slow pace of his deliveries.
Some observers have asked why he needs such a lengthy run given the speed the ball arrives at the other end but, intentional or not, the effect has been to cause confusion.
Oram was one such example, clean bowled by Udana after getting through his shot so early his bottom hand had come off the bat as the ball crashed into his stumps on Tuesday. He for one might be glad of a break from facing Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka bank on spinners for T20 success

Sri Lanka expect the spinners to pick up another rich haul when they take on the West Indies in the World Twenty20 semi-final at the Oval on Friday.
The Sri Lankans have bulldozed their way through the tournament with five straight wins, mainly on the back of spin twins Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan who lead a balanced bowling attack.
Mendis, who puzzles batsmen by turning the ball both ways with one visible action, has so far picked up 11 wickets in the tournament, just one behind Pakistani seamer Umar Gul's tally of 12.
Muralitharan has five wickets, while fast bowler Lasith Malinga has picked up 10 with a mix of toe-crushing yorkers and slower deliveries.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who handed the reigns to Kumar Sangakkara before the tournament, said he was confident the bowlers will deliver at the crunch time.
"Look, Murali can turn the ball on any surface," Jayawardene said of the star off-spinner, who is the world's highest wicket-taker in both Tests and one-day cricket.
"And if Ajantha sticks to his plans, we have a fairly good chance of going all the way."
Mendis grabbed 3-9 in three overs as Sri Lanka routed New Zealand by 48 runs in their last Super Eights match at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.
The Black Caps failed miserably to chase down a target of 159 in a must-win game and were shot out for 110 in 17 overs.
Jayawardene said the team was taking it one match at a time and would not be carried away just because they had reached the semi-finals.
"We set goals for ourselves when we came to the tournament. At the start was going through the first round, then the Super Eights.
"Now we have two goals left, win the semis and the final. But we have to stay calm and focussed on the job at hand."
Jaywardene said the secret of Sri Lanka's success in the tournament was trying to stay one step ahead of the others, like bringing on the slow bowlers in the first six overs when the field was inside the circle.
"As a team we realise we have to peak at a certain time in the tournament," he said. "Teams analyse you these days so what we are trying to do is stay one step ahead of the others.
"Sometimes it works, other times it does not work, but as long as the attitude is there and the confidence is there to do that, it will help in the long run.
"The good things is we have so many bowling options that we can use them at any time depending on the situation and what we want to achieve.
"We have asked the guys to be prepared at any given time."
Sangakkara was excited about having a bowler like Mendis in the side.
"Ajantha was brilliant. He is very difficult to read and he has an attacking mindset. It's a great ability to have," said Sangakkara.
"He has a great leg break, but he varies his deliveries depending on whether or not he is bowling to a left or right-hander."
Sri Lanka, runners-up at the 50-overs-a-side World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007, failed to make the semi-finals in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa later that year.

T20 a bowlers' game, says Sangakkara

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said Twenty20 cricket was now a bowlers' game after his side were given a major scare by Ireland.
The only non-Test team left in the World Twenty20, Ireland held Sangakkara's side to 144 for nine at Lord's on Sunday before tight bowling from the likes of Ajantha Mendis and Lasith Malinga restricted the minnows to 135 for seven.
Victory by nine runs preserved Sri Lanka's unbeaten record at the tournament but it needed a 78 from former skipper Mahela Jayawardene, in an innings where only three batsmen made double figures, to give their bowlers a target they could defend.
"I think Twenty20 is fast becoming a bowlers' game rather than a batsmen's game," said Sangakkara after seeing Jayawardene lead a Sri Lanka revival after they'd slumped to 14 for two.
"Bowlers have an opportunity to take wickets with almost every ball they bowl and I think the most successful bowlers in England in the Twenty20 format have been the spinners."
Sri Lanka, who face New Zealand in their final Super Eights match in Nottingham on Tuesday, are now on the brink of qualifying for the semi-finals and wicket-keeper Sangakkara was clear about the reasons for their success.
"The fact remains that if you have two or three guys in your side who are bowling well and who are putting pressure on the opposition by cutting the runs down, the batsmen are going to attack someone else, that's a given," he said.
"You've got to accept that and understand who is going for runs and whether you have enough depth in your bowling to absorb that pressure and really come back hard and take wickets and again cut the runs down."
Paceman Nuwan Kulasekara was expensive against Ireland, with one wicket for 47 runs from four overs, but unorthodox quick Malinga took two for 19 and spinner Mendis two for 22.
"A few of our bowlers did go for runs but the rest of the guys took wickets at crucial times," said Sangakkara.
Jayawardene, who according to his captain "batted beautifully" was glad with the bulk of his 53-ball innings, which featured a six and nine fours, although unhappy he did not bat through to the end of the 20 overs.
"We were in a bit of a situation where we needed some runs as well as to bat through," Jayawardene said.
"I probably had a little bit of luck to start with and then I got into the groove but I was disappointed, I should have finished the innings."
He added: "The ideal scenario would be everything to go our way but that's not going to happen every game. So on that day, whoever gets the responsibility to bat through the innings has to do that and the others bat around him."
Malinga has proved hard to handle for many of the world's best batsmen, let alone Ireland's, but Jayawardene said his unusual style belied the effort the seamer out into his game.
"He's got a natural advantage with his slingy action but I think the hallmark of Lasith Malinga as with nearly all our Sri Lankan cricketers is that he works hard in the nets," Jayawardene said.
"There's no secret to his accuracy, it's just a lot of hard work."
Meanwhile, Sangakkara insisted this result would not dent Sri Lanka's self-belief.
"You always expect a fight in Twenty20 cricket. If you are defending 144, the other side are always going to get close, the key is not to let them get close enough."

Jayasuriya's future in his hands says captain

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara wants star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya to carry on playing for just as long as he can after the veteran opener proved age was no barrier to success at the World Twenty20.
Aged 39 and the oldest player in the tournament, left-hander Jayasuriya ended a brief run of indifferent form with a sparkling 81 in Sri Lanka's 15-run win over the West Indies at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Both sides were already through to the second phase Super Eights but the bonus for Sri Lanka was to see Jayasuriya, whose innings featured his trademark cuts for six over point, look back to his best in a stay of just 47 balls.
Jayasuriya called time on his Test career in 2007 but his latest knock was proof that the man whose aggressive batting revolutionised the one-day game during Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup triumph, remains a potent forced in limited overs cricket.
"As a side, we have never had questions over what he can do," Sangakkara told reporters at Lord's on Thursday. "We were just waiting till he made his way into the tournament.
"It's great for his confidence and the team's confidence. He got the runs that we needed and the manner in which he got them," the wicket-keeper/batsman added.
"We need him to play the way he has played for years now.
"He's a match winner and as long as he's fit and willing to play for us, we are happy to have him. He'll be 40 soon. The decision is finally his.
"We are happy to have him in the side. He's won us lot matches and I am sure he will win a lot of games as well for us in the future.
"It doesn't matter how old you are," Sangakkara stressed. "In my view, if you are fit, scoring runs taking wickets and doing the hard work at training, that's what we require."
Sri Lanka, unbeaten at the tournament so far after wins over Australia and the West Indies, begin their second phase Super Eights programme against Pakistan at Lord's on Friday.
Meanwhile, Sangakkara tried to play down suggestions that Sri Lanka's early results made them one of the favourites.
"We've got lot of confidence form the last two games. But it's going to be a new game tomorrow (Friday). T-20 is very unpredictable."
"We can't look far ahead. First we have to qualify for semis and the first thing is we've got to win tomorrow. We are not looking too far ahead."
Spin has been a key factor both of Sri Lanka's wins and not just from off-break star Muttiah Muralitharan.
Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis has proved arguably even harder to handle than Murali and Sangakkara said: "Spin has been our strength for years. Hopefully they can keep performing and add new variations to their armoury."

Mathews' super save legal, says MCC

Angelo Mathews's spectacular six-saving move against the West Indies in a World Twenty20 match has been deemed legal by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the guardian of cricket's laws, who said it was "good for cricket".
Mathews was on the wide long-on boundary Trent Bridge on Wednesday when Ramnaresh Sarwan lofted a Ajantha Mendis delivery towards him.
He caught the ball inside the ropes before, realising his momentum would take him over the boundary, he flung the ball in the air.
Mathews's foot then went over the boundary and, seeing the ball was about to land over the rope and so go for a six, jumped up and hit it into play.
After watching several replays, third umpire Ian Gould informed on-field officials Billy Bowden and Simon Taufel that three runs only had been scored.
"The MCC Laws sub-committee had recently discussed fielding such as this and felt that such brilliant and quick-thinking acts should not be outlawed," said MCC assistant secretary John Stephenson said Thursday.
"MCC is happy with the Law as it is written and occurrences such as the one yesterday, while extremely rare, are good for the game of cricket as a whole. It is also pleasing that two of the committee's members were involved in making the correct decision on the field of play."
Mathews's move was deemed to have prevented a six as Law 19.3 states that a boundary will be scored when "the ball touches the boundary, or is grounded beyond the boundary or a fielder, with some part of his person in contact with the ball, touches the boundary or has some part of his person grounded beyond the boundary."
Sri Lanka beat the West Indies by 15 runs although both sides had already qualified for the second phase Super Eights after each defeating Australia.
Both teams begin their Super Eights programme at Lord's on Friday. Sri Lanka face Pakistan and West Indies take on defending champions India.

Twenty20, new country for old men

Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya may be the oldest cricketer at 39 in the World Twenty20, but he has just as much chance of achieving success as any youngster.
The batting exploites of retired Australians Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist in the recent Indian Premier League have only made the "age v youth" debate more interesting in the latest format of the game.
The 37-year-olds comfortably won the opening round, with Hayden emerging the tournament's leading scorer with 572 runs in 12 matches and Gilchrist the second-best with 495 in 16.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Gilchrist was also named the player of the tournament for leading the 2008 bottom-placed Deccan Chargers to the title-triumph this year.
"The success of the senior players in the IPL highlights the fact that Twenty20 can accommodate all cricketers -- if they are good enough -- regardless of their age," said Gilchrist.
"Like baseball, you will see that as T20 continues to develop, older players, especially batsmen, will start extending their careers to their late thirties and beyond."
Also speaking strongly in veterans' favour were India's Anil Kumble, 38, Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, 37 and Australian Shane Warne, 39. The spinners proved with their match-winning spells that performance mattered more than age.
Leg-spinner Kumble, who quit international cricket last year, set the IPL on fire with an amazing 5-5 performance (v Rajasthan) before ending up the tournament's second-highest wicket-taker with 21.
Off-spinner Muralitharan, the world's leading bowler in Tests (770 wickets) and one-day internationals (505), was as disciplined as ever, grabbing 14 wickets for semi-finalists Chennai.
The wily Sri Lankan had an economy-rate of 5.22 -- the best by any bowler with 10 or more matches in this year's IPL.
"I think Twenty20 is ideally suited for us (retired players). It's good knowing that you only have to bowl four overs," said Kumble, who led Bangalore to the final.
"I agree it's a young man's game and you need to be supremely fit and athletic, but if you have six or seven guys like that, experienced guys can take the pressure and use their skills to pull a team through."
India's Sachin Tendulkar, who has opted out of T20 internationals, also batted for the veterans, saying that age was no barrier to success.
"It's a cricketers' game, so it really doesn't matter whether you are young or old. It's a cricket match," said Tendulkar, the world's top scorer in Tests (12,773) and one-dayers (16,684).
If further proof was needed of the veterans' significance, it was provided by Warne who marshalled his limited resources remarkably well to lead Rajasthan to victory last year besides excelling as a bowler.
"You really need to pinch yourself to believe that he (Warne) can still spin a web around the batsmen in the world," Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said during the recent IPL.
"He retired in 2007 and now spends more time on the poker table than on cricket pitches, but give him the ball and the magic resumes."