ICC World Twenty20 Group C, Johannesburg:
Sri Lanka 260-6 (20 ovs) bt Kenya 88 (19.3 ovs) by 172 runs
By Jamie Lillywhite
Jayasuriya played his customary collection of sparkling strokes
Sri Lanka amassed the highest Twenty20 international total and crushed Kenya by a record 172 runs in Johannesburg.
Having been put into bat, they blasted 30 fours and 11 sixes in a pulsating 260-6, Sanath Jayasuriya firing 88 off 44 balls with 11 fours and four sixes.
Mahela Jayawardene added an attractive 65 from 28 balls with nine fours and two sixes and Jehan Mubarak lashed four sixes in an over in 46 from 13 balls.
Chaminda Vaas then struck with the third ball as Kenya made only 88.
The Sri Lankans, sporting a new lighter blue strip, quickly recovered from the loss of Upul Tharanga, who failed to make contact with an attempted pull and saw his middle stump knocked back in the third over.
Jayasuriya was soon into his stride with some trademark strokes, a square drive fizzing like a tracer bullet to the point fence for six and a short-arm jab sailing over mid-wicket for another maximum.
The assured Kumar Sangakkara kept the scoreboard ticking over competently, working the ball into the gaps before he was bowled around his legs trying to sweep.
Skipper Jayawardene allowed himself one delivery to acclimatise before nonchalantly flicking his second delivery many rows back at mid-wicket, to bring up the 100 from the final ball of the 10th over.
The Kenyans did themselves no favours, Thomas Odoyo and Lameck Onyango colliding in comical fashion when a rare Jayasuriya top-edge looped to deep mid-wicket.
Then skipper Steve Tikolo, perhaps still conscious of his belief he could restrict Sri Lanka to 150-160, over-stepped, allowing a free hit which was promptly thumped past mid-wicket for four more by Jayasuriya.
Jayawardene was stylish at all times, often backing away effectively to glide the ball through the off-side.
Jayasuriya sent his final six into the back of the large tunnel, the same distant territory found by Chris Gayle on Tuesday, but could not emulate the West Indian's century and departed for 88 from 44 balls when he miscued to mid-on.
Jayawardene displayed some elegant hitting
Obuya fumbled a skier from Chamara Silva on the boundary but atoned with a smart piece of ground fielding that ran out the right-hander.
The innings did not exactly need extra impetus, but Mubarak gave it some anyway, despatching the ball to all parts of the ground in a pulsating cameo.
He took 29 from one Onyango over, but was denied the fastest Twenty20 fifty when he failed to connect with the final ball of the innings.
Whatever was said between the Kenyan batsmen in the short interval failed to provide the inspiration as they chased 13 per over.
Chaminda Vaas found immediate swing and trapped Ouma in an opening wicket maiden.
Dilhara Fernando'sopening over went for 17 and Tanmay Mishra provided the highlight of the innings, connecting perfectly with a swipe at Vaas that sailed many a mile at mid-wicket.
But it did not last.
The experienced left-arm seamer exacted his revenge on Obuya, who sank to the turf in a fashion that could only mean he had been hit in one specific area.
Lasith Malinga, complete with an extravagant new hairstyle, was rather too sharp and tricky for the hapless Kenyans, deprived of the injured Odoyo with the bat, and they were swept away by the stylish Sri Lankans.
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* Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene: "We played some smart cricket, it was crucial for us in the first few overs not to lose too many wickets.
"We managed to keep it down to just one and then we batted really well. If you lose too many wickets you can dig yourself into a hole but we had wickets in hand and were able to accelerate.
"Mubarak batted brilliantly, I haven't seen him do that for a while, so that was really good."
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* Kenya captain Steve Tikolo: "After winning the toss we should have done better than we did.
"When you come up against a team like Sri Lanka and the likes of Sanath you have to be on the money."
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Kiwis, Lankans set for mammoth clash
Karien Jonckheere (Sportz Interactive)
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena couldn’t have been happier with his side’s start to the ICC World Twenty20 with a record score and a comprehensive victory.
Now with a place in the next round of the tournament already secure, he plans to use tomorrow’s match against New Zealand to see exactly where his team, which are relatively new to this format of the game, need to improve.
“It’s going to be a good game to challenge ourselves, push ourselves and see where we can be in this tournament. And if we make mistakes it will be a good opportunity to see which areas we need to improve going into the business end of the tournament,” he said after his side’s 172-run win over Kenya.
Jayawardena knows what to expect from the New Zealanders, having faced them in the semifinal of the ICC World Cup in Jamaica earlier this year.
“We have played New Zealand very often in the last year or so and in a couple of Twenty20 games. They are a very good all-round side so it will be a good test for us, using what we have learned today with the wicket and the areas we need to bowl,” he said.
The two sides have met twice before in Twenty20 Internationals in December 2006, and have one win each. Sri Lanka won the first of these by 18 runs while the Black Caps took the spoils in the second, winning by five wickets.
Despite tomorrow’s result being irrelevant, as both sides have already qualified for the next round, it promises to an intriguing contest as the New Zealanders aim to make up for the disappointment of going down to Sri Lanka in the World Cup semifinal.
And regardless of the result, it will certainly be a much closer affair than Sri Lanka’s opening match of the tournament.
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