COLOMBO – West Indies demolished shell-shocked Australia last night to march into tomorrow’s final against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20.
Clearly overawed by an imposing West Indies total of 205 for four in 20 overs, Australia rallied with a late fightback but eventually, if not predictably, fell for 131 in 16.4 overs to lose by 74 runs.
The pitch here has been keeping slow and low of late, but when Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard got going in a fourth-wicket partnership of 65 from 21 balls, it was almost like they were playing on a different surface – similar to the one that produced the totals of the Super Eight matches in Colombo.
The West Indies’ innings was a tournament high and was first built on Gayle and Marlon Samuels’ elegant aggression. The two Jamaicans took the score from 16 for one to 57 for two in five overs.
Samuels fell for 26, bowled by pacer Pat Cummins, trying to be too exuberant, but Dwayne Bravo joined Gayle and they set up the regional side for a bigger score and a date tomorrow with Sri Lanka in the final.
