Sublime Jayawardene takes Sri Lanka to 195

20 overs Sri Lanka 195 for 3 (Jayawardene 98*, Sangakkara 68) v West Indies
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	Mahela Jayawardene scored freely all round the wicket to reach 98 against West Indies © Getty Images
Related Links Players/Officials: Mahela Jayawardene | Kumar Sangakkara Matches: West Indies v Sri Lanka at Bridgetown Series/Tournaments: ICC World Twenty20 Teams: Sri Lanka | West Indies

Sri Lanka profited from an amateurish fielding effort from a deflated West Indies to post 195 for 3 after winning the toss and opting to bat in the second match of the day at the Kensington Oval. The chief architect of the mammoth total was Mahela Jayawardene who, in a sublime display of risk-free strokeplay narrowly missed out on his second century of the tournament, eventually finishing unbeaten on 98. He was well supported by Kumar Sangakkara in a 166-run partnership for the second wicket, the highest of the tournament so far.

And that in itself is an indication of the ineptitude of the West Indian fielding and bowling effort, as at least five straightforward chances were missed. Jaywardene displayed silky touch and superb manipulation of the bowling to take full toll, and Sangakkara, while not quite in Jayawardene's league at the moment, matched him almost shot for shot.

It had seemed likely that, with the pitch offering bounce and carry, West Indies would adopt a similarly aggressive bang-it-in approach as Australia had earlier in the day, and indeed Kemar Roach seemed eager to exploit the pace-friendly conditions as he hit the deck hard in his opening over to trouble both openers.

Jerome Taylor, on his return to international cricket after a six-month lay-off, was far more willing to pitch the ball up, and paid the price for it initially as Sanath Jayasuriya, batting up the order in place of the wretchedly out-of-form Tillekaratne Dilshan, clipped Taylor's first ball firmly back over his head.

In an eventful over, the second was then slapped low but straight to Kieron Pollard at backward point. It was a regulation chance for a fielder in that position, but Pollard couldn't hold on to it, and the lapse set the tone for West Indies' performance in the field for the rest of the afternoon.

Roach, who bowled consistently above 90mph in his opening over, deceived Jayasuriya with a slightly slower bouncer to have the veteran caught at short fine leg, but Taylor suffered another lapse from his fielders in his second over, as the normally-reliable Chris Gayle put Sangakkara down at slip before he had scored. Jayawardene lifted the very next ball handsomely over wide long on for six. With that, the moment had passed and the rest of the match was entirely Sri Lanka's.

Both Sangakkara and Jayawardene flashed airily at the odd delivery, but were level-headed enough to keep their composure and capitalise on the bad balls that came, predictably, at least once an over. After an erratic Dwayne Bravo had been carted for 22 in a two-over spell, Darren Sammy, whom West Indies have looked to to keep things orderly in their middle overs in recent times, was brought on but today his first over was dispatched for 10, with Jayawardene favouring the area behind point on the off side.

As the partnership gained momentum, West Indies seemed almost resigned to the fact that a large total was in the offing, and a missed caught-and-bowled chance from Pollard's first ball of the match barely registered. Jayawardene passed fifty with a paddle-pull over the 'keeper, and though he swished airily at the odd delivery, more often than not he was able to hit cleanly through the ball and got good connections on most of his shots.

As West Indies' fielding became ever more ragged, a fourth chance was missed as Benn found bounce and turn to elicit a rare mistake from Jayawardene, who was tempted out of his crease by a flighted delivery. But Fletcher fumbled the take, allowing Jayawardene to scramble back. Three balls later, things became even more farcical as Jayawardene top-edged Benn almost straight up in the air, and Fletcher and Wavell Hinds, the two closest fielders, both stood back and watched the ball plummet down, each expecting the other to go for it.

Sangakkara eventually holed out to long off for 68, but it looked as though Jayawardene would be able to reach his second hundred of the tournament when he took 10 runs from Bravo's final two balls to reach 97 with six balls still to be bowled. He was stranded at the wrong end in the final over, unable to reach the landmark, but through him Sri Lanka were able to post a massive total. Chasing it down will be a mountainous task for West Indies, and one feels that only if Chris Gayle is at his explosive best will they be able to get close.