173/9 (20.0)
CR : 8.65
179/5 (20.0)
CR : 8.95
West Indies Masters won by 6 runs 🏆
Player of the Match
Tino Best
4/27
11:18 PM IST | PHEW! What a drama we had! A cracker of a semi-final! A humdinger of an encounter and West Indies Masters have kept their nerve to come out victorious. They have advanced to the final by beating Sri Lanka Masters by just 6 runs.
Earlier today, Sri Lanka Masters skipper sent West Indies Masters to bat first. They found it difficult to get going. Dwayne Smith became the victim of a misunderstanding. William Perkins had a 29-ball struggle in the middle for his 24. Lendl Simmons also got out for just 17. But Brian Lara and Chadwick Walton decided to rebuild. Lara showed some classy batting display and scored 41 runs off 33 balls with 4 fours and a maximum. Walton also contributed for his 20-ball 31 run knock hitting 3 boundaries and a maximum. But the star of the first innings was Denesh Ramdin. Ramdin played 22 balls and hit 4 fours and 3 maximums. He got to his fifty hitting a maximum in the final ball of the innings and the Windies finished with 179 runs on the board.
Coming to chase the target, Sri Lanka Masters lost their in-form man Kumar Sangakkara cheaply just for 17 off 15 balls. Ashley Nurse kept the southpaws in check extracting the extra bounce off the pitch. Thirimanne and Tharanga got out in space of just three balls. The middle order also faltered. Seekkuge Prasanna, Chaturanga de Silva and Jeevan Mendis got out for single digit scores.
Asela Gunaratne, who had been in fine form throughout the tournament, stepped up once again. He was partnered by Isuru Udana first. He and Udana played 19 balls together to score 39 runs and Udana got out for 21. Dilruwan Perera played a cameo knock of 11 runs but got out in the penultimate ball of the penultimate over.
Lendl Simmons was trusted for the final over with 15 runs in hand to defend. He started by conceding a maximum and in the very next ball, Asela Gunaratne hit him for a brace to reduce the target to 7 off 4 balls. But Simmons altered the pace to a tee and bowled three consecutive dot balls and Gunaratne needed a maximum to level the scores in the final over. He went for a slog but found William Perkins in the deep.
For West Indies, Tino Best was the star of the bowling show with his 4 wickets for 25 runs. Dwayne Smith took 2 wickets. Ashley Nurse, Jerome Taylor and Lendl Simmons took a wicket each.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentations.
Earlier today, Sri Lanka Masters skipper sent West Indies Masters to bat first. They found it difficult to get going. Dwayne Smith became the victim of a misunderstanding. William Perkins had a 29-ball struggle in the middle for his 24. Lendl Simmons also got out for just 17. But Brian Lara and Chadwick Walton decided to rebuild. Lara showed some classy batting display and scored 41 runs off 33 balls with 4 fours and a maximum. Walton also contributed for his 20-ball 31 run knock hitting 3 boundaries and a maximum. But the star of the first innings was Denesh Ramdin. Ramdin played 22 balls and hit 4 fours and 3 maximums. He got to his fifty hitting a maximum in the final ball of the innings and the Windies finished with 179 runs on the board.
Coming to chase the target, Sri Lanka Masters lost their in-form man Kumar Sangakkara cheaply just for 17 off 15 balls. Ashley Nurse kept the southpaws in check extracting the extra bounce off the pitch. Thirimanne and Tharanga got out in space of just three balls. The middle order also faltered. Seekkuge Prasanna, Chaturanga de Silva and Jeevan Mendis got out for single digit scores.
Asela Gunaratne, who had been in fine form throughout the tournament, stepped up once again. He was partnered by Isuru Udana first. He and Udana played 19 balls together to score 39 runs and Udana got out for 21. Dilruwan Perera played a cameo knock of 11 runs but got out in the penultimate ball of the penultimate over.
Lendl Simmons was trusted for the final over with 15 runs in hand to defend. He started by conceding a maximum and in the very next ball, Asela Gunaratne hit him for a brace to reduce the target to 7 off 4 balls. But Simmons altered the pace to a tee and bowled three consecutive dot balls and Gunaratne needed a maximum to level the scores in the final over. He went for a slog but found William Perkins in the deep.
For West Indies, Tino Best was the star of the bowling show with his 4 wickets for 25 runs. Dwayne Smith took 2 wickets. Ashley Nurse, Jerome Taylor and Lendl Simmons took a wicket each.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentations.
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka Masters Captain): "I think a couple of mistakes in the field, they got 20 runs more than they should have, a couple of crunch moments and it affected the game. It was a very good tournament and everybody who played had a good time. The tournament has got legs and it will get better, as long as the cricket is good and the players stay fit, it can go a long way."
Time for the post-match presentation ceremony..
Most Fours of the Match: Asela Gunaratne
Most Sixes of the Match: Denesh Ramdin
Player of the Match: Tino Best
Tino Best (Player of the Match): "You know it just gives me the energy to go there and give my best for West Indies. When you are given the ball, you want to change the game. Sometimes you can do, sometimes you can't. Glad that it happened today.
Sangakkara was a big wicket. But Tharanga and Thirimanne were the big wickets too (chuckles). It is always nice to contribute for the team."
Sangakkara was a big wicket. But Tharanga and Thirimanne were the big wickets too (chuckles). It is always nice to contribute for the team."
Brian Lara (West Indies Masters Captain): "I enjoyed myself, it was a great match. Having runs on the board meant you could put pressure on them. Nurse and Best, and everyone bowled really well in the second overs.
You need to have discipline in the first 6 overs, we wanted to keep them down to 7 runs a over, they got more than that, but by the 11th or 12th we needed to keep the pressure up, to make it difficult in the end.
In this sort of game, we needed to control the middle and make sure they did not have a launch pad for the slog overs, we wrestled momentum from them. It should be a great match against India and Sachin."
You need to have discipline in the first 6 overs, we wanted to keep them down to 7 runs a over, they got more than that, but by the 11th or 12th we needed to keep the pressure up, to make it difficult in the end.
In this sort of game, we needed to control the middle and make sure they did not have a launch pad for the slog overs, we wrestled momentum from them. It should be a great match against India and Sachin."
That marks the end of a cracking contest between West Indies Masters and Sri Lanka Masters. The Brian Lara-led side has done better than the Sangakkara-led side and eventually got the victory by 6 runs. On the coming Sunday, it will be Sachin Tendulkar vs Brian Lara in the final. A fitting final of the International Masters League involving two masters of the game.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Anirudh Modi and our scorer/analyst Chandan Kumar Singh. Good night.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Anirudh Modi and our scorer/analyst Chandan Kumar Singh. Good night.