Dilshan trumps

Dilshan trumps in evening of solos.

In one of the most remarkable innings in Twenty20s, he was measured and seemingly unhurried though the strike-rate was pushing 170.Chris Gayle won one battle with Tillakaratne Dilshan on Friday evening. By a whisker, he became the batsman to have scored the highest percentage of his team's total in a Twenty20 match, but that's also a damning statistic for West Indies, Gayle stood utterly and hopelessly alone, while Dilshan had just enough company to be able to make the difference. Truly, it was the evening of solos. Between them, Dilshan and Gayle accounted for 159 of 259 runs scored, but that collectively the West Indian batsmen scored only five more than Dilshan was reflected in the margin. Sanath Jayasuriya was the third-highest scorer in the match with 24: Gayle aside, the rest of the West Indian batsmen managed three more. In the first ten overs of the match, Jayasuriya's effort had seemed a monumental struggle, by the end of the match it seemed like heroic resistance. While he was eating away balls at the top of the innings, it looked probable that Jayasuriya, the hero of many a glorious Sri Lankan win, mIt was an utterly bizarre match. It was as if Dilshan and Gayle were in playing a different game. Every other batsman struggled with timing. Many were dismissed playing early. Some miscued their strokes and some merely dragged the ball on to their stumps. But Dilshan and Gayle, not only found timing, but invariably the placement too. No else had hit a four till the West Indian score had reached 78, by which time Gayle had eight fours and a six. By then, the match had been lost. ight cost his team a place in the final. It turned out that the opening partnershiDilshan came within a stroke of becoming only the second batsman to score a hundred in Twenty20 internationals. With ball in hand, Gayle had the satisfaction of denying him, and thus retaining his own status the as the sole centurion in this format. He fought a valiant battle with the bat and kept his dignity and humour intact at the post-match press conference, but how easily would he have swapped the little victories for the one that mattered. By all accounts, his team was well beatenp of 73 made the biggest difference. Quite fittingly, the final is now a match-up between the two best bowling teams in the tournament. Players of both teams know how it is to lose World Cup final. By Sunday evening one set will know how it is to win one. It'll come down to who bats better

Source;........cricinfo.com