Seam bowler Farveez Maharoof claimed a
career-best haul of six for 14 Saturday and spurred Sri Lanka to a
nine-wicket victory over the West Indies in the final ICC Champions
Trophy limited-overs cricket qualifier.
Maharoof ripped through the middle order as the West Indies was
bundled out for 80 in 30.4 overs before Sri Lanka took just 13.2
overs post a winning total of 83 and take the top spot in the
four-nation qualifying competition with three successive victories.
Sri Lanka lost opener Upul Tharanga for a golden duck before
Sanath Jayasuriya (45 not out) and skipper Mahela Jayawardene (34
not out) put on an unbroken 83-run partnership.
The West Indies and Sri Lanka had already secured passage into
the limited-overs Champions Trophy that begins Sunday in Jaipur, but
now the lineups for the two groups have been finalized.
Sri Lanka joins Group B along side South Africa, Pakistan and New
Zealand, while title holder West Indies is pooled in Group A with
world champion Australia, England and host India.
Maharoof's figures eclipsed the previous best bowling performance
in Champions Trophy play by Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, who claimed
five for 11 against England in 2004.
Maharoof's previous personal best figures were four for 20
against India in Ahmadabad last year.
``It's a wonderful day for me ... We bowled well as a group and
the Windies batsmen played some bad shots,'' Maharoof said.
West Indian captain Brian Lara acknowledged that his team didn't
bat well.
``We batted poorly and paid the price for it, we should have
played straight on a pitch that was slow and the balls kept low,''
Lara said.
Batting first after Lara won the toss, Champion Trophy title
holder the West Indies was dismissed for its lowest score against
Sri Lanka as just two of its batsmen managing to get into double
figures against an accurate Sri Lanka attack.
Struggling on a pitch of low-bounce, four batsmen _ opener Chris
Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith _ failed to
open their account, but West Indies averted the ignominy of its
lowest in all limited-overs internationals.
The lowest one-day score for the West Indies remains 54 against
South Africa in Cape Town in the 2003-04 series, while its previous
low against Sri Lanka was 145 at Sharjah in 1999.
The West Indies innings was rocked by left-arm paceman Chaminda
Vaas (2-6), who dismissed key opener Chris Gayle with the fourth
delivery of the match by eliciting an edge into the hands of
wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara.
Sarwan was adjudged lbw to Vaas (2-6) in his next over.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (8) was caught behind off paceman Lasith
Malinga, who later clean bowled No. 10 batsman Fidel Edwards (4) to
finish with two for 26.
Lara became Maharoof's first dismissal, trapped lbw after scoring
13.
Lara's departure opened up the floodgates that saw the lanky
Maharoof remove Bravo and Smith for ducks, Marlon Samuels (1) and
Carlton Baugh (1).
Watching the disaster from the other end was Wavell Hinds, who
held his ground for 106 minutes before becoming Maharoof's sixth
victim after scoring 28. His knock contained three boundaries.
In reply, Sri Lanka opener Tharanga had his stumps shattered by
the first delivery from West Indies paceman Fidel Edwards, but
Jayasuriya and Jayawardene batted with authority as the Sri Lankans
did not lose another wicket.
Jayasuriya struck nine boundaries off 47 deliveries, while
Jayawardene had seven fours from 35 balls.
