PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in a one over eliminator after the 40-over Super Eights contest was sensationally tied in the World T20 Championship here Thursday. With both teams inseparable on 174 runs at the end of 40 overs a “super over” round was played for the result. New Zealand paceman Tim Southee restricted Sri Lanka to 13-1 but Lasith Malinga managed better, finishing the New Zealand innings five short of his team's total. It was the seventh tied match in all Twenty20 cricket, with New Zealand involved in four of them. In the second match of day in the same garoup, West Indies stunned defending champion England by 15 runs. West Indies made a challenging 179-5 on the back of half-centuries from openers Johnson Charles and Chris Gayle before restricting England to 164-4. For England, Alex Hales made 68 and Eoin Morgan scored 71 not out. Charles smashed three sixes and 10 well-timed boundaries in his 56-ball 84 while Gayle hit four sixes and six fours in his 35-ball 58 after West Indies won the toss and decided to bat. West Indies had raced to 103 by 11th over when Gayle was finally out, caught by Steven Finn at long-on off as the left-hander tried to hit Graeme Swann out of the ground. Three of his sixes came in one over from left-arm spinner Samit Patel. Brief Scores: West Indies 179-5 (Johnson Charles 84, Chris Gayle 58; Stuart Broad 2-26) def. England 164-4 (Eoin Morgan 71 not out, Alex Hales 68; Ravi Rampaul 2-37). Tillakaratne Dilshan (76) had put Sri Lanka on course for a successful run chase before New Zealand pulled back through some accurate bowling and fielding. Sri Lanka was in a spot of bother when it lost Kumar Sangakkara (21) and Jeevan Mendis (eight) in quick succession, needing 38 from the last four overs. With Sri Lanka needing 21 off the final two overs, Dilshan hit James Franklin for a six off the first ball before he was run out off the next, leaving Sri Lanka to make 15 off the final 10 deliveries. It boiled down to eight off the final over. Lahiru Thirimanne hit a boundary off Southee's penultimate delivery but was run out off the final ball, luckily for New Zealand the ball hitting the stumps after coming off Ross Taylor's knee. Dilshan hit three sixes and five boundaries during his 53-ball knock. Mahela Jayawardene, who scored 44 in the match, showed delight at the win. “It's nice to have a win under your belt so the pressure eases down,” said the Sri Lankan captain. “Judging by Taylor's reaction on the last ball we thought we had won but it needed a super over.” Taylor said he was proud of his team's fightback. “To lose tight matches is always disappointing,” said Taylor. “But from the situation we were in I thought we fought back very hard and never gave up. I am proud of my team.” New Zealand owed its total to a career best fifty by opener Rob Nicol. He hit Ajantha Mendis for three sixes in the 15th over during his 40-ball 58 after New Zealand won the toss and batted. The 29-year-old, who in all hit four sixes and three boundaries, put on a brisk 57 for the opening wicket with Martin Guptill (38) and 42 for the second with Brendon McCullum (25) before he fell in the 16th over. Nicol's previous T20 highest was 56 against Zimbabwe at Hamilton earlier this year. Mendis, who took 6-8 in the first round match against Zimbabwe to register the best bowling figures in all Twenty20 internationals, went for 48 runs for his only wicket in four overs, his last costing 24. In contrast newcomer Akila Dananjaya took 2-32. Taylor chipped in with a brisk 23. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 174-6 (Tillkaratne Dilshan 76, Mahela Jayawardene 44; James Franklin 2-34) tied with New Zealand 174-7 (Rob Nicol 58, Martin Guptill 38, Brendon McCullum 25; Akila Dananjaya 2-32, Nuwan Kulasekara 2-33). One-over eliminator: Sri Lanka 13-1 def. New Zealand 8-1. — Agencies
